General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Shaun King: Racism has found its way into the Cincinnati Zoo saga [View all]AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)I take my kid to the zoo. This is not a possibility. He's seven and he wouldn't make it over a wall before I could stop him. How the hell does a four year old do it?
That gorilla, a creature pound for pound seven times stronger than a human, and completely undomesticated, was in an open air enclosure with elevation and a railing as the only protection. This is akin to a gun stored in a night stand, not a lock box. It requires DIRECT adult supervision to even pretend to be some measure of safety.
I can leave my child alone in my room with all of my firearms secured in lock boxes/safes when he was four. Because he lacks the capacity to break into them or defeat the locking mechanisms. (I am aware of the drop-vulnerabilities of some safes, and have chosen mine accordingly.)
I cannot leave my then-four-year-old in a room with a firearm stored in a night stand. Same is true of the gorilla enclosure. Under direct supervision, safe. (Though I would argue, inhumane to the animals, something I have taken more recent notice of after delving into the mistreatment of orcas in captivity, and the capacity for thought and communication by other advanced species, but I digress) Without direct supervision its a FUCKING DISASTER.
As a parent, I alone control the conditions that arise in either state. The firearms in my safe cannot be quickly accessed in an emergency. I accept that, because leaving them more accessible to me, is a recipe for disaster around children when my supervision is not present. That gorilla enclosure was meant for adult supervision. It was not designed to be proof against a four-year-old without supervision. Like my nightstand.