>
> Yet another big factor in this is if you had a family. I think it would be very dangerous if a married man or woman with children were to keep a gun in his/her house. There would be the problem of keeping it securely locked away and out of the reach of children...especially if it were loaded.


I believe the law where I live requires that guns be stored, unloaded, in a locked cabinet/box/whatever *separately* from where the ammunition is stored.* The "loaded gun on top of the wardrobe" just wouldn't happen (or wouldn't happen legally, anyway) ...rendering the gun fairly useless for self-defense-in-a-hurry. Although waving an unloaded weapon can have its own certain impact, I suppose, if that's all the time you had to do.

Funny we should be talking about guns--in clearing out my Dad's house, I discovered a rifle
that I have no idea what to do with. It's wrapped up in 40-year-old newspaper, which probably doesn't bode well for its condition (don't you have to oil or clean these things more than once every 40 years?) I don't want it, and am not really sure how to get rid of it--I mean, you can't just sell guns at a garage sale, can you?

koala"the hazmat items I found in the garage are probably more dangerous than the gun"mom



*I don't remember if this only applies to households with minors...or universally. The intent of the law, though, was to keep guns inacessible to children.