There is still a week left in January, and if this month’s events are just the opening salvo of 2025, we all have a long year ahead of us. Mixed into the barrage of wildfires, generational blizzards and terror attacks has also been a school shooting. You hate to refer to it as the first of the year, but recent history has taught us that is likely what it was.

Here at home, this week brought what is appearing more and more to have been the accidental shooting of one teenager by another at a home on Ash Street. The initial information we received concerning the incident was that the kids found a weapon in the home where they were all hanging out, but law enforcement is investigating whether or not it was brought into the house by one of the visiting teens. Regardless of how the firearm made its way into that home, one teenager is now in critical condition and  another is facing an aggravated assault charge as an adult.

Also this week, local law enforcement has received more reports of vehicles being burglarized, with firearms – both pistols and hunting rifles – appearing to have been the targets of the crimes. 

In both of these situations, the incidents likely could have been avoided by simply securing the weapons in a better manner. Now, listen: This is no sermon. I grew up with guns in the home and they were far from locked up. I also grew up being more afraid of what my dad would do to me if I touched a firearm without his permission than I was of accidentally shooting myself. I also carry a pistol now,..like pretty much always. It’s a fundamental right I exercise and take very seriously. But, what I have come to understand over the years (because believe me when I say this problem isn’t specific to Vicksburg) is that in a world where we increasingly feel the need to have firearms in our homes and vehicles for safety, it’s only logical that we should realize that danger extends to the potential of those guns being stolen.

My point here is not that guns are evil and shouldn’t be in homes or cars. I won’t even go as far as to recommend gun safes or leaving them unloaded, because what’s the point, right? What burglar is going to wait for you to open your safe and load your weapon before trying to hurt you or a family member? I get it. What I am advocating is just some small adjustments in how we handle our legal firearms.

I don’t think any of you would be shocked if I showed you the statistics that point out the enormous amount of gun crimes that are committed with stolen firearms that were legally obtained by their original owners. We all know that’s the case. And if it turns out the shooting this week on Ash Street was a total accident, that won’t be all that surprising either. What is shocking is what it takes for us to make the minor changes in our routines needed to avoid these situations.

Certainly we can all find better ways to secure our guns at home in a way that we, the responsible adults, know how to access them for safety and that still keeps them out of at least the line of sight of our kids. And certainly we can all remember to take the guns out of our cars at night – even in our own driveways, or when we know we are parking in a place that might draw added attention to our vehicles. 

I don’t think law enforcement is asking too much of us in their requests for us to do those things. Because I see the comments after arrests are made or when a vehicle is burglarized. People get mad. Big mad! But, how mad can we get if we aren’t willing to do our part? 

We all love to tell each other that if you don’t go vote, you don’t get to complain later about things. Well, this isn’t much different. No one is trying to take a right away, but if we aren’t willing to exercise it responsibly, we really don’t have room to complain about the crimes we may not have helped commit, but certainly didn’t do anything to prevent.

Blake Bell is the general manager and executive editor of The Vicksburg Post. He can be reached at blake.bell@vicksburgpost.com.