What I want to know, is when we start demanding responsibility (and consequences) from gun owners?
In the Waffle House shooting, it appears that the father gave guns back to his obviously very mentally ill, very paranoid son, despite telling law enforcement he would not do so. If this is true, then as a result of that action, 4 people are dead.
This should not be covered by an 'oops, my bad'. I don't care if he's a legal gun owner or if he had the 'right' to loan guns to his son. 4 people are dead. His son did the shooting, but the father should be just as culpable. He should be on the hook for homicide, and the full weight of the law brought against him. But he won't be, because existing laws can't hold him accountable (and what few ones there are for this sort of thing are almost never enforced.)
Same goes for the parent who has a child shoot another because they left their loaded firearm on a side table, in easy reach.
Same goes for the 20-something guy who leaves his guns unsecured, so that his roommate can steal them and go on a shooting rampage at a nearby mall.
Same goes for the mother of the mentally ill boy who thought the answer to his mental illness was to give him access to guns. (A glass-fronted gun case is not secure, folks). In her case, she paid the ultimate price for that bit of stupidity--but so did a lot of little kids who didn't need to die.
That's where I'm at these days in regards to guns. If I own a gun, then I should be F#
@$!! responsible for it AT ALL TIMES. If it's not on my person, it should be locked up. If it's not, and someone else gets their hands on it and commits a crime with it, then I should be held equally responsible by the law for that crime. And if I'm not comfortable with that responsibility, then I shouldn't own a gun.