On the recordJuly 22, 1998
I think every one of us know that if you own a pit bull, and you don't keep that pit bull tied up properly, and it mauls some innocent child, that the owner of that pit bull is liable. We have a situation akin to that--not pit bulls, but dangerously loaded weapons that are carelessly strewn about someone's home. A youngster comes in and gets hold of them and uses it for destructive purposes. That person that owns that weapon ought to pay the penalty. The suggestion that this is something strange and unheard of strikes me in itself as being strange. Mr. President, we have seen, all of us, these horrible incidents that have taken place over the past year in schools where youngsters have obtained weapons frequently because the weapons are not properly stored. They are not properly locked up. They are left around not only carelessly, but they are loaded.
Source
govinfo.gov
