Federal trigger-lock mandate.(Correction, Please!)

ITEM: Last year, as noted by the Appleton Post-Crescent (Wis.) for July 19, a bill was signed into law "that required trigger locks on all handguns sold." The law passed "as part of a larger, misguided measure that gave the gun industry immunity from some types of lawsuits. But the House of Representatives [this summer] pulled a fast one on a public that overwhelmingly favors gun locks." In July, "the House passed an amendment to a law-enforcement bill that overturns the law by prohibiting its enforcement." The sponsor of the amendment, noted the paper, said the mandatory lock was an extra cost to gun owners. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.) called it the "equivalent to a tax on citizens who purchase firearms." But, argued the Post-Crescent, "at about $5, it's hardly an overwhelming burden. Instead, trigger locks are a 'weapon' in the fight against tragedy."

Citing figures by the Centers for Disease Control indicating that "1.7 million American kids live in households with unlocked, loaded guns," the paper also said that "about 150 kids died from accidental gunshot wounds in the United States in 2003." The newspaper editorialized that "Tragically--and sadly--the House representatives who voted to overturn this law don't care enough about the safety of the nation's children."

ITEM: The Tennessean for July 17, complaining about the House action, opined that the "trigger-lock requirement has one simple purpose--to prevent handgun accidents, particularly among children."

CORRECTION: Liberals have become overly fond of using children as props to impose more regulations and taxation or to impinge on personal freedoms--in the guise of protecting supposed helpless youngsters.

While it would be hard to find someone responsible who does not believe that gun owners should pay close attention to the safety and supervision of their weapons, a federal mandate requiring trigger locks is not the solution.

The child-safety rationale for this law itself does not stand up to scrutiny. After all, overall accidental firearms deaths have been steadily decreasing and are a very minor proportion of all accidental deaths, according to official figures from the National Safety Council and National Center for Health Statistics. Consider: the annual number of accidental firearms deaths has dropped 77 percent since 1930, at the same time the nation's population more than doubled and the number of firearms has increased fivefold; firearms deaths are at an all-time low, overall and for children; and, firearms are involved in but 0.65 percent of accidental deaths nationwide, about 1 percent among children--behind many other means of death.

Should the feds put mandatory locks on doctors? No sensible person would urge that--but medical mistakes do result in about twice the number of accidental deaths as firearms. When Rep. Musgrave was discussing her amendment, she noted that lawn mowers can also be dangerous, and asked rhetorically whether that meant that the Congress should mandate that all lawn mowers be sold with a blade lock. Can automobiles be misused? Of course. But ...