I am constantly amazed (but not amused) by the gun control crowd’s utter insensitivity to gun owners’ civil rights. Would the LA Times run a headline “Let’s Lock Up Cell Phones”? And yet they feel perfectly comfortable “encouraging” the Los Angeles City Council to “pursue” their plan to pass a law requiring gun owners to lock up — and render inoperable — their firearms. Without addressing the fact that any such law opens the door to unannounced home inspections (presumably by California’s newly-financed Gun Confiscation Team). That said, I found this startling gem in the middle of their anti-gun agitprop . . .
If one accepts the notion that the 2nd Amendment affords individuals the right to own a gun for self-protection, it’s hard to argue that an individual can own a gun but can’t have it handy and operable when it’s needed. The D.C. law clearly went too far in requiring guns to be dismantled and rendered inoperable.
Wait. What? If the D.C. law — struck down by the Supreme Court in the Heller decision — went too far, how does LA’s proposed law — which would require the exact same strictures on gun storage — not go too far too? The Times editorial board reckon it does, BUT –
But removing a trigger lock is not necessarily time-consuming. Some have simple three-digit combination locks that take seconds to open. It’s by no means clear that that is an onerous obstruction, especially balanced against the public interest in reducing accidental deaths.
It’s by no means clear that any member of the LA Times editorial board has ever held a gun. Fit one with a trigger lock. Attempted to remove said trigger lock during an adrenaline dump. Clearly, it’s time for the NSSF to hold a media day giving practical instruction on firearms storage and operation to willfully ignorant anti-gun journalists.
And the best way to reduce accidental firearms deaths is education. How about a law requiring firearms safety education in schools? Not that I like laws, but if “something must be done,” it’s probably best to do something effective rather than just politically correct.