If a gun owner’s gun is used in a murder, the owner should be charged with second-degree murder, full stop. When you own a gun, it is your responsibility to keep and secure it properly. I don’t care if it’s stolen or whatever, that gun is ultimately the responsibility of the owner. That’s the social contract when acquiring a device whose sole purpose is to kill.
I think stolen is too far as long as the gun owner acts responsibly following the theft and reports it to the police but otherwise, I completely agree. Owning a gun should come with personal accountability for that gun.
If the gun owner did not properly secure the weapon, and this led to theft, they should definitively be held responsible. In some areas in the US, when you steal a car, you get a free firearms collection with it.
Guy I grew up with had his truck broken into outside a hotel a couple years ago. They stole a bunch of his tools from the cab and tool box in the bed but left a pistol that was sitting on his passenger seat, another one that was sitting on the case of his diagnostics tool that was sitting on top of his center console, which they stole, along with the ammo and a rifle he had in the toolbox in the bed of his truck. I agree storing shit like that is irresponsible and should also be met with consequences, although some establishments you can’t take a gun into so having it cleared and in a locked gun case in the vehicle I believe to be a reasonable measure. Only reason I can imagine they left all his guns and ammo behind is that there must be more significant charges and/or investigative resources that go into a situation where firearms are involved where he lives.
In my country, burglers usually avoid stealing weapons. If you break in and steal some money or jewelry, your case comes into the pile with the others. If you steal firearms on top of it, your case is put on the top of the stack with a bunch more people assigned to it.
But your case just proves it: American gun owners are rather neglient when it comes to securing their weapons. Most likely because the both the training and requirements as well as the question on responsibility is basically just not there.
In some countries, if you own a firearm and it gets stolen or lost, or someone else takes it, you simply lose your licence or ownership permit.
If a gun owner’s gun is used in a murder, the owner should be charged with second-degree murder, full stop. When you own a gun, it is your responsibility to keep and secure it properly. I don’t care if it’s stolen or whatever, that gun is ultimately the responsibility of the owner. That’s the social contract when acquiring a device whose sole purpose is to kill.
I think stolen is too far as long as the gun owner acts responsibly following the theft and reports it to the police but otherwise, I completely agree. Owning a gun should come with personal accountability for that gun.
If the gun owner did not properly secure the weapon, and this led to theft, they should definitively be held responsible. In some areas in the US, when you steal a car, you get a free firearms collection with it.
Guy I grew up with had his truck broken into outside a hotel a couple years ago. They stole a bunch of his tools from the cab and tool box in the bed but left a pistol that was sitting on his passenger seat, another one that was sitting on the case of his diagnostics tool that was sitting on top of his center console, which they stole, along with the ammo and a rifle he had in the toolbox in the bed of his truck. I agree storing shit like that is irresponsible and should also be met with consequences, although some establishments you can’t take a gun into so having it cleared and in a locked gun case in the vehicle I believe to be a reasonable measure. Only reason I can imagine they left all his guns and ammo behind is that there must be more significant charges and/or investigative resources that go into a situation where firearms are involved where he lives.
In my country, burglers usually avoid stealing weapons. If you break in and steal some money or jewelry, your case comes into the pile with the others. If you steal firearms on top of it, your case is put on the top of the stack with a bunch more people assigned to it.
But your case just proves it: American gun owners are rather neglient when it comes to securing their weapons. Most likely because the both the training and requirements as well as the question on responsibility is basically just not there.
In some countries, if you own a firearm and it gets stolen or lost, or someone else takes it, you simply lose your licence or ownership permit.