Rights and Responsibilities Go Hand in Hand

Listen. I’m pro-gun. I love to target shoot. I don’t like to hunt however. (I just don’t enjoy the idea of taking life so I don’t and can’t do it for casual fun nor need to in order to keep my pantry and freezer stocked. That’s not a judgment if you do enjoy hunting, just presenting my reasons for not hunting. You do you.) And I don’t support the willy-nilly taking of guns from folks, which isn’t what most folks are supporting. That’s the straw man the other side created to get you fired up. 

What I do support is using smarts around guns. If you have folks in your home who are kids, who haven’t gone through gun safety courses, who are on certain types of medicine, or are going through depression, either take the guns out of the home until those circumstances change or keep ’em locked up and don’t let just anyone have access to the key.

If you don’t make every effort to get the guns where those folks can’t access them (and keep the guns unloaded and stored separately from the ammo), then you should bear some part of the legal responsibility if your weapons are used in a crime or accidental injuries (or killing) or to commit suicide. 

(And before you build another straw man, of course, if someone breaks into your cabinet to steal the guns, that’s a different matter.)

I completely think you should have your right to own a weapon but only if you also maintain the responsibility required to be safe around one. If not, you should forfeit your right, just like if you continue to drive unsafely, you can forfeit your right to drive a car.