@LasMa, I saw that today and had the exact same thought.
SICK. I have to wonder what this murdering child’s parents are like and/or what they taught him or modeled for him. Regardless, a lethal weapon was not properly secured from a messed up kid.
I bet Daddy and Mommy would tell you that they’re "responsible gun owners. "
I see that case involves a single-shot shotgun. Probably used for subsistence hunting, I will guess. I don’t know how we can prevent those types of accidents from occurring, unless we ban all guns.
If multiple companies (GM, Google, Mercedes, Apple, even Uber and others) can work on or make self driving cars, surely we can come up with technology that improves the safety of weapons, just as automotive improvements have significantly improved the safety of cars, driven my humans,or not.
Here’s a good example. Pretty basic. It didnt prevent a single horrific incident (Sandy Hook) but the overall homicide rate in Connecticut dropped by 40% http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2015/06/12/gun-killings-fell-by-40-percent-after-connecticut-passed-this-law/
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I don’t know how we can prevent those types of accidents from occurring, unless we ban all guns.
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I have an idea. How about we impose really heavy jail time for not keeping guns locked up? Like decades of jail time. Or would that be too infringe-y?
Improved gun safety that saves children’s lives is good; I don’t think anyone opposes that goal. The problem is the collateral affect of gun regulations that create impediments to ownership for low income people who may need them the most, that create unreliable weapons (guns with batteries that die), and that increase liability for gun manufacturers and sellers who may have small profit margins already.
My feeling is that people by and large don’t need to own guns with the exception perhaps for hunters who as far as I know need to own a shotgun or a rifle, not handguns or assault-style military-style weapons. I speak as someone who was the victim of a home break-in while my daughter and I were home having tea, watching TV. Unless I had been sitting in my den with a holster and gun in it, owning a weapon would have done me absolutely zero as they were in the house for less than 5 minutes in which all they did was grab my handbag and tote bag and run. I did start to run after them and then realized they could have a gun and shoot me and I called 911 who were there within it seemed like seconds while daughter called my husband who was away and he called to cancel my Amex, Visa and Mastercard. The following day I called to cancel Lord & Taylor, Bloomingdale’s, Banana Republic, Nordstrom and Anne Taylor cards and replaced my license. The police said they either simply wanted cash or would have headed to a drugstore to purchase gift cards with my credit card…Luckily my car keys and house keys were not in my bag, they were on the table. And my tote bag contained only the NY TIMES and a package of 100 calorie dark chocolate from Trader Joe’s… I am sure they were disappointed as I only had about $50 in cash but they did get to read part of my Sunday NY TIMES and eat my chocolate.
I have a cousin who retired as a homicide detective, never fired a gun in her entire career as a police officer except for training on a regular basis.
And very sadly I have a close friend who had begun discussing separation and divorcing her husband. She went away on a business trip and sadly her soon to be ex husband murdered her 5 year old and committed suicide with a legally purchased gun that his father had given to a family friend. This murder/suicide was premeditated as he hunted the person down to locate the gun and retrieve it and apparently learned how to use.
Who are these “low income people who need them the most”? Unless you’re talking about people who are subsistence hunting, not sure why anyone at any level needs them.
Improved gun safety that saves childrens ALL lives is good. No need to single out children. And the notion that low income people need guns the most. That just defies logic.
** crossposted with intparent
I actually agree with this. My H claims this is what cleaned up NY gun crime. The heavy penalty part - for unlicensed ownership and use, that is.
Yes, subsistence hunters and low income people who live in high crime areas. Expensive smart guns and legislated liability insurance prices them out of owning guns.
This is a solution AFTER the problem, unless the gun police are going to go door to door checking for locked gun cabinets and unsecured guns. Anyone want to sign up for that job? Bet it will pay well.
Thats horrible, bookmama22, on all fronts. Maybe posting these newspaper articles, maybe with some horribly graphic photos, on the gun stores windows and websites, is a thought.
Um… maybe there might be less armed crime in the high crime areas if guns were harder to access.
I lived in a high crime area when I was younger. We’ve had 3 cars stolen- 1 out of our driveway. I also have a roommate who works in a kiddie jail- mostly kids in their for drugs and breaking and entering. You know what deters thieves? Barking dogs. Seriously, talk to people who have been convicted of break-ins. They don’t need that kind of commotion. They’ll go break into an easier target house.
And, once more with vigor, the odds of you defending yourself with a gun in your own home (or anywhere) are incredibly, incredibly low. More than likely, you’re going to be sleeping and the other guy’s got adrenaline pumping through him already.
But, EVEN in these high crime areas, the odds of any one individual becoming a victim of a violent crime are much, much lower than the odds of someone getting accidentally hurt with that gun.
My parents live in a heavy hunting area. I don’t think they know anyone who keeps guns in their house- especially since most of them have young kids. They keep their guns at locked sites with their hunting gear.
And where are these “substinence hunters”? They can catch squirrels, rabbits, etc without guns. Heck, I’ll happily send them the chipmunks and rabbits that have overtaken the neighborhood. We can surely catch them without firearms.
I’m one of those people who believes that I and most people in the US can have beautiful plate-glass windows and a lovely yard with a low perimeter fence because criminals don’t know whether I have guns in the house or not. I do, but they are locked in a 1200 lb safe. Our guns will be useful in the protective sense if we know someone is coming, otherwise they are useless for defense.
romani,
I am not familiar with how that works. The child who got ahold of the shot gun lived in a trailer park. What are the “sites” that you speak of, and how much do they cost to store guns?
I have a friend who used to be a public defender. She has said that her clients have told her before that they are more likely to rob homes with guns because the guns are worth more than the other things they likely find in homes. I’m doubtful robbers are avoiding glass windowed homes because they are afraid there are guns inside.