Guest Opinion Essay

Gun Deaths: Don’t Blame Gun Makers

Mike Macharsky
Community Outreach Director
YMCA/YWCA
Allentown, PA

This is in response to the “Child’s Death Not Gun Maker’s Fault” (April 2002).

To sue a gun manufacturer because a 3-year-old found a gun under his father’s mattress, loaded it and accidentally killed himself is one of the reasons that our society has gotten as bad as it has. It is the owner or user of these guns who are to blame, not the manufacturers. Are you going to sue General Motors if your child takes the keys to your car, drives it and accidentally kills himself?

Parents are too eager to put the blame and hold others accountable for their ignorance and their lack of responsibility. If you choose to own a gun, it is your responsibility to ensure that it doesn’t fall into the hands of a curious child.

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