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Originally Posted by Choker
You have valid points, but can you find any case history where someone was held CRIMINALLY liable when someone stole their gun and used it illegally? Civil is a different matter, civil cases can go any way. There have been many civil lawsuits against gun makers and gun shops have any of them ever won? Has a gun shop or maker every criminally been held liable?
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No, the law currently does not treat lost or stolen guns this way. I am advocating that guns *should* be treated as Strict Liability matters... not saying that they already are treated that way. Making the change would be as simple as adding a new statute making the 'loss' of any legal gun a Felony. If it were a felony to lose your gun or have it stolen... less people would lose guns and the black-market for guns would quickly dry up in many areas. Also, as previously mentioned, if having your handgun stolen was a felony, any murder proximately caused by that act would constitute felony murder at trial and gun owners would take much more care to secure their arms.
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But again your comparing apples to oranges. Tigers are animals, guns need a human to operate them. My gun is not going to escape its cage and hurt someone. It takes a human committing a felony (theft) to take it from my custody.
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What you say *should* be true, but the simple fact is that more handguns are lost and stolen every year than tigers are lost or stolen. That may surprise you as tigers may try to escape and handguns presumably do not. In my opinion the majority of 'lost or stolen' guns are intentionally 'lost' as part of a black-market operation to put illegal guns on the streets. That is exactly what the law should seek to prevent.
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What if someone criminally broke into this zoo and freed the tigers would the owners of the zoo be held criminally responsible for damage the tigers caused?
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Nobody would keep a hungry tiger in their night table drawer and expect it to stay safe there. Why people keep a loaded handgun in an unlocked night table drawer and expect it to stay safe is beyond me. Furthermore, in the case of Felony Murder it makes absolutely no difference what 'precautions' you take to keep everyone safe. For example, if you are being chased by the cops after a bank heist and choose to go 25 mph in the right lane with your hazard lights on... if anyone dies as a result of the fallout from your felony - you STILL go to jail for murder. Saying the cop was recklessly chasing you does not in any way mitigate your guilt.
The point is, responsible gun ownership is not a problem and never was - irresponsible gun ownership is a massive problem that should be addressed and the responsible gun owners should be willing to step forward in agreement on the issue. For too long people have mistakenly believed gun owners and non-gun owners are at odds. In fact, responsible gun owners and non-gun owners are on the same team... the enemies are irresponsible gun owners and criminals (who in my opinion are exactly the same thing).
