Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Gun ownership

[Bonnie Fergusson (fergyb2]

    It seems to me if you could drain all the
emotional hysteria out of the issue (admitedly a
difficult thing to do in this time and place with all
the media continuously stirring up fears) you could
look at gun ownership as somewhat analagous to
dangerous tool ownership.  We have most of our
"dangerous to children or careless adults" tools
locked up in our Common House Workshop which has a key
separate from other commonhouse keys and supposed to
be only available to adult owners.  Individual owners
may chose to keep some such tools in their private
spaces where they are responsible for keeping them out
of the hands of unsupervised children or incomptetent
adults.
    What makes it hard is the extra fascination that
guns have for children and impaired adults so that a
community might rightly fear their communal safety
especially if guns are kept in private spaces & not
locked up.  It all boils down to personal
responsibility and trust in the end, as do so many
things.  The personal morality issue--"no guns because
I don't believe in violence"--rather ignores the work
required or sport or hobby aspects of gun ownership. 
I would think that it might be difficult to enforce a
"no guns allowed" ban in people's individual homes
what with the US Constitutional protection for the
individual citizen's right to bear arms. 
                   Bonnie Fergusson
                   Swan's Cohousing 
                        Oakland,CA



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