We believe in the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

Guns play an important role in the culture and economy of the Up North woods. For hunting, sport shooting, or personal protection, many Northeast Michiganders grew up around guns and use them every day.

However, every right comes with responsibility, and, the greater the right, the greater the responsibility.

As News staff writer Julie Riddle reported recently, a child shot a 5-year-old boy in the head in Mancelona after the first child came upon a loaded gun stored in an unsecured bin in a bedroom.

In Northeast Michigan, there’s no reason that should happen.

The Alpena Police Department and other area police agencies offer free gun locks through a nonprofit called Project Childsafe, Riddle reported. The locks allow firearm owners to store their weapons securely.

Gun owners should use such devices.

Gun owners and those who don’t own guns should both talk to their children — including young children — about firearms and how to handle them safely.

Exercise your Second Amendment right.

But do so responsibly.