[clue-talk] Heller

[Jed S. Baer]

On Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:45:56 -0600
David Rudder wrote:

> Does anyone on this list own a gun with a trigger lock?  Does it really 
> make it impossible to defend your home?  I have drawer locks on the 
> drawers in my kitchen, but I can still use my knives and cleaning 
> chemicals, it just takes an additional 10 seconds to get to them.

Getting into your knife drawer in the kitchen is a far cry from being
able to disengage a trigger lock at 3am, when you've just been awakened
by a strange noise in your house, and you fear that there might be an
intruder present. You get an adrenaline rush, and that has various
physical effects. When your life, and that of your family, is potentially
on the line, any impedement to swift deployment of the means of self
defense could be fatal. You don't want to be fumbling with a trigger lock
in such an event.

There are also known cases of trigger locks being involved in negligent
discharges.

How about a thought experiment. Suppose let's have a law that says that
police must keep trigger locks on their pistols, and only remove them
when the need to actually use the pistol arrises. No cop I've ever known
would submit to such a ridiculous requirement, because they can't always
predict in advance when the need to shoot will arise. Neither can the
citizen at home in bed.

For those people who are concerned about kids, for example, accidentally
getting hold of a gun, there are other solutions less problematic than a
trigger lock. I don't have any kids in the house. In fact, rarely is
there anyone here other than myself. I keep a loaded pistol handy,
without a trigger lock, and in over 20 years, never had any safety
problems.

jed