On Sept. 20 The Tribune reported in the Chicagoland section on a tragic shooting in Kankakee County that left two juveniles dead. Included in the report was the gratuitous assertion issued by Sheriff Bernie Thompson that
”it`s the availability of handguns at the time of a family argument that causes this kind of thing.”
But the critical error that invited disaster was not the mere possession of the instrument properly to be used for home defense. It was the
indefensible practice of keeping a gun loaded that ”turned a fistfight into a double homicide.”
The National Rifle Association has been teaching gun owners for over 100 years to ”keep all guns unloaded until ready to use,” and to ”keep your gun and ammunition securely stored where a child or any other unauthorized person cannot reach it.”
A knowledgeable gun owner would no sooner keep a weapon loaded in his absence than he would leave a power saw running in the workshop or a rattlesnake loose in the living room. When a shooting tragedy occurs, The Tribune should first look for culpable breaches of safety principles-not for a chance to propagandize against legitimate gun ownership.
