Let the Blood Dance Begin...

Ok. Here in WA we've had a series of children ventilating themselves or each other in recent weeks, with all the teary-eyed blood-dancing of the hoplophobes and the petty tyrants pushing for safe storage laws and such.

Problem is, you can't outlaw stupid. Negligence, murder, menacing, assault - all are already illegal. "Making things more illegaler" is a sort of pointless display of overwrought emotionalism, stupidity, or more malicious agendas at play - the one thing it won't do is accomplish anything positive.

The first case here was a 9yo child of felons and misfits who took one of many loaded guns laying about his criminal mothers and ex-con boyfriends abode (hint - just by HAVING guns they were committing bright shiny new felonies). The kid, sensibly enough based on what I'd read of his situation, decided to run away - and threw the pistol in his backpack...that later that day discharged at the kids school, injuring another child rather severely. The mother and boyfriend face criminal charges and the boy has already plead guilty to charges.

Next we have a cops kid that found a gun floating around in Officer Dad's glove compartment and shot her brother, killing him.

About this time we have local professional hand-wringer Ken Schram of KOMO4 television go on air with an overwrought demand to pass legislation mandating "secure storage" with criminal penalties. Schram, of course, didn't bother to check existing legislation before tossing his public hissy fit (negligence is already criminalized)...nor display any real understanding of actual gun safety.

Now, this morning, we have a WA CPL holder up from Oregon [0912, 3/14 - correction from friend] that stopped at a gas station for his special and fatal moment of stupid. He got out of the car, removed his gun and placed it under the drivers seat with two toddlers (3 and 4) in the car, and proceeded about filling the tank. The mother got out and proceeded into the store leaving the toddlers unsupervised. The 3yo got the gun and killed himself.

The ritual blood dance is scheduled to begin shortly, quite possibly with Schram sallying forth clad in grass skirt and coconut bikini* to throw another of his spittle-flinging over-dramatic rants complete with hip-swaying and hand-gestures about the EEEEEVILS of gun ownership generally, and any gun not secured in a block of concrete specifically.

FELLOW GUN OWNERS - if you don't want stupid legislated all over you, stop with the stupid yourself. Don't be leaving guns where untrusted folks can get at them - and in general, toddlers and pre-teens are not on the list of "those to be trusted unsupervised in the presence of firearms, power tools, or vehicles" even if they are brighter than the average elected.

*Schram may not show up in the suggested costume, but I'd argue it'd fit right in with his mode of presentation, IMHO. Certainly wouldn't make any less sense than the odd noises that occur when he opens his mouth.