Adopted in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights, the Second Amendment to the US Constitution protects the rights of Americans to keep and bear arms. Unfortunately, that much-discussed document does not require that gun owners have to store their guns properly. In a 2016 survey of 1,444 American gun owners conducted by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 54 percent of firearm owners reported that they do not keep all of their deadly weapons locked up. Households with children under the age of 18 were only slightly safer, with 45 percent of respondents reporting that at least one of the guns in the home is not safely locked and stored.
Rights and responsibilities:
- The survey defined safe storage this way: All guns should be stored in a locked gun safe, cabinet, or case, or locked into a gun rack, or stored with a trigger lock or other lock.
- “The survey findings indicate a real public health emergency,” said lead researcher Cassandra Crifasi, citing the increased risk of homicides, suicides, and unintentional shootings in the home.
- The Second Amendment was partly based on English common law, and influenced by the English Bill of Rights of 1689 -- specifically the right to bear arms for self-defense and resistance to oppression.