A recent letter was titled “Misuse of guns is responsible for deaths.” (Oct. 23) If, in fact, the gentleman did as he said he did with his 12-gauge shotgun, leaving it unattended in his doorway with four shells nearby, I would suggest this is a pregnant demonstration of how we should NOT secure our weapons.

Given the recent incidents of young people using unsecured guns to kill first and second graders, school teachers and family members, all gun owners should be exceptionally careful about leaving any gun unattended and/or unsecured. To do otherwise is dramatic proof that we need laws to compel proper care and security of dangerous weapons.

Those of us who consider ourselves to be responsible gun owners know that the gun by itself is no more the cause of any death than the spoon is responsible for obesity. It is a sense of personal responsibility and the reasonable behaviors that follow that protect our citizens from unwarranted injuries and fatalities.

As for his comparison of spoons to guns, I have seen no evidence that the misuse of the spoon does any real damage to anyone other than the user.

I don’t think the case for more gun control could have been made any more eloquently than was made in his letter.

— Jeremy Sappington