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Comment by SkyMarshal | Hacker News Reader

>It makes the gun owner a lucrative target.

Doesn't it do the opposite though? It gives criminals a map of exactly who they shouldn't rob, lest they risk getting shot. I imagine criminals will go after the softest, easiest targets, not the hardened, well-armed ones.

>Criminals get guns through burgling and robbery.

Are you sure about that? I thought it was more via buying guns in states where they're easy to get and which don't keep registrations or records, then illegally, covertly transporting them across state lines, and then sometimes removing/filing serial numbers and other identifying info.

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>Doesn't it do the opposite though? It gives criminals a map of exactly who they shouldn't rob, lest they risk getting shot. I imagine criminals will go after the softest, easiest targets, not the hardened, well-armed ones.

I'd say thieves generally want to rob when _nobody_ is home so it doesn't matter if they are armed or not. Knowing that there are guns stored in the house is just advertising something specific they might be able to steal.

The general definition is, theft is when nobody is home. Theft is to steal stealthily without the owner the wiser.

Robbery is to steal under threat of force. Give me your wallet or I break your knee caps. That's a robbery.

You don't "rob" when nobody is home.

In the city I reside in, trucks are targeted specifically because many truck owners have guns in the glove box. Just because you have a gun doesn’t mean you’re always around to use it.

Just because you own a gun, using it is not without ramifications.

In high school, my driver's ed instructor (here in California) said (jokingly) if you screw up and hit a person, you better hope they die. The implications of a death on your hands is a bounded lawsuit / jail problem. Someone surviving is a much less constrained problem. While crass, it made a point.

If you shoot someone in self defense and they are killed, you are dealing with voluntary manslaughter as the most likely charge, argue accordingly. If they survive, they get the opportunity to muddy the waters.

I would call this being an incredibly irresponsible gun owner, and shows that maybe you shouldn't have a gun.

Either it is on your person or locked in a safe.

that's comforting to know.

I've never understood the glove box gun. Either carry it on your person or leave it home in the safe.

Employers have rules about no guns in the building. Stores post signs asking you not to carry. I wouldn’t even think of carrying into a bank or a police department office.

> It gives criminals a map of exactly who they shouldn't rob, lest they risk getting shot.

This is the mythos the gun owners fashion for themselves, but in reality, they don't live in forts camped out behind sandbags. They only have two hands, work day jobs, own cookie-cutter houses in the suburbs, drink at night, have kids and bitter ex-spouses, follow predictable routines, and are as bad at security as everybody else.

There are plenty of opportunities to get the drop on a gun hoarder. Being brazen has its rewards.

I imagine organized criminals would say hmm, let's wait until they're gone away for the weekend, bet they're not taking all those assault rifles with them.

If I’m looking to steal guns and I know you’ve got them, then I’ll just wait outside your house for you to leave and then go in and get them. Or worse.

Depends on the criminal. Some are after goods they can quickly sell - others are after guns they can use to help commit more crimes. I imagine most criminals will not consult this document, but of those who do, some will be avoiding those houses and some will be directly going to those houses.

And yeah, you risk getting shot if you just barge into a house with a strapped owner, but all you need to do is ambush him when he's going to his car, or just enter his house when he isn't at home.

Firearms are nice targets for thieves because they are have a high profit-to-size ratio, are easy to fence, and are untraceable (unlike, say electronics that have built in tracking devices).

> and are untraceable (unlike, say electronics that have built in tracking devices).

That much doesn't really matter. It's still lucrative to steal iPhones and fence them at those "recycle your device" kiosks.

Even if the owner calls the police and leads them to the box, there's nothing they will do-- by the time they get a warrant, the phone will be on its way to Brazil.

Not at all, because, as OP mentions, the guns themselves are especially lucrative targets.

People go to work, to school, shopping, on vacation. If you know a gun owner's address you could case it and burgle them when they're not home.

They’ll know the places to target and then go after them when they aren’t home or look for little old ladies etc.

I thought it was well known — the three top things thieves are after: guns, drugs, cash.

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