There is No Such Thing as Responsible Gun Ownership

Guns are the American Ebola: lethal, out of control and inspiring irrational behavior by locals who reject rational solutions.

TPM:

An Evanston, Ill. man fatally shot himself Sunday night while showing off a shotgun he thought wasn't loaded to a group of friends, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Police were called to an Evanston home for an accidental shooting. They found Eric Zyzanski on the floor with a shotgun wound to the head, lying next to the shotgun. He was taken to the hospital and died about two hours later, according to police.

According to witnesses, Zyzanski was in his apartment with friends, where he took out a shotgun and "began showing it off."

His friends told him to put the gun away, so he proceeded to take two or three rounds out of the gun, according to police. He then pointed the gun at his cheek, said the gun was empty and pulled the trigger, witnesses said.

All witnesses gave a similar account of the shooting, police told the Sun-Times. Police scheduled the autopsy for Monday.

PZ Myers:

Tom Levenson responds to yet another gun ‘accident’, in which a pregnant woman was shot in the head by a friend showing off a gun. I think this is a very good take on the issue; no responsible gun owner (and they all are, right?) could possibly disagree with this:

Responsible means that whatever happens with your gun is your fault.  Period.  You accidentally discharge it and no-one gets hurt? How’s this:  big fine, confiscate the weapon involved, lose the right to bear arms for a year for the first incident, forever if you repeat.  Someone gets hurt or dies?  Jail. Civil liability.  Loss of gun rights for life.   

That’s responsibility. 

But of course, I dream.  That’s not how we roll.  Instead, we’ll just  water the tree of liberty with a newlywed, and celebrate life by burying her fetus — and wait (not long) for the next red harvest.

Being responsible should actually mean something — it’s not just a word you use to escape the consequences of your actions. But that’s how the gun fondlers all seem to use it — they will flaunt their assault rifles, take great risks with their lives and the lives of others, and hide under the NRA-approved label of “responsible gun-owner”.

Real responsible gun owners know that they are deadly tools and would keep them locked up and treat them like they would a stick of dynamite — extreme hazards that warrant extreme precautions.