Jacquelyn Wells unexpectedly started a useful discussion about guns when she announced on her Facebook page that she had joined the NRA.

Jim Glickman posted a link to The New York Times opinion piece Once Again, Guns.

I think we gun control advocates have misdirected our efforts a bit.  Rather than advocate tougher gun purchase restrictions, we should concentrate some of our efforts on trying to control the consequences of mis-handled, but legally purchased guns.

One way to do this would be to pass laws that make gun owners responsible for any damages caused by their guns, whether legally owned or not.

I haven’t heard the details of how the latest high school shooter came into possession of his gun, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it were owned by one of his parents in a legally acceptable way including background checks.

One way to make gun owners much more circumspect in how they handle, control, and give access to their guns, would be to make them have some legally recognized liability for the consequences of their gun ownership.

If you knew that you could be fined and possibly sent to prison if your gun fell into the wrong hands and was used to commit a crime, then you would really try harder to make sure such a thing could not happen.  If you knew that you could not own a gun safely enough to protect yourself from this liability, it might give you second thoughts on your need or desire to own a gun.

The really basic problem with gun ownership is not merely restricting ownership to people who seem like they wouldn’t personally use them illegally.  The basic problem is controlling what happens with a gun after its sale.