A number of states have mandatory storage laws on the books. They’re called “safe storage” laws but they’re really not. They simply mandate that you must store your firearm under specific circumstances regardless of the situation.

Basically, it’s a bunch of non-gun owners who also know nothing about self-defense who vote and decide what you can and cannot do with your own firearm, all in the name of “safety.”

Then there’s the fact that it doesn’t really stop much of anything. After all, if it did, there’s a 14-year-old who wouldn’t be nursing a gunshot wound in Connecticut.

A teen accidentally shot himself Saturday with an unsecured gun in Watertown according to police.

Police were called to a home on Hadley Street around 12:30 p.m., in the Oakville section of town for a potential gunshot wound to a fourteen-year-old boy.

Investigators believe the teen accessed an unsecured firearm from within the home.  The boy had a gunshot wound to the head.  Police said that at this point the discharge appears to be accidental.

Police are currently investigating and if it was one of the boy’s parents’ firearms, they’re going to get charged. As if they’re not already suffering enough under the circumstances.

Which is all that mandatory storage laws will actually do.

They seek to punish people who are generally already suffering to some degree or another, all in an effort to try and “encourage” others to lock their guns up.

Unfortunately, though, there’s a lot we don’t know, such as what exactly is meant by “unsecured.” Most will assume it’s a gun just sitting around, even if hidden, without some kind of lock on it. However, it could also mean one where a child can somehow gain access to a firearm by also accessing the key.

A lot of people think their kid is unaware of where something is hidden when nothing is further from the truth. I can’t think of all the stuff my folks thought I was unaware of that I knew right where to find it. I seriously doubt I was a unique kid in that regard.

Mandatory storage laws, however, also create issues for parents who need their kids to be able to access a firearm. The law actually prohibits a parent from leaving a firearm unsecured so their teenage daughter can get it if someone invades their home while the parents are away for the evening.

I’m sorry, but the law can get bent in a case like that.

At the end of the day, we’re not likely to see much happen with mandatory storage laws. Kids are still going to do stupid things and hurt themselves or someone else because they’re kids and they go out of their way to find stupid stuff to do. You can’t legislate that away.

Mandatory storage laws, however, just let the parents get punished for the actions of others and often at a time when they’re already reeling from whatever just transpired. If we did this anywhere else, there would be widespread outrage. Instead, we have people talking about how we need more laws like this.