Earlier this year, House Bill 354 (HB354) (aka safe storage law) — sponsored by Rep. Andrew Stoddard (D), which provided that firearms should be stored securely — was rejected in a 3 to 7 vote. Basically, the bill would have required gun owners to lock up their firearms to keep them away from people who should not have them.
This seems very common sense.
I am a hunter and my family and I own many firearms. All of which are securely locked up. I am all for the Second Amendment. This bill was not trying to prevent or limit anyone from owning firearms. It just tried to make the owners responsible for the guns they do own. Most of us gun owners are already doing this but unfortunately, as we often see in the news, not all of us.
This bill simply required owners to keep their guns in “a secured or locked container” and to not leave a firearm in an unattended or unlocked vehicle (outside of the trunk, or locked glove compartment, or other locked container). If the owner did not lock up their firearm and a minor, an at-risk person, or unauthorized person accessed it, the owner was subject to a fine of $1,000. If the owner failed to secure their firearm and it was used by one of the above described persons to commit a crime it was a $5,000 fine and the owner could be charged with an offense one level below the crime committed with their firearm. This is not even restricting or overreaching. Under this bill, there is no penalty unless the firearm was accessed by someone who obviously should not have it.
With the growing number of gun deaths, especially with respect to children, many groups are trying to take away our guns. I do not agree with that. But I do think too many guns are getting into the wrong hands because they are not being properly secured by their owners.
Making gun owners responsible for their own property is not overly restrictive or limiting Second Amendment rights. Again, it is just common sense. If I left my car running with the door open in my driveway and a kid got in and ran over his brother, that would be on me. To quote Spiderman, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
Jack Graves, Hideout