Our View

By:

Shandra Jordan, editor in chief

Colleen Buhrer, managing editor

J.J. Babb, design managing editor

Kyle Endres, campus editor

Christopher J. Ortiz, opinion editor

Gun owners need to teach and practice reasonability

Fortunately no one was injured or killed in Thursday’s incident

involving a minor bringing a gun to school that he took from home,

but why was he able to take a gun from home?

People who keep guns at home need to practice responsibility

such as keeping ammunition separate from guns, locking guns away

from children and keeping account of all the firearms in the

house.

When first asked by police if there was a gun missing from their

home, the parents of the said student could not determine if one

was or not. This is not a case of missing car keys or the remote

control for the television; this is a case of missing a firearm

that could have ended the lives of many on Thursday.

Our opinion is gun owners should ensure every member of a

household is aware of the responsibility and danger of firearms. If

you are keeping a gun in the home, you are responsible for that gun

and for making sure the right people have access to it – and others

don not.

We are not advocating whether or not people should have firearms

but we are advocating that people who choose to do so have the

safety of their family and their community in mind when they make

that decision.

Members of this editorial staff come from different backgrounds

of firearms being kept in the house while we were children. We were

made well aware of the dangers of these weapons and even in some

cases, taught how to safely use them.

The firearms also need to be kept in a safe and locked location,

so that children do not have access to them.

We ask owners of guns to keep the safety of their family members

and their community members in mind when they make the decision to

keep guns in the home.