Trigger Locks & Mandatory Storage Laws

1
Trigger Locks Mandatory Storage Laws

• by Jeremy D. Blanks, Ph.D.
• Click your mouse or use Page Down to advance
  each stage of this presentation

2
Proposals and Positions from Gun Control Groups
and Politicians

• Force the sale of a trigger lock with all
  firearms
• Require that all current firearm owners purchase
  a trigger lock
• Mandatory storage laws that demand a firearm be
  locked away and inaccessible regardless of
  personal situation
• Perform inspections and unwarranted searches of
  individual homes to insure that firearms are
  properly stored
• Concerns over storage laws preventing people from
  accessing a firearm for self-defense are
  irrelevant, since most gun control supporters and
  politicians like Bill Clinton and Al Gore do not
  believe law-abiding citizens have a right to
  self-defense against murderers, rapists, and
  other violent felons

3
A Few Facts About Trigger Locks and Guns

• Today, essentially all firearms sold have trigger
  locks with them - as has been the case for many
  years
• Responsible storage is already a part of the
  safety approach of greater than 99 of gun owners
• Accidents are at an all time low due directly to
  educational programs, such as the Eddie Eagle
  program from the National Rifle Association
• Even though the number of firearms has quadrupled
  since 1930, the number of firearm accidents has
  declined by 62

4
More Facts About Trigger Locks and Guns

• Firearms are only involved in just over 1 of
  accidental fatalities, whereas motor vehicles are
  responsible for 47 , falls for 15 , poisons for
  10 , drowning for 4 , fire for 3 , suffocation
  of an ingested object for 3 , and even the
  category other has a higher level than firearms
  
• It is dangerous to store a loaded firearm with a
  trigger lock on it, since such a lock could cause
  the firearm to discharge as has happened numerous
  times
• Trigger locks can create a false sense of
  security, due to the reliance on a lock instead
  of following established safety guidelines

5
Do Trigger Lock Laws Save Lives?

• There is no evidence which shows that trigger
  lock laws save lives
• Responsible gun owners already follow established
  safety guidelines as shown by the fact that
  firearm accidents are at an all time low
• Irresponsible people and criminals will not
  magically use trigger locks due to the passage of
  a law
• To force responsible gun owners to use a trigger
  lock, even though they have secured their firearm
  by other means, will put the individual at a
  disadvantage if the firearm is needed and a lock
  must be removed prior to use
• Trigger locks and similar devices have failed and
  in turn caused accidents and loss of life

6
Trigger Lock Comparison to Child Resistant Safety
Caps on Medicine

• Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and many others have
  compared gun locks to safety caps on medicine
• Such a comparison is fairly accurate and the
  results would be similar
• Research by Harvards Prof. Kip Viscusi has shown
  that child resistant caps have caused an increase
  in accidental poisonings
• People have become more careless with their
  medicines, since they began to rely on child
  resistant caps for protection instead of using
  their basic common sense
• A similar situation would develop with gun locks
• The fact is that no cap is truly resistant - they
  can all be defeated
• The same can be said for trigger locks

7
What Would Be the Results of a Mandatory Storage
Law?

• Compliance with storage laws is not likely since
  inherently irresponsible people will not obey
  such a law
• Enforcement of storage laws would lead to abuses
  of civil liberties
• Unwarranted searches of individual homes would be
  required to confirm compliance with storage laws
• A one size fits all law cannot possibly meet
  the needs or properly address the situations of
  all gun owners - people would be put at risk
• Such mandatory storage laws would handicap a
  person who needs a gun for self-defense against a
  murderer, rapist, or other violent felon
• Today, millions of crimes are prevented every
  year by law-abiding citizens - mandatory storage
  laws would hinder self-defense and cost lives
• Such laws have been called criminal protection
  acts, which is an accurate description

8
How Have Mandatory Storage Laws Affected Crime
and Accidents in Other Countries?

• Canada enacted such laws several years ago
• Canada now has a burglary rate significantly
  higher than that of the United States
• Canadian burglars are three times more likely
  than U.S. burglars to break into a home while it
  is occupied
• Accident rates in Canada actually went up
  following the enactment of such laws
• England enacted safe storage laws in the 1930s
• Not only does England have a higher burglary rate
  than the U.S. and has so for decades, but their
  home invasion rate is also much higher than that
  of the U.S.
• In the U.S., burglars almost always avoid
  occupied homes due directly to their concern over
  armed law-abiding citizens
• The low home invasion rate for the U.S. is
  significant, since many such instances also lead
  to rape, assault, and murder

9
What Were the Results of Mandatory Storage Laws
on Civil Liberties in England?

• In 1936, the British police added a requirement
  to their firearms licenses related to safe
  storage
• Initially, this was a minor point and was
  designed to discourage irresponsible people from
  carelessly storing a firearm
• However, as is the case with gun control laws in
  general, such measures were gradually tightened
  with their goals being changed with time
• Today, self-defense is no longer accepted as a
  sufficient reason for owning a firearm - and thus
  the severity of the storage laws have been
  greatly increased
• Generally, the police in England will not issue a
  permit for a shotgun or hunting rifle without
  first conducting an unwarranted in-home
  inspection
• In most areas, gun safes are no longer sufficient
  storage mechanisms
• In the end, such mandatory storage laws have been
  used to further harass, discourage, and prevent
  law-abiding citizens for owning any type of
  firearm

10
How Should Guns Be Stored?

• The answer to this simple question is very
  complex and dependent on individual situations
• For example, a family with small children living
  in a crime plagued area may prefer alternative
  methods to trigger locks, such as quick access
  safes, since they may need ready access to a
  firearm for self-defense
• On the other hand, a family with small children
  living in an area with little if any crime, may
  prefer to use a safe for their firearms
• In all cases, the parents have a responsibility
  to insure that a firearm does not fall into the
  hands of a child, but there are many ways of
  accomplishing this goal and there are no one
  size fits all solutions
• The best approach is to allow parents, not
  members of Congress or some uninformed gun
  control group, to decide what is best for their
  families
• Educational programs, such as those offered by
  the NRA and other gun safety groups, are key to
  this issue through providing information on the
  available choices for safe storage and general
  gun safety

11
Are There Alternatives to Trigger Lock Laws?

• Education, education, and education!
• Educational programs have consistently shown that
  they have and will prevent accidents involving
  firearms - this is especially true for children
  as is evident by the current all time low
  accident rate
• One study after another has shown that children
  who are educated about firearms early in their
  lives and taught to respect them are not prone to
  be involved in firearm accidents or violence
• One way the government can play a positive role
  in this matter is to offer tax breaks and
  incentives for the purchase of storage items - a
  significant expense for low income families
• The most important point about firearm safety is
  common sense and following safety guidelines -
  there is no law that will increase common sense
  in inherently irresponsible people

12
Conclusions

• Trigger locks are easily defeated and they will
  lead to a false sense of security that will cause
  more accidents
• Such laws will be impossible to impose without
  using unwarranted searches of individual homes to
  insure compliance
• Trigger lock and mandatory storage laws will lead
  to more crime, since the criminals fear of an
  armed citizen will be reduced
• Mandatory storage laws are more accurately termed
  criminal protection acts, due to the
  disadvantages placed on law-abiding citizens who
  may need a firearm for self-defense against a
  home intruder, rapist, murderer, etc.
• Trigger locks will not prevent theft, since such
  devices are easily removed with simple tools
• Education is the proven answer to lowering
  accidents as is evident by the all time low
  levels we are currently enjoying
• Trigger locks and mandatory storage laws cannot
  impose common sense on the inherently
  irresponsible people

13
References and Suggested Reading

• Kopel, D. Volokh, E. What Kids Dont Know Can
  Kill Them, The Cato Institute, May 27, 1999.
  http//www.guncite.com/gun_control_rrtrigger.html
  
• Sherman, R. D. Trigger Locks Are Dangerous, The
  Harford Courant, September 12, 1998.
• Tavares, C. D. Trigger Locks and Airbags,
  Middlesex News, July 19, 1998.
  http//www.goal.org/articles/cdttriggerlocks.htm
  l