At the end of the day, the mother was not responsible enough because she allowed a troubled young man (of whom they are many) access to 3 firearms.
While I would agree that he might have gotten them some other way, there is a responsibility on anyone who owns potentially lethal property to secure them.
If you own a car, you secure it against your own kids.
If you store fuel or gas, you need to make sure it's secure.
And in cases where people's cannot be trusted, there are agencies, funded by licensing, to help protect the innocent. Vehicles have safety checks to protect others on the road.
In my opinion, too many gun owners have proven themselves to be irresponsible.
As part of steps to ensure guns are not easily available, gun license fees need to increase to whatever level they need to to ensure there is sufficient checking and auditing, including random inspection to ensure gun storage is secure and that inventory is accounted for.
With rights comes responsibilities. I have a right to drive a car but I have a responsibility to be insured. My rates are higher because of all the dangerous drivers out there. That's my tough luck and I'd like to see stricter enforcement to keep myself and my family safer. If we need someone else to enforce responsibility than that's a small price to pay.
The same should apply to firearms.
