05 June 2002

As an industry that leaves our loved ones at home often and for long periods of time, you might consider this from National Review Online. The link is: http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/2002_06_02_corner-archive.asp#85144824
NOT SO SAFE [Dave Kopel]
Mary Carpenter is the grandmother of two children who were murdered by an insane man with a pitchfork in Merced, California. In a letter to a state legislature considering a trigger-lock mandate, Mrs. Carpenter blames California's trigger-lock law for her grandchildren's death. The killer attacked while the eldest child in the family, a 14-year-old girl, was babysitting the younger three. Because the family's guns were locked in a safe, in accordance with California law, the teenager, who was trained with firearms and a very good shot, was unable to retrieve a gun to protect her siblings. As new research by John Lott details, so-called "safe storage" laws do in fact increase feelings of safety -- for violent criminals; such laws lead to more murder, rape, robbery, and assault.
Posted 11:54 AM | [Link]