Should parents be charged when a child uses their gun?

[Professor]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/22/justice/n ... -shooting/

Basically, the student in the story above seems to have used his parents' gun to kill a teacher and wound 2 students, before killing himself.

My question is this: Should parents who do not take proper precautions with their firearms also be prosecuted as accessories to the crimes that their children commit with the gun?

Please note that I said "proper precautions". If a parent has a gun safe, trigger lock, etc. on their gun and the child defeats those features, then I think that the parent has done all that can be reasonably expected. But, if a parent just has a gun in a drawer, unsecured and loaded, should they also be held liable?

In this specific circumstance, I'm leaning towards "yes". Parents should take precautions to not allow their children to access firearms without supervision. I don't know if such things should be the same in all situations (child steals car, child takes a knife, etc.). But, for firearms and children, I think that we should start prosecuting parents. Perhaps if parents secured their firearms more often, we wouldn't have these types of situations as often.

[Indy]

I think that's reasonable but hoo boy the NRA is going to go nuts over a proposal like that.

[gla22]

I wouldn't prosecute them for murder, I think that is overkill, prosecute them for failing to secure their weapon around their children. There is no point in further ruining the life of someone who is probably pretty distressed over what their son did. The point of the law should be to serve as a deterrent for parents being negligent with their firearms.

I think it is equally absurd that when a criminal is running from the cops, and a cop accidentally runs over a pedestrian during the chase, the criminal becomes liable. Not only is it unjust but it disincentivizes cops to take precautions for safeguarding human life.

[Professor]

[gla22]

Well maybe some jail time would serve as good deterrent, like 6 months. There will always be some bad parents who are negligent no matter what the repercussions.

On a general note I would be happy if the government took a little more time understanding the effects of their laws to from rational policies especially when it comes to spending for "economic stimulus." If the growth created doesn't result in more tax income than the cost to implement the stimulus measures the government is just digging itself a deeper hole.

[exploited]

There should already be a law against unsafe storage. If there isn't, that is nuts. At the very least require a lockbox for handguns and a secure room or safe for long guns. The idea that people are allowed to leave their guns laying around, especially with kids around, is retarded.

[gla22]

[The Dude]

I think they should be criminally liable for something like negligence.

I think they should be civilly liable to have all their assets taken from them by the affected families.

[Winchester]

Easier to just lock up the ammo and restrict ammo sales to non-minors.

[Winchester]