Quote from John Q. Public:
I am shocked, and surprised, for you are almost always one of the most rational and logical posters on this zoo.
Don't be shocked - YOU were being irrational and illogical.
Let's address the theft from the locked safe issue. If the gun was stolen from a locked safe, one can presume that the safe was not secure enough to do the job. Yet you want to let the owner off the hook.
If bank safes can be cracked, why would you presume that ANY private person would have a MORE secure safe? This is an example of how illogical your argument is. You irrationally presume to dictate the necessity for an individual to have totally undefeatable security or you will blame them for what someone else does with a stolen weapon.
However, you do not seek to affix the same necessity on automobile owners (there are more people killed by autos than by guns each year - a great many of them killed or injured by those driving stolen cars), poisonous materials that might be stored on a person's premises (e.g., rat poison, gasoline, etc.) but potentially used to harm others, etc.
At least if you applied your idea of ultimate responsibility in that way, you'd at least be consistent (albeit still irrational).
Now on to the "out of his possession for two years," Excuse me, but how did it get that way? Lost. stolen. borrowed. misplaced, or perhaps just forgotten. Again, let the irresponsible gun owner off the hook while I lay bleeding.
Reread the original post. It was "out of his possession for two years" because it was SOLD. Your original "compromise" suggested that even after selling the gun (and thuse out of his control), you expected the original owner to be held fully responsible for what someone else does with it. Again, totally irrational.
But I am a reasonable men, had the gun been sold to a registered firearms dealer, then the original owner would be off the hook.
Unfortunately, you are no where near reasonable. Your premise that the gun must be sold only to a firearms dealer is counter to existing rules of personal property disposition. Do you similarly require a car owner to only sell their car to a licensed auto dealer?
On the other hand, if you wanted to stipulate that a person selling their gun must file a report with the state identifying who they sold it to (as many states require with the disposition of licensed automobiles) - THAT would be reasonable.
No one need a loaded and or functional firearm when it is not in their direct control. You can't drive off a hoard of invading darkies, nor fight off a tyrannic liberal government out to get you, or even blow away a home invader if the gun ain't in your control.
Wow, an actual fact - albeit laced with inane hyperbole. A weapon that is not in your direct control of course cannot be used by you. Then again, a car that is not in your direct control cannot be used by you either - so are they unnecessary?
Of course, if you're arguing that people should be permitted to carry their guns with them at all times...
But then again, we're not talking about "using" a gun that's not in the person's direct control. If a burgler is stupid enough to break into my house at night while I'm there - mores the pity for him, because the gun will be in my direct control.
If I am not in the house, the guns are not in my direct control - but they are also not just laying around on the kitchen table either.
If it ain't in your direct control, then there is a danger it will fall into another's hands.
While my guns are secured when I'm not there, your statement is also true of a myriad products or items that are also dangerous or lethal if misused.
Should you be thrown in jail for manslaughter if a friend of your child manages to nypass the anti-child device that you diligently placed on your kitchen cabinets - and subsequently drank a bottle of bleach?
THE ONLY WAY TO INSURE THAT NO HARM WILL COME TO OTHERS IS TO DISABLE THE WEAPON.
What does that mean? Unfortunately, like most anti-gun fanatics, reasonable due diligence and precaution isn't sufficient. You expect absolute perfection in an imperfect world - but only as it relates to your single fanaticism, excluding all other potentially dangerous items that exist in everyone's homes.
And if that's too damned much trouble, I will do everything in my power to see that you pay a high price for your irresponsibility.
Luckily, this is more idle hyperbole - since you have no power.
But what's really sad, until you and the rest of the extremists on both sides of this issue stop breathing all that ozone, there won't be much material progress in establishing reasonable nationwide rules.