This is more about gun safety than about gun control, but it still demonstrates the power of the gun lobby and how even basic safety regulations do not apply to firearms the same way they apply to pretty much everything else. Wonder what ltstanfo has to say about this.
We Have the Technology To Make Safer Guns
Hello Mike,
The funerals are over and while the police report is not yet final (or released) I think we have enough preliminary information to discuss this topic. I will create a new thread for such a purpose.
To answer your specific questions above, my specific responses are:
1. Gun safety involves several things... it certainly can include the design of a firearm but it also requires competency on the part of the owner / shooter. With regards to the design, there are several modern (meaning 15 years older or newer) designs that try to reduce the "idiot factor" of the user by purposely misaligning the firing pin / striker mechanism unless the trigger is purposely pulled to fire a round. Still, a modern design can only do so much.
2. Smart gun technology, while quite interesting (to me) is not yet ready for "prime time". Until the technology is essentially 100% effective, no one who believes that their life may depend on a weapon will ever buy one.. myself included. Your link to smart gun tech is known to me. The various types of tech have been around for 20+ years in various forms and if I recall correctly, I previously discussed this very topic back in AO's Coffee House in the late 90's or early 2000's. Let me add another link to yours, to give the other side of the argument:
http://sciencenetlinks.com/science-news/science-updates/smart-gun/
If there is a 10% chance that a weapon I draw in self defense won't work then that is a weapon I will not buy.
And finally, with regards to the tragic accident where the father shot and ultimately killed his child, he was clearly at fault. Anyone who takes a firearms safety course will know that this incident could have and should have been prevented... period. He violated at least two and likely all three rules of gun safety:
1. Always treat the gun as if it is loaded and always keep it pointed in a safe direction.
2. NEVER put your finger on the trigger unless you intend to shoot the weapon!
3. Always keep the firearm UNLOADED until ready to use. As an addendum to rule 3, if you carry concealed see 1 and 2 above. Carrying concealed is the assumption of increased risk, therefore increased diligence is needed.
I argue that guns do not just "go off by themselves". It takes some kind of external stimuli to result in the discharge of a firearm. If the weapon isn't charged (loading round into chamber... rule #3) it cannot go off. A gun sitting on a table, chair, console, etc... will not go off by itself. The user had to create a scenario where the weapon was primed to fire (ie weapon loaded). Also, what is the mechanical condition of the firearm? Like any other mechanical device, a part of a firearm can fail / break (usually due to brittle metal or excessive wear from shooting high power ammo in a weapon not designed for such).
I cannot imagine what that poor father must feel like, realizing that the entire incident should not have occurred. I do have to ask, why did he point it at his child? Why was the weapon still loaded? He apparently did remove the magazine but didn't think to rack the slide to look for a round in the chamber? Again, basic firearms safety.
Enough on this one. Moving to new thread for future discussions.
Regards,
ltstanfo
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