Editorial: Most important part of gun ownership is responsibility
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With great power comes great responsibility.
That’s more than just a good life lesson from the pages of a comic book. It’s an undeniable truth.
The more power we hold in our hands, the more responsible we are for what we do with it. Drive a car, and you have to follow the traffic rules. Drink alcohol, and you are held to account for the stupid things you do after too many beers. Post something on social media that goes out to a million people around the internet, and you could face consequences at work or even in court.
But there may be no more obvious example than a gun. While there is plenty of argument about gun rights, the responsibility side of the equation has to be part of the conversation.
The majority of gun owners are thoughtful, careful rule followers. We know this because there are hundreds of millions of guns big and small in the United States — a considerable chunk of them in Pennsylvania — and yet the number of deaths is under 40,000 per year. There are another 115,000 or so injuries.
This makes sense because to own a gun is to accept that you are holding in your hand the ability to kill, whether that’s an animal or another person. For whatever reason, its purpose is lethal, and that must be approached with an appreciation of that power.
Those who support the Second Amendment and those who support gun control may be opposing forces, but they have a common enemy that both should work to bring to heel: the irresponsible gun owner.
As of Nov. 18, 32 guns had been caught this year at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints at Pittsburgh International Airport alone. Another six were picked up at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity.
Whether these guns were forgotten or deliberately carried or packed outside of the TSA’s regulations for transporting a firearm, the outcome is the same. It’s a lack of responsibility, just like speeding through a school zone. Maybe it doesn’t seem like a big deal, but a gun owner should always know where the guns are and should always handle them safely according to the law.
And sometimes the stakes are higher than the hefty fine that can be faced for bringing a gun through the airport. Sometimes it is an absolutely unpayable debt, like the loss of 4-year-old boy in Pittsburgh on Nov. 22 in what appeared to be a self-inflicted wound. Less than 12 hours later, a 5-year-old boy in Penn Hills died, with police saying his 6-year-old sibling picked up a gun as three children were left unsupervised in a room with a loaded weapon.
We can argue about what the Second Amendment means and what gun control should include. What should be an undeniable truth for all sides is that both the right and the power that comes with owning or using a gun must carry an equal measure of responsibility.