Insert Usual Headline Here

Well, OK, the one atop the article at TPM is "4-Year-Old Boy Accidentally Shoots, Kills Army Vet Father In Arizona," but if you don't like those details, wait a week: without a doubt, it will happen again with different particulars.

This case is about as forgivable as possible: the boy and his father paid an unannounced visit to a friend 90 miles away; the boy found the gun, which was loaded but not locked up, and the rest... including his father... is history.

I don't know that I can even preach at these people. As one who lives with adults and typically has only adult visitors, I occasionally leave dangerous objects lying around... not guns, but kitchen knives, electric hair clippers plugged in near the bathroom sink, etc. ... that would take me a minute or two to remove from the sight of a curious four-year-old. The host was not charged with a crime, and that seems right to me, but I hope it gives him pause, along with other gun owners who read about the incident or see it on the evening news: just how much gun safety is enough gun safety? If we value the lives of children, it seems as if the answer is "more safety than you imagine necessary in your worst nightmare." Unload 'em, folks, and put 'em away when they're not in use... just don't take chances.

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(OT, Firefox's spelling checker once again fucked me over, insisting that I use "forgiveable" instead of "forgivable." And once again, it's because some minor automatic update changed the spelling checker setting from en_US to en_GB. I never know just when it will decide to do that, and my intolerance grows every time it does...)