Does Owning a Gun Make You Safer?

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Can one support the right to keep and bear arms while also advocating “reasonable restrictions” on firearms?

The problem with this compromise approach is that it threatens the safety of good people.   Consider a case from a few years ago, where a “lock up your safety device,” such as a trigger lock, would have cost the life of Chuck Harris.

After being repeatedly stabbed by three young men in his Colorado home, Harris managed to grab the .44-Magnum pistol he kept in a desk drawer. Thankfully, Harris didn't have to remember a combination or fiddle with a trigger lock—he just pointed the gun and fired.

That quick action saved his life, and has caused Harris to later reflect upon what was, perhaps, the obvious.

“If I'd had a trigger lock, I'd be dead,” he said. “If my pistol had been in a gun safe, I'd be dead. If the bullets were stored separate, I'd be dead. They were going to kill me.”

Unfortunately, two children died on the morning of August 23, 2000, because the guns in their home were locked up (as required by California law).   And that left the Carpenter family defenseless when Jonathon David Bruce attacked them with a mere pitchfork, resulting in two of the kids’ deaths.

Contrast the Carpenter’s tragic situation to that of another California resident who ignored the “lock up your safety” law.   In February 2000, A.D. Parker was awakened by strange noises outside his bedroom in the middle of the night.   The 83-year-old Parker grabbed a handgun he had not even used in several decades, went to his bedroom door, and found himself face-to-face with a thug holding a crowbar.  

Happily, Mr. Parker didn’t have to fiddle with a trigger lock, remember a combination, or look for a key in the dark room.   He simply pointed the gun and pulled the trigger.   That is why he survived the attack.