Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Gunlocks, Eh?

I was over at Say Uncle and followed a link to a piece that talks about gunlocks. Evidently, this guy is concerned that the gun locks on the market are pieces of crap that don't do anything but comply with the law.

Here's the deal: My counterman at the local evil gun store tells me that he is required by law to give me a gun lock every time he sells a gun. Notice how I said that: He is required by law to give me a gun lock every time he sells a gun.

In other words, the lawmakers have decided that all guns sold in open commerce should have a lock, so they mandate that the retailer give locks away. We all know there is no such thing as a free lock, and that the cost is passed on to the consumer, but the gun store is trying to minimize that impact on the customer, so to comply with the law, they buy a bunch of cheap gun locks and include one with every purchase.

I appreciate them doing that. I have a couple of those locks around here someplace. The grandkids are intrigued with them for maybe ten minutes, until they figure out how to defeat them, then the locks lay on the bench until I throw them away.

A free lock is just that. You get what you pay for. The lawmakers just had to include a feel-good provision in the law, and the retailers complied with it in full and in spirit. They complied with the least cost to themselves and the consumer. It's a win-win provision.

Better that we gun owners keep our guns out of reach of the grandkids and as soon as they are old enough, we teach them how about guns. How to load and unload and how to shoot. We teach them respect for firearms and we teach them that some things are deadly and we teach them that there is no safety but the one that God provided between our ears and that there are Four Rules to gun safety that can never, ever be violated without severe repercussions.

No gun lock currently made will make a gun safe from a motivated 10 year old. That same motivated ten-year-old will listen to instruction when Daddy or Grandaddy takes the time to show how the gun works, how to disassemble it, and how to fire it.

There are always firearms available for use in my house. There is always a minimum of two that are loaded, ready for immediate use. Neither my children, nor my grandchildren have ever had any problem with knowing about loaded guns.

I'll say this one more time, another way. If you have children, it is your responsibility to teach them that some things will hurt them. Things like rattlesnakes and garbage trucks. Things like sex offenders and child predators. You also have a responsibility to keep them safe. Teaching good gun-handling manners is the best way to keep them safe. Do not depend on any device to lessen your responsibility for proper training.

If you don't train your children, in all things, then who do you expect to train them?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hear hear PawPaw!

I just took a ten pound bag of gun locks back to my favorite gun pusher, kind of like a recycling program. Nothing says you can't give them back!

Anonymous said...

100% agreement to your point that Responsibility is always more effective than 100% reliance on a mechanical object.

A couple comments on gun locks:
When I went in to pick up my new Ruger 10/22, after the 10-day-wait (CA), I stopped in at BIG-5 and bought a cheap gun lock. Got the gun home and read the little book. Turns out Ruger ships all their guns WITH a gun lock. The gun shop takes them out of the box and sells them serarately.
I took a few guns to the range and discovered that my Ruger 10/22, in the case, still had it's cable lock attached and I had left the keys at home. I worked on the lock with a screwdriver and a pair of pliers for 15 minutes before giving up and driving home for the keys. Sure could have used a handy 10 year old.

West, By God said...

You should see the trigger locks that came with my SKS and M44... they were amazing. Nothing but a screw with a "2 hole" head, instead of flat/phillips/hex... holding together two pieces of plastic.

That's what Dunhams Sporting Goods gives ya.

Anonymous said...

Anyone have thoughts on how old a kid should be before you start teaching them how to use a gun? Maybe start out with a BB Gun and move up from there?

Pawpaw said...

A BB gun is a great way to teach a kid responsibility, I know that I started there, as did my dad and my children. The four rules are paramount, even with a BB gun. You have to insist on safe gun handling and there must be sanctions. A week or so of having the BB gun locked away is a good starting point for minor infractions. A month for larger infractions.

Anonymous said...

West By God said:
-snip-
Nothing but a screw with a "2 hole" head, instead of flat/phillips/hex...
-snip-
That, I believe, is a spanner head, which may be opened with a spanner bit, which are not normally included in big box store bit sets. Barring having one, a needle-nose plier works.