Tragic deaths emphasize need for firearm safety

Charlotte Jolly might be alive today if a group of teen boys had not found a rifle in the back of an old Cadillac.

The 19-year-old woman, already a mother, was shot in the chest by that rifle in a back alley episode that did not have to happen.

Her killer, age 16, and his friends were wandering around Saskatoon’s west side after smoking pot. They broke the window on an old car, cracked the steering column and drove away – later finding the rifle under old coats in the back seat.

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What should have been a minor altercation turned into a tragedy because of the discovery and theft of that rifle. The youth would otherwise have been unarmed when he encountered Jolly that night.

It’s not the only gun death story recently in the news, illustrating the potentially disastrous outcomes of poor gun storage.

In Jaffray, B.C., on June 16, a 10-year-old boy got hold of a loaded shotgun and accidentally killed 17-year-old Michael Justin Voth.

According to police, there were five teens and the 10-year-old in the house at the time, but no evidence of partying, drug use or drinking. The gun was unsecured in the home, and police may press charges against the gun’s owner.

On June 21, a Warman, Sask., man was fined and placed on probation for keeping a loaded and unsecured rifle in his home.

That oversight led to a 13-year-old guest killing his own 23-year-old brother a year ago. The boy did not know the gun was loaded, and pulled the trigger as he showed the rifle to his brother.

According toThe StarPhoenix,at the gun owner’s trial, crown prosecutor Janet McIvor described him as a model gun owner and hunter who, like many people in rural Saskatchewan, was lax about gun storage in the house.

It is so easy to keep a loaded firearm near the door or in the truck. Vermin of all kinds enter the farmyard: some are dangerous to livestock, and some also to people. Other dangers lurk when you’re miles from neighbours and police support.

But loaded guns put everyone at risk. Children find them; friends handle them; vandals steal them. When tragedies occur, the fines and stipulations on firearm ownership are minor compared to what the gun owner will have to deal with for the rest of his or her life.

Guns must be secured, no matter how safe it seems to have it hidden in a closet behind a coat.

There are laws governing the storage, handling and transport of guns. Even these laws are not necessarily adequate: whoever stored his gun in the back of the Cadillac did have it out of sight, and did not have it loaded – although the ammunition was all too accessible.

SAFETY RULES

Laws intended to keep us safe should not be viewed as suggestions. So, as a safety reminder, here are the rules for non-restricted firearms.

• Individuals may store non-restricted firearms only if they are not loaded.

• Guns must be rendered inoperable with a secure locking device, removal of the bolt or bolt-carrier, or stored in a container, receptacle or room that is securely locked and cannot be easily broken into.

• Ammunition must not be readily accessible unless stored in a locked room or receptacle, as above.

• When transporting firearms, they cannot be loaded. They must be locked in a secure trunk or compartment, and they cannot be visible from the exterior of the vehicle.

Keeping these requirements in mind, please have an extremely safe summer.

Bruce Dyck, Terry Fries, Barb Glen, D’Arce McMillan and Joanne Paulson collaborate in the writing of Western Producer editorials.