Girl, four, shoots dead four-year-old cousin with rifle found under a bed.

[Warren Stupidity]

Girl, four, shoots dead four-year-old cousin with rifle found under a bed at their grandfather's Detroit home.
A FOUR-YEAR-OLD girl accidentally shot dead her little cousin with a rifle she found under a bed at their grandfather's home, according to police.
The girl was playing and watching TV on Thursday with the four-year-old boy when she found the gun, Detroit police Sergeant Michael Woody said.
He said she pointed it at the boy and shot him once in the chest.

http://www.news.com.au/world/girl-four-shot-dead-four-year-old-cousin-with-rifle-she-found-under-a-bed-at-their-grandfathers-detroit-home/story-fndir2ev-1226804642905

This is now international news. The rest of the world looks at us in horror.

[onehandle]

1. If I were outside of the U.S., I would have serious reservations about coming here.

Especially to SYGFlorida.

'I felt threatened by his foreign accent.'

Boom.

[Jeneral2885]

79. Just don't let you children

mix with children from pro-gun groups

[upaloopa]

2. So is anyone responsible here or is this one more

"accident" that we must except as the price of freedom?
Seems that our children are dying to protect our freedom more so than troops in Afghanistan.

[Pretzel_Warrior]

6. You know. Tree of liberty fed our children's blood.

"Freedom and Liberty" might as well be renamed Molech.

[NYC_SKP]

7. Every adult who knew of any guns there.

Multiple people were probably negligent here.

[Hoyt]

51. Yeah, like those who promote more and more gunz in more places, lax gun laws, gunz are the

only way to manhood and self-defense, and similar BS.

[NYC_SKP]

62. If that's your mantra, you go for it.

You must believe it, or you would keep posting it.

But nobody on this board has ever promoted more gunz in more places, lax gun law, or whatever.

Enjoy your fetish, if it entertains you.

I'm more concerned with finding solutions that will work than with spouting falsehoods.

Cheers.

[Hoyt]

63. Solutions that will put more gunz under beds, more gunz in folks pants, etc., is more like it.

Gunz are the fethish for our gun culture.

[AtheistCrusader]

41. Grandpa left it loose/unsecured, and loaded.

I'd encourage some sort of negligence charge. It is not reasonable to assume a 4 year old can self-moderate away from a danger like that.

No moreso, than we could expect grandpa to leave that kid unsupervised near his unsecured, unfenced pool.

[NYC_SKP]

3. WTF?

No adults with any sense whatsoever!

This is criminal negligence.

[DevonRex]

56. I agree. The very least we can do is prosecute negligence.

Somehow we have to get people to start taking their responsibilities seriously and force them to understand that guns in fact do kill. This situation proves it. The child had zero intent and did not kill the other 4 year old.

Many things can kill children when left within their reach.
Drugs
Knives
Nail guns
Cleaning solutions
Alcohol
Drills
Dogs
Guns
The list is endless

Parents and others have been prosecuted for negligence when leaving all sorts of things out that have harmed or killed kids. Or have had their kids taken away from them. But for some reason when it's a firearm sometimes the law looks the other way. They say the death is punishment enough. Well, that doesn't help the next child whose parents are stupid enough to leave guns out.

[Pretzel_Warrior]

4. That's what happens when good kids with guns are

Able to stand their ground against bad kids with guns. I hope the NRA sends her a pink .22 rifle as a way to help her move past this.

[mindwalker_i]

5. So if the 4-year-old cousin was already dead

Why was he or she close to a gun?

[postulater]

15. Yeaaaah, how does that work?

[Warren Stupidity]

22. It seems in Australia sentence parsing is a bit more refined than here.

Sorry not to move the joke forward.

[mindwalker_i]

26. That's one way to put it

Or the sentence is gramatically challenged. Or I am

[Warren Stupidity]

27. Australia also implemented strict gun control after a horrendous mass shooting.

After that, the mass shootings stopped.

[Straw Man]

60. Yes and no.

Mass shootings did not stop. Biker gang wars continued to claim lives. Total numbers killed in shootings dropped, although there was a similar drop in numbers in New Zealand, where no such legislation was enacted.

Mass killings by fire in Australia, however, appear to have increased.

[Hoyt]

64. We could learn a lot from Australia's tough gun laws enacted in 1996.

[sir pball]

67. Hey, if you want to pay me fair market price for my single Evil Black Rifle

I'm down with handing it over. I could build out my two favorite Remington 700s, completely innocuous bolt-action rifles that even you can't argue against owning, into long-range deerslayers with that money. Alas, it's financially more sensible to keep my EBR as a fine hunting rifle instead.

Seriously though. Where do you propose getting the money to enact Aus-style weapons controls? You do know they bought all those guns instead of just taking them, right?

[Hoyt]

68. You'd think all you law-abiding "responsible" gun owners would be up to task of improving society.

But, alas, you gotta be paid to do the right thing.

[sir pball]

69. I'd say I'm more interested in it than you are.

You have an almost admirably single-minded fetish for "assault weapons" - which of course are a vanishingly small issue in gun crime. But I gotta bite - what would the "right" thing be pray tell? Just eat a $3000 investment, hand my gun over to the police to be destroyed, and tearfully beg to see a priest for absolution for all the evils it committed being locked in a gun safe?

I'm willing to bet that my desire for a nationwide FOID card, mandatory FFL transfers with no exceptions whatsoever, strict liability laws, and utterly draconian mandatory minimums for gun crimes would not only be easier to pass than your precious über-alles AWB but would save far more lives than the 322 total rifle murders in 2012 that would have been, well, maybe halved by a total confiscatory ban of all the icky-looking black gunz.

(Were all those Australians who demanded payment also sociopaths like me? Seems THAT'S the takeaway lesson to be learned, I guess. Even in a "sensible" country you gotta pay up.)

[Hoyt]

70. Handguns are my "fetish", especially toters. Multiple "assault" weapons, particularly those owned

by bigots, come next. Attraction to such weapons is a symptom indicating owner should likely be banned from acquiring gunz.

[sir pball]

71. Well, I have two pistols, all safely locked up.

Sorry, but blasting a 1911 at a range on a nice summer day is just enjoyable. Carried for a while back in my 20s but that's long since dropped by the wayside. Inherited the revolver from my dad.

Funny story about my single "assault weapon"...I wanted a 308 to hunt, emphases on reliability and accuracy. I was looking for bolt-action rifles, the thought of a semi, let alone a black rifle, never entered my mind until I saw the ad for one that suited my needs perfectly at less than I had budgeted.

It does the job quite well, and doesn't inflame my humors to primal bloodlust, or really inspire much of any feeling really. I get far more of a sense of purpose, simple mechanical pleasure, from locking a well-tuned bolt, like snicking a good car into first gear. Still nothing prurient, though. I guess the NRA would label me defective and unfit to own gunz.

[malaise]

8. Sure it's tragic but this is a crime - fugging negligence

If one of those children had drank bleach or some cleanser because parents had put it in a soda bottle, the parents would be charged with negligence.

When you leave a gun around, it is negligence - it's not like putting the vacuum cleaner under a bed - it's a fucking weapon that is designed to kill.

[Duckhunter935]

9. And someone needs to be charged

No excuse for this negligence.

[riderinthestorm]

10. I've said it before but the real crime is easy access to guns

I rarely go on gun threads anymore. So depressing.

But I've made the suggestion before that gun owners who don't keep their guns locked up should be charged. Obviously in this case this poor young girl should NOT be charged but the grandfather should be.

And if its an adult who does the shooting - then the shooter AND the gun owner who failed to secure their weapon should be charged.

If your gun is stolen, you have 24 hours to report it to the police as stolen. That would exonerate you if your gun is used to commit a crime. Oh, so the gun owner has to check his arsenal daily? I don't think that's too big a burden to carry for the "right" to own a gun.

What a terrible story...

Those poor families.

[BrotherIvan]

20. I 100% agree with this

It should be a federal law that every gun must be secured and the owner of the gun is responsible unless that gun has been reported stolen to police.

I want all gun owners to explain why they will not agree to this. They claim to be responsible. I see them here on DU in every one of the "tragic accident" threads claiming, well that person is just an idiot. Ok, fine. But it should not be too much to legislate that each person is responsible for his or her gun AT ALL TIMES.

This would be the first step in sane gun control. The fact that the NRA and gun "enthusiasts" fight against reasonable restrictions such as this makes it quite clear that they do not wish lethal weapons to be regulated in any way and feel it is their right to visit death upon others with impunity.

[Jenoch]

23. Minnesota has a law that requires that

firearms must be locked up or disabled with ammunition stored separately when minors are present in the home.

[Warren Stupidity]

28. it should not be conditional. Locked and separate unless in use.

[BrotherIvan]

32. What you said

No conditions. The owner is responsible for the gun at all times.

[Lizzie Poppet]

57. We don't agree on much...

We don't agree on much when the subject comes to guns (particularly the cancer that is gun posts in GD...), but this is an exception. All firearms, when not in current use, should be securely locked. A gun safe is preferable, but an effective trigger lock (or a cable lock through the open action) is much better than nothing.

I do this with my firearms, no exceptions (and there are no kids in my house...).

[sir pball]

25. I'm fine with that.

All my firearms are in safes or cabinets (one's fireproof, the other is just steel - both secure), and currently also locked in a storage unit behind a gate and two padlocks. I'd be fine with legal responsibility for them.

That being said, there have been some poorly written loss-reporting laws that demand action within a certain time of the actual theft, which is a little unworkable wrt being away from home for any length of time. I've been out of the house for two weeks at a time, if somebody had carted off a safe the first day I was out, I wouldn't know for quite a while and couldn't report in a legal fashion. But that's just implementation details - I'm A-OK with the concept.

[BrotherIvan]

33. It's a start for sure

Perhaps there can be places where people take their guns when not in use or away. I pay to have my animals looked after when I go on vacation, can't see why it shouldn't be the same for guns. Some have advocated shooting ranges or police stations as secure lock ups.

I still think our gun crazed culture is insane, as my European relatives asked numerous questions about all the mass shootings here and I had to keep saying we aren't all gun-toting cowboys. But in the meantime, we have to take serious measures to ensure gun safety. The fact that NOTHING was done after Sandy Hook is a stark example that we must do something and very quickly at that.

The idea that owning a lethal weapon somehow bears no responsibility is fucking madness. The further idea that whoever wants to own an arsenal of weapons and then can't afford to secure them seriously hurts my brain.

[sir pball]

38. As long as it's reasonably priced...maybe.

First, I honestly don't trust the farther spectrum of the control wing to make it cheap or easy to have them stored with a third-party. "$100 per gun per week plus paperwork!" Logistically as well, a lot of us have multiple guns...I could get mine in one carload but it would be straining the resources of whoever is holding them - two safes and two cabinets would probably be a significant chunk of storage space for a range or PD. I don't really think theft from secure storage is really an issue anyway...it's not a trivial task to get into a safe; I suspect most burglars, even if they have the skills, don't want to spend that much time in the house. Pass it up for easier pickings.

[BrotherIvan]

61. There are many different options

I'm a self-identified "control freak" so I don't think owning a lethal weapon or an arsenal should be cheap or easy. Those that do own tons of guns claim it is a hobby or they are collectors. My hobby is scuba diving. It's expensive. I have to save to be able to practice my hobby. If someone can shell out $500+ for a gun then they should be able to pay to keep it safe from harming others.

That said, I do think there are many different options. The baseline would be that the gun owner is responsible for their weapon at all times. If you have yours in a secure location, if you feel that is safe, you could, as people do with their pets, pay someone to check on them while you're gone. Then police can be alerted if they are stolen. Guns could have GPS on them quite easily. You could have an alarm system that notifies a company if there has been a break in. You could store them at a safe location. Whatever you choose, as long as your guns are kept secure and not used to harm anyone.

If they are used, then it should be felony with mandatory jail time attached. That is the only thing that will get people to comply. As with DUIs when it was just a misdemeanor or a small-ish fine, there was still a huge problem. Now with stricter laws, people are not willing to take the risk. Will it stop all gun crime? Surely not. But if people who want to own lethal weapons (and all guns are potentially lethal; and I have landed on that term because it is the basic truth, whereas assault weapon or paramilitary always gets shouted down by the pro-gun crowd), then they need to take responsibility for them. If a gun was conceal-carry or god forbid, open-carry, the same rule applies. It's so tiring for these "accidental" deaths and people mishandling guns to just get away with saying, "Oops!" If you accidentally shoot someone while being a goddamned moran, then same applies.

It's got to happen. Something must be done. People are dying for no good reason other than negligence, ignorance, and plain stupidity.

[sir pball]

66. I think a strict liability law, properly enforced, would be adequate.

Save a lot of time, money and hassle on all sides (the State in writing and passing the law, owners in complying) and write a simple, clear liability law - if your firearm harms somebody, accidentally or purposefully (without being reported stolen in a reasonable timeframe of course), it simply wasn't stored properly. Res ipsa loquitur.

Realistically, not every storage situation is the same so there's no one-size-fits-all security solution - a hunting cabin five miles down a dirt track in the backwoods of Montana is inherently more secure than a suburban home (Canadian law actually exempts the former from the explicit storage requirements). The type of gun does make a difference too...a beat-up old 30-30 that a country family uses to put food on the table is less of a thievable item than a handgun or AR. A worn-out old deer gun just doesn't have street value. In some places and for some guns, a cable lock through the action and an eyebolt on the wall is fine, whereas in other places, and for some guns, anything less than a full-blown safe, bolted down, behind two locked doors, would be inadequate.

A severe liability law with a few very public, Draconian sentences handed down even for "accidents" would be quite adequate, I think. It's not like secure/safe storage is hard concept to wrap one's brain around, and despite the popular opinion here, even rabid hick gun nuts aren't generally THAT stupid...I think they do know better but genuinely think "Accidents happen, oh well. It's just the cost of owning a gun. That poor grandpa has learned his lesson anyway." Make it so that "accident" can wind you up cooling your heels for five years on negligent homicide charges and things will change quite quickly. Couple that with a nationwide FOID card, the issuing of which would involve explaining the consequences and suggesting storage methods, and the problem seems neatly solved with a minimum of hassle and fighting on both sides.

It's also a little less confrontational - I respect your approach to the situation, but it can come off as more of an "Well, you're not really inherently responsible enough to have these items, so I'm going to dictate in detail all the precautions you must take", whereas leaving the details open while still providing for nasty penalties is more of a reminder that "with great power comes great responsibility."

[BrotherIvan]

72. I conditionally agree

I was trying to get there in my post. It is up to the gun owner to make sure the guns are not only secured, but not used to shoot anyone. To my mind, as you said, it is even stricter than pointing out every regulation. Though most of the time, making overly-convoluted laws is what lobbyists and legislators do best. That's because with more specifics comes more loopholes and that is exactly the point in most cases. In this case, putting the ultimate responsibility with the gun owner themselves is a good start.

But I totally agree that we need very strict punishments. I do believe it will motivate people once they see the penalty for messing around with your gun and shooting the upstairs neighbor's kid is more than Oops! And any gun that is found not secured is instantly confiscated. Unsecured guns can be reported by anyone and the cops come immediately to pick it up.

(We disagree about the stupid yahoos for the most part though. I do believe that some people really are that stupid. And now they're armed to the teeth which is even more frightening.)

I believe it would behoove all gun owners to fight for this because it proves responsibility and saves them from any legislation they feel could infringe on their rights to own a gun. It's interesting that so many pro-guns and control freaks are agreeing very much on this thread. I don't believe I've ever seen that on a DU gun thread. I hope pro-gun people realize that control freaks don't care about your guns per se, we care about the people and children who are harmed and killed by guns for no good reason. The pro-gun argument has been, "Another kid shot her cousin, another mall shooting, don't care because it's my right to own guns." It frankly makes me see red and my next reaction is, well, then the government should ban all guns. (Which, having lived in Canada and Europe and the sense of security a lack of hand guns gives, I still support.) I've asked over and over on these threads, and being DU one would assume the pro-gun person had a liberal slant, what sort of restrictions they would approve of and the answer is usually not much. It seems absurd that after all the horror and bloodshed, pro-gun people don't feel as if they have to make any concessions at all.

So I'm happy to agree with you. I know it changes nothing. But it's a start.

[sarisataka]

75. If only...

more people on the control side had this attitude!

Many of us who are "pro-gun" have repeatedly framed the problem as not a hardware issue (the gunz) but software (the user). Focus the legislation on the human element is the only way the situation can improve. Conveniently the 2A and SCOTUS support this angle; the militia (people) can be regulated (kept in a well functioning order).

UBC, storage requirements, accountability for misuse and unauthorized use- the extreme fringe will oppose these butthe majority of gun owners will find common ground with such proposals.

[BrotherIvan]

73. I also forgot to add

I do believe somewhat that parents should be responsible for their children. So often the school shooters were given the guns used by an adult. I have never heard of any parent charged in those crimes. I just can't believe people think it's ok to raise a disturbed kid and then unleash him on the world with a gun. Just like cars, at no times should juveniles be in possession of a gun unless they are in the company of an adult. Johnny may want to mess around hunting with his rifle, but since what he shoots doesn't feed a family, sorry, that one has to go by the wayside.

[AtheistCrusader]

42. I'm a gun owner and...

I agree 100%.

[Iggo]

11. America! Fuck yeah!

[jmowreader]

12. You're missing something here

The sweet, dear, innocent grandfather who will pay for this for the rest of his life through mental anguish and torment didn't leave a gun under the bed for his grandchildren to find.

He left a LOADED gun under the bed. Four-year-olds don't find guns then start rummaging through grandpa's sock drawer looking for ammunition.

[Kaleva]

13. Safety off and a round in the chamber.

[AtheistCrusader]

43. He can pay for it in jail.

[FunkyLeprechaun]

14. It made the Belfast Telegraph too

This is certainly big news.

[KamaAina]

16. ...and the day before that, and the day before that...

[Warren Stupidity]

17. The Gun Culture Butcher Bill never gets paid.

[valerief]

18. Another day, another responsible gun owner. The kid could have used a steak knife if she was

able to reach the silverware drawer.

[JaneyVee]

19. Tree of Liberty: Watered.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

21. Hey gun nuts... Fuuuuuuck you! nt

[Jenoch]

24. Someone in the home has been charged

with being a felon in possession of a gun, so the sarcasm of this being a responsible gunowner is not working.

[Warren Stupidity]

29. wooosh.....

Gunner logic, gotta love it. Every time. Like clockwork.

[Jenoch]

30. Huh? There was a felon in possession of that gun.

How is that being a responsible gun owner?

[yorokmok]

34. The gun came from somewhere....(eom)

[Jenoch]

40. It sure did...

Everything comes from somewhere.

[haele]

46. Who owned the gun?

If the firearm was under the grandfather's bed, the grandfather (if he were the felon) would technically have been in possession of it, but he might not have been the responsible gunowner who bought the firearm.
Likewise, the grandfather may have purchased the gun, but may have either been legally able to purchase the firearm prior to becoming a felon, or may not have been the felon who was charged with possession of the gun - that is, if someone had been charged. The felon may have been a relative who owned the house or was the primary on the lease.

The "sarcasm" of being a responsible gun owner was not misplaced. My understanding is that the majority of firearms used in crimes or that have been part of an fatal or injurious accidental firearm discharge have been legally purchased by people who have been assumed by the state to be responsible gun owners - and had either been stolen or left unattended for easy access by those who were not the "responsible" gun owners.

Haele
(A responsible weapons owner - as in, all weapons or potential weapons in my house are constantly supervised or locked out of reach of children and the mentally unstable, and any weapon that requires ammunition is kept seperate from the ammunition and the weapon is always unloaded.)

[Jenoch]

49. It is my understanding

that most guns used in crime are handguns and get into circulation via straw purchase, which by the way is a felony itself.

[another_liberal]

31. The NRA will say . . .

"If that other four-year-old had had a gun, he could have defended himself."

[Barack_America]

35. They should be horrified. Our gun violence is horrifying.

There's no other way to look at it.

[cvoogt]

36. Shame shame shame

on the adults 'in charge' and that includes those in government and those who vote for idiots that support deregulation of firearms. A child is dead, and the other one may well remember the incident and be scarred for life. 'Tragic incident' my ass, this is a predictable outcome when loaded weapons are left unsecure and it's negligence plain and simple. If you left a car in neutral in the driveway and it ran a child over, you'd be charged. Leave a child in a car for 5 minutes unattended: charged. Leave a loaded gun resulting in death? "Tragic incident". Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

People needs to start getting charged or this will just continue right on happening.

[Locrian]

37. WTF??

There was nothing there to suggest that the grandfather put those children in harm's way, but the investigation will continue.''

Loaded gun under the bed with round chambered (gee, unless the 4 yr old racked it) and that's not 'in harms way'?!!!

[LeftinOH]

39. The gun owner is directly responsible - no matter what the law says. n/t

[marew]

44. Absolutely! n/t

[hrmjustin]

45. So very sad!

[Initech]

47. If you have kids, keep your guns locked the fuck up!!!

[Lizzie Poppet]

58. And even if you don't.

Any gun not currently in your possession should be locked in a gun safe (or at the very least equipped with a trigger lock and/or a locking cable through the action).

[Demo_Chris]

48. About one US child per MILLION are victims of gun accidents every year...

Every one is a tragedy. However, a child is almost ten times as likely to accidentally drown to death. So we need to keep this in perspective. It sucks, it's preventable, and we should do more. Sources:



http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=250549179
http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/water-safety/waterinjuries-factsheet.html

[renegade000]

50. some of these children shooting children accidents are ruled homicides

for the sake of the the "cause of death" classification. (obviously there is no criminal implication)

regardless, i think what people are concerned about is the totality of gun violence, "intentional" and "unintentional", which according to this CDC data is over 14 per 100,000.

[Hoyt]

54. Far less kids were killed/injured by lawn darts and they were banned.

But gun fanciers want us to put several hundred child deaths annually "in perspective," not to mention children wounded.

How about all the men and women killed/wounded/intimidated; school children killed; movie watchers killed; unarmed teenagers walking home unarmed killed; militia types arming up; stolen gunz used in crimes; kids being indoctrinated into the gun culture to carry this madness into the next few generations; bigots into guns (in just about any gun store you'll find evidence of bigotry because that is a salient character flaw of majority of gun fanciers, not all, but clearly the majority); etc.

Gun fanciers have a strange perspective. I guess it's the price we are forced to pay to keep gun fanciers happy.

[Demo_Chris]

55. How about all the lives saved and crimes prevented? Thousands per day...

My point was not to minimize the pain suffered by those who have lost children to gun violence. I just want these numbers viewed in their proper perspective. In a nation of 320 Million, even the most improbable event can seem commonplace when viewed without this perspective. One in a million children will be killed in gun accidents in any given year. One in a million LITERALLY. Even fewer will be slain in mass school shootings.

As for Lawn Darts, the reason those were banned is because they were not just dangerous, but HILLARIOUSLY OBVIOUSLY WTF DANGEROUS, and with no redeeming value or constitutional protections.

[Hoyt]

59. In most cases, there are other ways as to defend yourself. And those ways don't have

Last edited Fri Jan 17, 2014, 09:36 PM - Edit history (2)

negative impact on society.

[kelliekat44]

65. The most important part of the interview at the first link is this:

BLOCK: You know, the National Rifle Association and other gun rights groups have also looked at numbers from the CDC and they say that firearm accident deaths among children have gone down dramatically, even while the number of guns owned in this country have gone up. They say the country is trending in the right direction and there's no correlation between numbers of guns and numbers of children killed.

FOLLMAN: Well, I think the problem with that assertion is that, as I was saying earlier, the federal data is deficient. And maybe one of the reasons for that is that there really has been essentially no funding for federal research into gun violence for many years. Back in the 1990s, the NRA moved aggressively to stop it, lobbied to defund any kind of research that was related to guns and gun violence. And so there's been very little since.

You know, it's hard to make a correlation between the number of guns in the country and the rate of death and injury because of the lack of data on a number of counts. But there is also research that shows that when more firearms are present, the risk to individuals around those firearms goes up.

[Demo_Chris]

78. Self evident, right? Societies without motor vehicles have very few trafdfic fatalities. nt

[MissMillie]

52. When my son was young

I told him if he were ever at a friend's house and and one of his friends found a gun in the house (or offered to show him a gun)--he should leave the house.

I told him he shouldn't play w/ the gun, try to take the gun away, or even spend any time conversing w/ the friend about the gun.

"Put your coat on, go outside."

I won't ever own a gun.

[workinclasszero]

53. Just another responsible law abiding citizen upholding his right

to defend his self against the evilllllll govt and those fema camps and illegals swarming the borders and commie leftists..and the outrage of the week from fox and rush.

And yet another in a long long line of dead kids because...the tree of liberty needs watering or something.

Now the girl will grow up with the guilt of her childhood accident for the rest of her life.

This country is so damned ****ed it aint funny at all.

[bobclark86]

74. Rule #1

Don't leave loaded guns lying around for the neighborhood kids to play with.

There is no such thing as an "accidental" discharge. This wasn't an accident. It's criminally negligent homicide. The owner should go to jail, just like if he hit a little boy with his car.

[MH1]

76. But, but, freedom!!!1!

[kestrel91316]

77. And the law will give the gun's owner a complete pass, no doubt because s/he's

"suffered enough".

What other lethal crime is handled this way?? That if the perp regrets their responsibility, they don't get punished?

None.

[Kaleva]

80. 2 people in custody

"Police said there is one man in custody on charge of being a felon in possession of a weapon, and a woman is in custody on an outstanding warrant."

http://uptownmagazine.com/2014/01/four-year-old-detroit-girl-fatally-shoots-four-year-old-cousin/

More info here:

" Detroit police have arrested a Detroit man who was supposed to be supervising three children, 4,4 and 5, when a 4-year-old girl found a rifle in the house on the 7100 block of Tuxedo and fatally shot her 4-year-old cousin, a boy.

Police also arrested a woman who either lives at or frequents the home. She was not in the home at the time of the shooting, said Johnson."

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2014/01/detroit_babysitter_of_4-year-o.html