Think a Gun in the House is a Good Idea?

When I was 19 or 20, my father, a minister, got a call from a parishioner saying that her daughter (about a year or two younger than I) had shot herself in the stomach with her stepfather's gun. I drove my father to the hospital and waited with the mother while the daughter was in surgery. The mother and daughter had been having an argument over the girl's boyfriend. The girl locked herself in the bathroom and shot herself in the stomach. The surgeon came out and talked with us. The case was hopeless. She was too torn up inside. We visited the girl in recovery. She was conscious and talking. What she was concerned about was that she would never be able to dance again. Clearly, she didn't want to die. She did die a couple of days later. It was done on impulse. If she hadn't had access to a gun, she might be alive today, and a grandmother, like me. This event made an impression on me. When my kids were growing up, I told them to come home if they were visiting friends and found out they had a gun in the house. It happened once. Having a gun in the house isn't worth the risk.

Moose Tracks 2012

Where we've been...where we are...where we're headed.

Gun Insurance

If we were to view firearms as we do vehicles, we may be able to move forward in addressing gun-related violence.

A vehicle can be lethal. Therefore, we agree that vehicle ownership should be assigned legal accountability by requiring registration, licensure by its owner and evidence of insurance for events that cause damage to the owner and others.

Should we not adopt similar accountability for firearms? When sold, each firearm is linked to its owner by registration, regardless of how the weapon is acquired.

The owner is licensed and required to carry insurance and retains liability for the weapon until the weapon’s registration is legally transferred to another person. The insurance premium is related to the relative lethal impact and other actuarially determined factors.

While this recommendation does not replace other recommendations to minimize the risk of weapon related-catastrophes, it could augment such efforts.

Yes, illegal possession will remain a problem, as will criminal activities that result in tragedies and mayhem in our communities. Yet it may cause owners of firearms to take greater care in securing weapons from unintended access for which they are held legally liable.

Liana B. Teteberg

Park City

First Published Feb 17 2013 06:14 pm • Last Updated Feb 17 2013 11:07 pm