Something that Mas Ayoob said in a recent podcast was along the lines that some trainers are starting to include an addition to the 4 rules. The "5th rule" is some variation on securing firearms from unauthorized access.
Mas has cerainly earned a place at the table on this, and can speak for himself.
What I can say for me, after some thought, is that I am currently in favor of the addition. Up until now, I was in agreement with Col Cooper’s admonition "We need all four; we don’t need another," but the times have changed, and I believe that if the community doesn’t police itself voluntarily, then we will eventually end up being policed by the great unwashed, involuntarily. See Washington State for reference.
I like the idea of all those signs at ranges and gun stores being updated with "all guns should be secure from unauthorized access"
Note, I did not say "locked up" or "locked in a safe container when not in use" but "secure from unauthorizwd access."
That’s it. Such a sentence can encompass everything from safe storage, to retention and OC concerns. It is all but impossible to legislate against every potential; much better that the wider firearms community embrace the idea of keeping their property away from people who’d abuse the tools—with the same attention currently given to "keeping the finger off the trigger," in all it’s iterations and levels of competency. This is something that needs to be injected into the gun culture, and I’d prefer it be enacted by education, consensus, habit and tradition rather than legislative force.
Discuss.