There’s one point about gun ownership that we all should be able to agree on: Keep them secure where they won’t get stolen.

That should be obvious, but police reports from Batesville and elsewhere indicate otherwise. Thieves are constantly stealing guns, especially from vehicles. They are also stealing cell phones, purses, wallets and whatall but a gun stolen is, unfortunately, likely to turn up again and not with a good outcome.

As often as not, the items are stolen from an unlocked vehicle, but thinking that a locked vehicle is an adequate deterrent to thieves is not realistic either. A vehicle with anything of value inside is just an invitation to having the window or door broken and those valuables stolen.

Sure, you ought to be able to leave your stuff in your vehicle without having to worry about some lowlife stealing it, but nowhere is Mayberry these days. The same is true for guns in your home. You should be able to leave your home and go to work without having to worry about that lowlife ransacking it and taking your valuables, including guns, but …

So the burden is on the gun owner to take responsible measures that will prevent his or her guns from being carried off by thieves. That will also keep your guns from falling into hands that might turn them into violent tools of murder, gang warfare or armed robbery and leaving you wondering if things might have turned out differently if the thief had not been able to get your gun.