Ethical? Interactive map of gun permit holders

A felony? Cite your sources.

 

The rate of childhood sexual assault is about <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/29/us/rate-of-child-sexual-abuse-on-the-decline.html?_r=0">1 in 1,160</a>. <a href="http://www.stopitnow.org/csa_fact_who_abuse">In 93 percent of childhood sexual assault cases</a>, the offender is someone they know. The recidivism rate for sex offenders on the registry <a href="http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/rsorp94.pdf">is about 1 in 19</a> (PDF).

While the <a href="http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/AAP/29103">odds of a child being injured or killed by a firearm are not as great (about 1 in 4,000),</a> firearm injuries to children under age 19 continue to rise, and <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20121430-10391704.html">the rate may be higher</a> than previously thought.

More than one-third of U.S. homes with children have a gun in the house. Of those, 43 percent keep at least one weapon unlocked and/or without a trigger lock. (<a href="http://med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/guns.htm">Citation</a>)

Most unintentional firearm-related deaths among children <a href="http://www.childrenshospital.org/az/Site905/mainpageS905P0.html">occur in or around the home</a>; 50 percent at the home of the victim, and 40 percent at the home of a friend or relative.

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Yes, it's important to have a sex offender map. But your child is more likely to come into contact with an unsecured weapon than someone on the sex offender registry. Do you know with certainty which of your relatives, friends, neighbors, babysitters have a weapon in the home? And how they've secured it?

Parents, do you ask about the presence of weapons when your child goes for a playdate?

 

"Freakonomics" argued that swimming pools kill more children than guns. Why not an interactive map of residential pools?

 

I don't doubt that swimming pools pose a huge risk. The biggest difference is that pools aren't a hidden object.

Chances are good you know all the homes in your neighborhood that have a pool, even if you haven't been to that home. Or if your child will be going swimming at a friend's house, the parents will say, "Oh, make sure Timmy brings a swimsuit and towel," so you're aware there's a pool. You as a parent can visually inspect the level of security around the pool -- does it have a fence? Lock? Life preserver?

Weapons are hidden objects. You might know how your close relatives/friends secure their weapons, but for casual neighbors/friends, you don't know if it's under a mattress or in a gun safe. So do you ask? Or is it too awkward? Would knowing who has a gun permit help facilitate that conversation, or help you decide where your kids play?

 

Will this be OK: "Be sure Timmy wears his kevlar"?

 

We live in the South. The local paper had a piece a few years back about half of local parents not wanting their kids to play at a home where anyone ever uses a gun, and the other half not wanting their kids to play at a home where anyone ever drinks alcohol.

 

A story about pools with an interactive map might be quite entertaining if it overlaid the map with the information on which people had actually gotten the permits to build such, and also paid taxes, if applicable, on the increased property values.

And I've worked at a place that ran a list of concealed weapons permit holders and the reaction pretty much reminded me that most people shouldn't have concealed permits or guns for that matter.

 

Come on, you have to be a full-tilt moron (or an aspiring pederast) not to recognize the benefits of an easily searchable online sex offender registry.

 

I'd still like him to answer whether he thinks a grown man raping/molesting a 10-year-old boy is a major or a minor offense.

Regardless of whether he's an act or not, it tells a lot about how much attention he warrants.

 

It's just odd to me that people who legally own guns feel the need to keep it a big secret.

Same with concealed weapons. The fact that some states allow you to walk around in public places (Starbucks, playgrounds, whatever) while packing heat is whack. Why not just wear it on a holster so everyone can see not to mess with you? Isn't that the point of owning a (non-hunting) gun anyway?

 

If I'm carrying openly, two things occur: a guy who wants to do something bad knows who has a gun and either takes me out first or knocks me out to get my weapon, and the other is that people who are irrationally afraid of a legal firearm call the cops because some "bad" man is drinking coffee or buying gas with a gun on his hip.

If some of you knew how many people you interacted with daily who are carrying concealed you'd probably shit your pants.

 

I'm pretty good at picking out folks who are carrying. What scares me is I know how little training is required in this state, and yet I see people with weapons everywhere. I'm sure some are LEOs or have undergone extensive firearm training, but where I live, I don't like the odds.