Even the penalty for irresponsible gun owners is a relatively minor misdemeanor. A gun owner can be grossly negligent in a way that results in the death of a child and not even lose his gun rights under this bill. Also, the bill doesn't make negligent gun storage a new prosecutable crime. Careless gun owners can already be prosecuted under the state's reckless endangerment and second degree manslaughter statutes. This is the same argument abortion rights extremists use to justify partial birth abortions.
Any restriction whatsoever is treated as the first step toward total abolition.
What they overlook, of course, is that laws that defend the indefensible are themselves a target for the very people they most oppose. Gun owner support for reasonable legislation like this bill forces gun grabber organizations to go along with legislation which they privately believe is far too non-restrictive or be revealed in public as the irrational extremists that they really are. Handgun Control, Inc. refused to support the Washington State safe storage bill at first because they wanted a far more restrictive law and were concerned that this approach would undermine stronger proposed mandated legislation in other states. A broad based coalition and media support for the bill in its current non mandatory storage form forced Handgun Control Inc. to also get behind it. Let's take this opportunity to build a majority coalition in favor of responsible gun ownership in America.