Gun Control & RKBA
Related: About this forumTexas Gun Owner Leaves Gun in the Pickup - It's Stolen
Local news reportsA New Braunfels man reported to police that someone stole his handgun from his pickup truck while it was parked at a local restaurant last week, a police spokesman said.
Also stolen, along with his .357-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun, were his 25-year-old spurs, said Capt. John McDonald of New Braunfels Police Department. The victim valued the gun at $400 and the spurs at $500.
Gun-rights fanatics will never admit that failure to safely store a gun which is then stolen is wrong. They will do everything to resist accepting this responsibility. They blame the thief, of course, which no one could deny, but they do it to the exclusion of all else. The fact is, leaving a gun in a vehicle is not safe and responsible behavior.
The other trick they have is to blame the law which says guns aren't allowed in the restaurant or the post office or wherever the gun owner happened to be going when he decided to leave the gun in the car. If it weren't for that silly law, they cry, he wouldn't have been forced to do it. Of course, failing to hold the gun owner accountable, they conveniently forget that he had choices. He could simply not go to that place which prohibits guns, or, and here's a real shocker, he could leave the gun at home in the safe. That's assuming he owns a gun safe, which most of these cavalier, irresponsible gun owners do not.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
Cross posted at Mikeb302000
friendly_iconoclast
(15,333 posts)Also, you have one opinion disguised as an unsubstatiated statement...
...and another statement that demonstrates that you're about as accurate about gun owners as
right-wing commentators were about Mitt's election prospects:
Ashgrey77
(236 posts)One would think you would have figured this out by now.
krispos42
(49,445 posts)...it can't be used against him when the criminals effortlessly ambush and disarm him!
AnotherMcIntosh
(11,064 posts)aikoaiko
(34,172 posts)How fuckin typical of you.
mikeb302000
(1,065 posts)Requiring a gun owner to be responsible and accountable does not exonerate the thief.
gejohnston
(17,502 posts)if the gun was in the car, in a safe in the trunk, and the car was stolen, would you still insist on the owner being prosecuted? If a home was broken into, and a pro defeated the safe, would you still prosecute? I'm guessing you would.
If he left the keys in the ignition, and thief killed a couple of people during a joy ride turned police chase, would you still charge the victim? Since cars are more lethal than guns, you would have to if you are to be logically consistent.
aikoaiko
(34,172 posts)petronius
(26,602 posts)zero reason to believe that the victim here broke any laws or committed any crime. And while it's appropriate to discuss and learn from any incident, transferring responsibility to the victim crosses into victim-blaming, which is generally repugnant.
Whenever I leave a valuable object of any sort in a car, I make sure it's out of sight and in a locked area if possible. If the victim didn't do that for either the gun or the spurs, I'd say he was unwise. If he left the gun lying on the seat with the window down, then I'd say he was irresponsible. But without any details, we can't call him unwise, irresponsible, or guilty - and the mere act of leaving a firearm in a car deserves none of those adjectives...
4th law of robotics
(6,801 posts)Especially victims of crime.
Arrest this man and permanently strip him and all close relatives/friends of their rights.
A trial would merely give the guilty yet another way to evade justice.
GreenStormCloud
(12,072 posts)On Amazon you can get "Praying Cowboy Cross Spurs" for $37.00, other fancy spurs also available
http://www.amazon.com/Praying-Cowboy-Cross-Show-Spurs/dp/B002P2JAXY/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1352988813&sr=8-11&keywords=spurs
That's some really pricey spurs.
About the gun. So what? With over a hundred million gun owners some of them are going to forget and leave guns out.
What is the point in having a CHL if you don't carry the gun?
He should have carried the gun into the restaurant. Texas has specific signage laws. I doubt that the restuarant had a proper, legal, no-guns sign. He likely could have carried, concealed, and no one would have known about it. I do. With the exception of my doctor's office I ignore no-guns signs because the LAW says I can.
mikeb302000
(1,065 posts)He should have gone to a different restaurant or he should have left the gun home.
Do you think leaving a gun in the car is safe and responsible?
gejohnston
(17,502 posts)out of plain sight and car locked, yes
plain sight, no.
fightthegoodfightnow
(7,042 posts)..that addresses original post unlike others who refuse to address the gun safety issue.
rl6214
(8,142 posts)Or just criticizing other posts
fightthegoodfightnow
(7,042 posts)I was praising someone for talking about the subject of the OP.
GreenStormCloud
(12,072 posts)The car is locked when we aren't in it. Gun is concealed, but readily available, loaded and chambered.
Texas has specific signage law. Unless the no-guns sign meets exactly state standards (Texas code 30.06) it does not have the force of law and I can ignore it. Since my gun is concealed, no one knows I have it. In Texas restaurants don't bother with no-guns signs. I have never seen one. What is common here is a sign that warns that "Possession of an unlicensed firearm on this property is a felony." Since I have a Concealed Handgun License the sign doesn't apply to me. Of course, criminals won't obey the sign either, so it has no real effect, except to calm some nervous ninnies.
mikeb302000
(1,065 posts)GreenStormCloud
(12,072 posts)That way we don't forget.
ManiacJoe
(10,136 posts)slackmaster
(60,567 posts)friendly_iconoclast
(15,333 posts)slackmaster
(60,567 posts)As written the subject line says that the pickup was stolen.
fightthegoodfightnow
(7,042 posts)None of the issues raised about gun safety were addressed.
gejohnston
(17,502 posts)you would have a good point, but leaving a small child in a car gun or not for more than a few minutes can bring the power of the State down on you in some places.
fightthegoodfightnow
(7,042 posts)slackmaster
(60,567 posts)Most likely it was an adult who could easily have obtained one by some other means.
fightthegoodfightnow
(7,042 posts)rl6214
(8,142 posts)Or just about other people's posts
fightthegoodfightnow
(7,042 posts)see my recommendation associated with original post.
montanto
(2,966 posts)holdencaufield
(2,927 posts)... he had no business leaving it in the car park. He should have drove it into the bar.
fightthegoodfightnow
(7,042 posts)Again, none of the issues raised about gun safety were addressed.
Not one.
Remmah2
(3,291 posts)What business did the thief have breaking into his truck?
I should be able to leave $20 on my car seat, have the car unlocked and find it there the next day. Unfortunatly the world sucks because of people's attitudes. People need to keep their noses out of other's business.
fightthegoodfightnow
(7,042 posts)And you think that is evidence of common sense?
When you 'people', you mean thieves?
Remmah2
(3,291 posts)I'd be referring to criminals and criminal attitudes. Not limited to thieves. When I was younger I worked on an uncles farm. The back door lock never worked, he/we never felt the need to lock the door at night. We use to leave the keys in the vechicles, it was never a problem. We could drop our bicycles on the front lawn and expect to find them there in the morning. If you dropped your wallet in the store it would be returned to you.
It could have been anything left on the seat of the truck in the OP. People's (general term) respect for other people has changed. It's not just limited to career criminals either.
rrneck
(17,671 posts)rl6214
(8,142 posts)Or are you just going to be the thread police
fightthegoodfightnow
(7,042 posts).
4th law of robotics
(6,801 posts)Claim: crime is so rare no one needs a gun for self defense.
challenge: both statements are true at the same time.
Solution: .... Won't you comment at my blog?
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)Problem solved.
There you go, misusing the word 'most' again.
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)Those cavalier, irresponsible gun owners that run metropolis-level police departments and national drug policy departments.
Grrr.
Grr I tell you.
Atypical Liberal
(5,412 posts)Easy fix: Don't pass laws that require people to leave their firearms in their vehicles.
The other trick they have is to blame the law which says guns aren't allowed in the restaurant or the post office or wherever the gun owner happened to be going when he decided to leave the gun in the car.
No trick needed.
That's assuming he owns a gun safe, which most of these cavalier, irresponsible gun owners do not.
Unless you have children in your home, there is no real need for a gun safe. You've already said you think safes like my Stack-On 14-gun safe, which meets the CDOJ requirements for safe firearm storage are OK for use as a gun safe. It's about as easy to break into one of these filing cabinets as it is to break into a car, or a house.
So if that kind of safe is OK, why not a car, or a house?
mikeb302000
(1,065 posts)Atypical Liberal
(5,412 posts)trouble.smith
(374 posts)blame the victim. How fucking typical.
mikeb302000
(1,065 posts)friendly_iconoclast
(15,333 posts)Say, a laptop? I rather doubt it...