In the last week in Gig Harbor, Puyallup and Bonney Lake, three separate burglary attempts were disrupted by armed homeowners. Since each resident emerged without injury, you would think that here, at least, are excellent examples of the proper use of firearms.

You would be right, and you would be wrong.

All three incidents were daytime burglaries, the most common time frame for such crimes. All three were precipitated by using a ploy -homes were targeted when residents failed to respond to knocks on the front door. From this point the details diverge.

In Gig Harbor two burglars fled when the resident appeared …

Read more »

There is at least one commonality between the role of parent and that of gun owner – both require a heightened level of personal responsibility. Ensuring the safety of children is an instinctual trait for our species. Being a responsible gun owner just makes good sense. When both these roles are ignored, the results can be tragic.

As I began research for this column, the circumstances surrounding the February 22 accidental shooting of an 8-year-old girl in a Port Orchard elementary school were well-documented (Trib 3/13). On the heels of this tragedy came the …

Read more »

In December, 1997, I was visiting family in California. My thoughts at the time were reserved for the imminent birth of my second child and thus far away from my Puget Sound area home that was being blanketed with record snowfall.

Unfortunately, the snow that accumulated in my driveway for a week proved a tempting target for two roving meth addicts looking for empty houses. The tweakers loaded up their vehicle (and my car), and took everything. With apologies to Dr. Seuss, the twitchy grinches took  more than just pop-guns and pantookas – the burglars found my gun safe, pulled …

Read more »

On Monday California’s governor demonstrated that the federal decree known as the 2nd Amendment is open to interpretation by states.  With Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature, California has outlawed the open carrying of firearms in public.

Proponents of the right to bear arms–specifically to do so openly and in public–must now add California as the sixth state to outlaw open carry (not including Washington, D.C.).

The legislation signed by Brown was propelled by concerned citizens as well as anti-gun lobbyists and activists and then serenaded to the governor’s desk by a statewide chorus of police chiefs. But …

Read more »