In all of the proposed ideas President Barack Obama has in mind for gun control, he left out one that actually would work - harsh penalties for the gun owner or head of household, no exceptions allowed. Harsh penalty for not securing the gun from everyone.
A mother's unstable son couldn't get to it and kill people at a theater. A younger brother couldn't get to the older brother's rifle and shoot up a school. Or a dad's kids couldn't penetrate the gun locker and padlock and shoot up a mall.
We cannot control mental illness, individual anger or hatred toward people, but we can fortress our guns.
Maybe when you buy a gun you must buy an approved gun locker, too. How about that? Too inconvenient? Too bad. Death of kids is more sickening and inconvenient. It's gotta stop.
No excuses any more. Let's make some of these into hard laws and start enforcement to set some examples. I believe people will start securing them pretty quickly after seeing Tommy's mother going to jail. No exceptions.
It's not the guns, it's the owners who don't secure them.
Helen Alipio
Wailuku
