The vast majority of American gun owners handle their firearms safely and responsibly. With around 40 percent of the country’s households owning at least one gun, it couldn’t be otherwise. If it were, simple Darwinism would eventually “solve” the problem and leave us exactly where we already are: with a majority of gun owners handling firearms safely and responsibly. That’s the truth about guns. But it doesn’t reduce the face-palm-inducing nature of some of the most egregious examples, such as this one reported by mcall.com . . .
Holly Pallone, a 26-year-old Slatington (Pennsylvania) woman, said she was trying to unload a gun she planned to sell for $200 when the weapon fired, striking and killing her 19-month-old son as he lay in a crib late Saturday night, authorities said.
She called 911 and told dispatchers, “There was a gun and it went off and it hit my son in the forehead,” according to court records.
Admitting she knows nothing about guns, Ms. Pallone told police she was unloading the Smith & Wesson .44 revolver before selling it to her one-time drug dealer. What could possibly go wrong, right?
The gun-grabbing community will no doubt seize upon this tragedy to illustrate why guns are too dangerous for average folk. Firearms should be limited to those best trained to handle them: the police and the military.
But just because some people abuse a right doesn’t mean it shouldn’t exist. While we sympathize with every victim of an irresponsible gun owner, even the gun owners themselves, we never forget that guns save lives, too. Sometimes, it’s our only solace.