Ray

Which is course is terrible journalism ...making a pure presumption ...
the person in possession would have lost or disposed of it ...
not neccessarily the owner ...

danfan

Very well could be. I am basing my opinions though on what I've been given.
A stolen gun, of course, should be reported - even if only to cover the owner's ass if it's used in a crime!

Elvira

I agree.

However, whichever way you look at it, the more guns there are in circulation, the more there are to get lost or stolen...

danfan

From another news source on the same story
" The gun was not buried and may have fallen out of someone’s pocket or boot, police said. The gun did not appear to be stolen, and investigators were working to identify its owner."

Again, could be terrible journalism. Both imply the police stated it's their belief that it's not stolen - maybe based on the fact that a stolen gun would probably have been reported stolen if the owner was aware of it being missing.

Lord Lionheart

Ray already made his position clear on his guns earlier in the week;

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showp...&postcount=763

Here's Ray's motive(s), which he calls his 'toys'

Ray

I don't remember giving you permission to reproduce my pic ....

Lord Lionheart

Tough, sue me. I thought you'd be proud of your 'toys'

Elvira

Getting back to the original news story and the implications thereof...

What do people with children do here re. having them visit homes of friends whose parents keep guns?

Ray

..Typical you ....

Lord Lionheart

Thank you. Who else would I be

Elvira

Tom, do you allow your kids to play at the home of people who own guns?

Lord Lionheart

It's not usually a question I ever think of to be honest. If it were brought to my attention I wouldn't feel comfortable unless I was 100% sure the guns were safe behind very secure locks and keys and not loaded

Irn-bru

I don't have children but I'd be the same as you..but it must be hard for a parent to get the phone number of every parent who is a stranger to you and ask questions ..where do you keep your gun...is it locked...is the key to that lock in the house etc as they might not want to give too much info out for security purposes. And they might just tell you what you want to hear and not that they have that 'hidden' gun under the bed etc.

And even if the gun is locked up the parents might not know that the child knows the combination or where the key is (if they are wee terrors and weren't taught how to respect guns etc)

Texas Mom

Our little lad plays regularly with the little girl next door at her house. Her dad is a police officer and I know for a fact that he has guns kept in a gun locker (or whatever the technical term maybe) in the closet of his master bedroom, the door to which is locked and the door to the bedroom is also locked. I only know this as they are close neighbors and told us this.
As you rightly point out how do you know who is telling the truth. Whilst my sons safety is my number one concern we still have to live our day to day lives. Most times my son goes over there to play he is in the yard and hardly ever inside the house.

Elvira

It's actually teenagers I would worry about most. They have a tendency to want to act as adults and can at times encourage each other to act irresponsibly. I believe this is one reason why so many teens are involved in car accidents, and I'm sure it also plays a role in accidents involving guns.

And even the most responsible gun owner could one day slip up. I always took great care to ensure that our back-door was locked when I went out. But one day I came back at the end of the day and found the door wide open. Yes, despite normally checking and double-checking, I myself had left it open. We are human and thus fallible.