{"id":427,"date":"2016-08-19T01:32:20","date_gmt":"2016-08-18T20:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rushtonlawnashville.com\/?p=427"},"modified":"2016-08-19T17:18:11","modified_gmt":"2016-08-19T12:18:11","slug":"criminalizing-guns-in-the-bedroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rushtonlawnashville.com\/?p=427","title":{"rendered":"Criminalizing Guns in the Bedroom."},"content":{"rendered":"

Your constitutional right to privacy blankets your bedroom.\u00a0\u00a0 The right to privacy “penumbras” give you the right to marry, use birth control, have children, and more.\u00a0 These rights are not written in black ink as part of our Constitution.\u00a0 Rather, they have been interpreted (judicia\"kid-gun-drawer\"lly inferred) from the Constitution and are part of the fundamental rights we enjoy as citizens. \u00a0Our culture and current political environment have produced the expansion of these judicially inferred rights in recent years, with likely more to come. \u00a0It is ironic that as judicially created personal privacy rights expand, some seek to limit an actual black and white Constitutional right \u2013 the Second \u00a0Amendment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recently, a couple in Colbert County, Alabama found their bedroom in the constitutional spotlight after a tragic accident<\/a>.\u00a0 Like many people, William and Chelsie Whitfield kept a gun in their bedroom, the most private and intimate space of a home. The couple had recently experienced crime in their neighborhood, including having their cars broken into and one of their neighbor\u2019s homes burglarized.\u00a0 In July 2016, family members visited the home, including a 2-year old boy.\u00a0 The boy and his mother found their way to the Whitfield\u2019s bedroom where the child discovered a firearm in or on Mr. Whitfield\u2019s night stand while his mom was on the phone.\u00a0 He tragically shot himself.<\/span><\/p>\n

As heart breaking as this is, it got worse when William and Chelsie Whitfield found themselves to be the subject of a grand jury investigation.\u00a0 The Whitfields were indicted for involuntary manslaughter. Mr. Whitfield\u2019s attorney, Billy Underwood, stated Mr. Whitfield was not home when the accident happened and did not know anyone would be in his bedroom.\u00a0 The District Attorney for Colbert County, Bryce Graham Jr., said the indictment is about \u201crecklessness and irresponsibility\u201d and not about the Second Amendment or gun ownership.\u00a0 Mrs. Whitfield\u2019s indictment appears to be based on her knowledge that there was a loaded gun in the bedroom but did not do anything about it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia have enacted \u201cchild access prevention\u201d laws.\u00a0 Alabama<\/a> is not one of them.\u00a0 Thus, it appears Colbert County is attempting to create case law in the absence of legislative action on the issue.\u00a0 States with the CAP laws are reluctant to enforce them<\/a>, especially on parents who may have just lost their child. \u00a0The question presented then is, is it reckless and irresponsible to place a loaded firearm in your private bedroom where others are not expected to be present? Should we prepare for any possible nosy neighbor or errant child\u00a0to rummage through our belongings even in our most private space?<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, a loaded gun was in the most private place in a home, the master bedroom.\u00a0 No, the child was not closely supervised.\u00a0 Distractions happen.\u00a0 Children have a remarkable ability of finding their way into gorilla cages, drawers, medicine cabinets, unattended pools or even eating button-sized batteries<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Guns mistaken as toys. \u00a0Pools left unsupervised.\u00a0 Button batteries or medicine mistaken as candy.\u00a0 Anything from the inherently innocuous to not can be dangerous to an unsupervised child.\u00a0 However, we are not arresting and charging the grieving relatives with a crime when a child dies from eating an a forgotten car remote battery or from accidentally drowning in a pool.\u00a0 Is leaving the battery on the coffee table \u201creckless and irresponsible\u201d?\u00a0 Are education and awareness better routes than indictment, arrest and prosecution?\u00a0 Would a civil lawsuit make more sense than a criminal indictment?<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite District Attorney Graham\u2019s \u201cassurance\u201d this case is not about the Second Amendment, it is increasingly clear that gun ownership, use and or advocacy are indeed in the cross hairs. \u00a0Anti-gun advocates desire stricter controls up to the government removal of citizen-owned guns. One presidential candidate has even questioned if the Second Amendment is an actual “right”. \u00a0Whether you are pro or anti-gun, Republican or Democrat, the erosion or criminalization of our rights, whether it be one created by interpretation or by original ink, should concern us all.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Your constitutional right to privacy blankets your bedroom.\u00a0\u00a0 The right to privacy “penumbras” give you the right to marry, use birth control, have children, and more.\u00a0 These rights are not written in black ink as part of our Constitution.\u00a0 Rather, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[149,155,156,150,152,153,151,154],"class_list":["post-427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-litigation","tag-2nd-amendment","tag-accidental-shooting","tag-child-safety","tag-criminalizing-guns","tag-gun-law","tag-gun-security","tag-second-amendment","tag-todder-death"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t