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MLeake · November 10, 2011, 12:43 PM

bikerbill, I suppose it depends on the local DA, as to whether charges might eventually be filed. Personally, I hope not.

Should the gun have been locked up? Probably.

The problem I have with the "anticipation of stupid things other people might do" argument is that our society is seriously devolving, in my opinion, as more and more people expect somebody else to be found accountable for bad things that happen to them - even when bad things happen as a result of their own stupid actions.

My parents had one friend who had to put fencing along her property along a scenic bluff; apparently, case law in Oregon indicated that the fencing and "No Trespassing" signs along the front of the property would not hold her immune from civil suit by the survivors of any trespasser dumb enough to come over or through her front fence, then manage to fall off the cliff out back.

There was the notorious California case where a burglar was awarded $5M for breaking his back when he fell through a skylight of a public school he was attempting to burglarize...

Or the woman who was awarded $1M (I think) for spilling hot coffee in her own lap...

At some point, people have to be responsible for the stupid things they do. Leaving a holstered gun in your bedroom really isn't criminal. Pointing a gun at somebody is. Even a 14yo should know better.

That said, I have and use a large safe, and a couple small lockboxes - depending on which room the weapon is in. I'm more concerned with theft than with criminal stupidity, and I don't have kids in the house. However, should somebody break in and steal one of my weapons, that is morally on him, in my opinion.

My parents' friend shouldn't have had to fence her scenic bluff. McDonald's and other chains shouldn't have had to put warning labels on coffee (HOT!!!), and Big Brother shouldn't stop my chain of choice from heating a cappuccino above 140F. For that matter, Toro lawnmowers shouldn't need to include warnings in the literature about "Do not pick up by the skirt and use to trim hedges." (Yet another case that made it to trial, although I think that one might have been tossed, eventually.) Piper Aircraft shouldn't have nearly gone out of business when a widow initially won a suit because her husband, who had a heart condition and who had illegally modified a Super Cub with a front-seat mounted camera, so he could fly from the rear seat and shoot real estate aerial photography, somehow lost control of the plane, crashed, and died (assuming he didn't die of a heart attack while airborne, the illegal mod to the aircraft may have put it at the edge of its weight/balance controllability envelope).

Modern Americans expect to be protected from themselves. I find it disturbing and, in some cases, disgusting.

November 10, 2011, 12:43 PM	#12
MLeake Senior Member Join Date: November 15, 2007 Location: Outside KC, MO Posts: 10,128	bikerbill, I suppose it depends on the local DA, as to whether charges might eventually be filed. Personally, I hope not. Should the gun have been locked up? Probably. The problem I have with the "anticipation of stupid things other people might do" argument is that our society is seriously devolving, in my opinion, as more and more people expect somebody else to be found accountable for bad things that happen to them - even when bad things happen as a result of their own stupid actions. My parents had one friend who had to put fencing along her property along a scenic bluff; apparently, case law in Oregon indicated that the fencing and "No Trespassing" signs along the front of the property would not hold her immune from civil suit by the survivors of any trespasser dumb enough to come over or through her front fence, then manage to fall off the cliff out back. There was the notorious California case where a burglar was awarded $5M for breaking his back when he fell through a skylight of a public school he was attempting to burglarize... Or the woman who was awarded $1M (I think) for spilling hot coffee in her own lap... At some point, people have to be responsible for the stupid things they do. Leaving a holstered gun in your bedroom really isn't criminal. Pointing a gun at somebody is. Even a 14yo should know better. That said, I have and use a large safe, and a couple small lockboxes - depending on which room the weapon is in. I'm more concerned with theft than with criminal stupidity, and I don't have kids in the house. However, should somebody break in and steal one of my weapons, that is morally on him, in my opinion. My parents' friend shouldn't have had to fence her scenic bluff. McDonald's and other chains shouldn't have had to put warning labels on coffee (HOT!!!), and Big Brother shouldn't stop my chain of choice from heating a cappuccino above 140F. For that matter, Toro lawnmowers shouldn't need to include warnings in the literature about "Do not pick up by the skirt and use to trim hedges." (Yet another case that made it to trial, although I think that one might have been tossed, eventually.) Piper Aircraft shouldn't have nearly gone out of business when a widow initially won a suit because her husband, who had a heart condition and who had illegally modified a Super Cub with a front-seat mounted camera, so he could fly from the rear seat and shoot real estate aerial photography, somehow lost control of the plane, crashed, and died (assuming he didn't die of a heart attack while airborne, the illegal mod to the aircraft may have put it at the edge of its weight/balance controllability envelope). Modern Americans expect to be protected from themselves. I find it disturbing and, in some cases, disgusting.