6-year-old accidentally shoots, kills woman. When will it ever end?

[raccoon]

Mother, 22, killed; Family sad, angry

UPDATED 7:44 AM EDT Apr 18, 2014

EASLEY, S.C. —A 6-year-old found a gun and accidentally shot and killed a woman just before 1 p.m. Thursday, police said. ...the woman, Alexandra Anita Santos, was sitting in the passenger seat in a car on Hastings Circle when the child found a gun on the floor board of the back seat.
...the child accidentally fired the gun, and the shot went through the seat, hitting Santos in the back.

Santos was pronounced deceased at Baptist Medical Center Easley a short time later.

Santos' family said the 6-year-old was Santos' friend's child, and that friend was driving the car.

...Santos leaves behind an 11-month-old daughter.

Read more: http://www.wyff4.com/news/6yearold-accidentally-shoots-kills-woman/25537242#ixzz2zFAlMGCH

[RandoLoodie]

1. It will never end

I take that back.

It will end when the sun blows up and eats up half our solar system. Until then, life will continue to be imperfect and fraught with terrible things, good things, and mediocre things.

But yeah, it does get old.

[CreekDog]

2. this kind of thing has basically ended in many, many countries

here we talk about kids shooting guns all the time.

in many countries, that is unheard of.

so your idea that it can only stop when the sun blows up is wrong. many countries have pretty much stopped this kind of thing from happening and it didn't take a cataclysmic solar event to do so.

[Loudly]

5. +1 Those who claim otherwise need to be corrected or thrown off of here.

They are either (a) defeatists or (b) sociopaths.

Sociopaths say Worth The Price, Get Used To It.

[friendly_iconoclast]

27. Then you'd better get busy-post your request in the following group:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1259

We'll know you're sincere when "Question submitted by Loudly" appears.
Until then, you will remain a keypoard commando...

[RandoLoodie]

9. YMMV

We get the world we create.

Thing is, we're all creators.

And everyone is different.

[CreekDog]

23. no, it's not YMMV, what i said is true and what you said was false

[malaise]

31. +1,000

When life becomes more important than bowing to the NRA - that's when it will end.

[nomorenomore08]

35. To think, how many of these incidents would be prevented by even *moderate* gun control

nowhere near as draconian as many countries? But as we've seen, even a measure as mild as universal background checks doesn't make it into law in this country.

[DrDan]

43. "talk about it"????? . . . we are proud of it

pink guns for our daughters; Christmas cards with guns; guns in churches, schools, parks

In Florida, we cannot even have local legislation regarding guns - so gun ranges in back yards are now legal and cannot be controlled except at the State level . . .

simply insane

[tarheelsunc]

10. It will end when something like this happens to someone well-connected in the NRA.

Actually, probably not even then.

[Arugula Latte]

20. It won't end in this country because the gun lunatics are in charge here,

which is unlike other, more civilized countries.

[onehandle]

3. All so a bunch of cowards can rock back and forth in their basements and fear the future...

...and a Black President.

[Hoyt]

4. It will get better when we have guts to enact legislation like Australia in 1996.

The gun fanciers will say there are already too many guns. So we should do nothing, even though in a decade there will be another 100 million guns to deal with when we finally bite the bullet and do something.

[marions ghost]

6. "found a gun and accidentally shot"

--NOTHING accidental about this.

Negligent homicide --re the owner of the gun. Jail.

[tarheelsunc]

11. It's their way of blaming the child instead of the negligence of the adults.

If the adult didn't do anything wrong, then there is no need to think about doing something about the problem. They want people to think a child just made this happen without knowing any better, because they can be forgiven while the adult can't.

[marions ghost]

13. Right

All this would stop if gun owners were prosecuted instead of calling it an accident.

Anytime a child kills or injures with a gun, an adult is responsible. Can we get some laws in place that put the blame squarely on the parent or gun owner?

"Oops I left my loaded gun on the floor of the car."

Idiocracy.

[JimDandy]

16. SC concealed carry law requires quns in vehicles

Last edited Fri Apr 18, 2014, 01:35 PM - Edit history (1)

to be inside the glove compartment or secured in some other enclosed space. Don't know why the driver hasn't been charged with this yet.

ETA: It's possible that charges weren't filed if the police knew the gun owner had a concealed weapons permit, because the law was just changed to explicitly allow persons with a concealed carry permit to shove the gun under a seat (ANY seat in the vehicle) instead of having to carry it on their person while in the vehicle as was required previously. The bill (HB 380), which Governor Nikki Haley just signed in February, must have been titled "The Law of Intended Consequences" because who couldn't have forseen this happening?

[marions ghost]

17. People don't know laws very well

and aren't going to follow them if they do.

That's why you need punishments. That's what they pay attention to.

[JimDandy]

21. True. Governor Nikki Haley just signed a law in Feb that allowed

this shooting to happen, though. The law she signed (House Bill 380) was changed to explicitly allow persons in a vehicle who have a concealed weapons permit to stuff their gun under a seat (ANY seat in the vehicle, mind you) instead of keeping it on their person as was previously required. Who couldn't have forseen exactly this kind of shooting to happen with that change in the law?

Unfuckingbelievable!

And that same law drastically reduced several gun violations fines also, so Governor Haley is not interested in giving offenders punishments they will pay attention to.

[Crunchy Frog]

38. Another state for me to avoid like the plague.

It sounds like the lawmakers want to encourage gun homicides. Psychopaths.

[marions ghost]

46. I hope Gov Haley

heard about this killing and made the connection.

Or maybe she just thinks that other people's shooting "accidents" are just collateral damage and not her concern.

Death by 6-year-old. Not too many ways that can be accomplished.

Brutal, barbaric, and as you say, unfuckingbelievable in a nation calling itself civilized. No regard for human life.

Thx for the background on that.

Nikki Haley--the NRA's dream governor.

[spin]

33. One reason to have a carry permit is so you can carry the firearm on your person ...

and not have to put it in the glovebox of your car or under the seat.

[JimDandy]

34. I'm okay with on your person, but not loose

sliding around under a seat. On your person it's in your control. That's why I don't understand why SC changed the law to allow only those with concealed carry to stuff their gun under a seat and out of their direct control. All other gun carriers in SC, while a gun is in the vehicle, must store the gun in a closed compartment, container or trunk of the vehicle.

I am just barely over the line for guns as it is (on some days I vascillate on this issue) and only if there are strong gun control regs in place. This under the seat business is nuts.

[enough]

7. We need serious criminal penalties for people who leave guns unsecured

in any area where children may be present.

[marions ghost]

14. Yep

---

[nomorenomore08]

36. +2

Felony charges, prison time if anyone was seriously hurt. That might make a dent.

[raccoon]

47. Amen to that. nt

[JimDandy]

8. No charges have been filed. The child wasn't buckled in

Last edited Fri Apr 18, 2014, 01:22 PM - Edit history (1)

if he was able to reach the gun on the floor board.

Hey, police, I know violations of SC's concealed carry law are fine and dandy with you, but could you at least charge the driver with that belt infraction.

ETA Governor Nikki Haley just changed the law in February. If the gun owner has a concealed weapons permit they are now allowed to stuff their gun under a seat in the vehicle (ANY seat) instead of having to keep it on their person.

[B Calm]

52. I think the charge against the irresponsible gun owner should

have some serious prison time.

[SwankyXomb]

12. It will only end

when the last American dies from a sucking chest wound, The NRA will then sigh, "Mission Accomplished."

[mylye2222]

15. It will end when lobby like NRA would be DISSOLVED.

[Stuart G]

18. Another one...k and r.....nt

[KamaAina]

19. If only Ms. Santos had been armed.

[JimDandy]

25. Yes, and had eyes in the back of her head

to head off a bullet in the back. It's all her fault.

[rocktivity]

22. According to the story's video, the car had paused at a stop sign

And according to this report, the car was an SUV, the gun was a semiautomatic, and there were two other children in the back seat. And then there's this little tidbit:

FOX Carolina spoke exclusively to...Santos(')...mother, Cynthia Yergeau...(who) said the woman who was with Santos called her to tell her the dreaded news.

Yergeau said the woman told her, though, that Santos' ex-boyfriend was responsible for her death. "You give any kind of access to a firearm (to a) six-year-old child, somebody needs to be responsible...Take responsibility, own up to what your kids did," she said.

Yergeau said she is "angry" such an accusation was leveled against that ex-boyfriend.

"The woman who was with Santos" -- as in, the woman who was with Santos in the car, or the woman driving the car? Is the woman the mother of any of the children? Does she consider the ex-boyfriend responsible because he owned the gun? Does she consider the ex-boyfriend responsible because he gave the gun to Santos? Did Santos put the gun under the passenger seat? How many adults were in the car? Whose car was it, anyway?


rocktivity

[JimDandy]

24. And: Did the gun owner have a concealed carry permit?

A brand new change to South Carolina's gun law in February now allows concealed carry permit owners to shove their gun under any seat in a vehicle. The way the law now reads, I'm not sure if the gun owner even needs to even be in the vehicle with the gun if they have a concealed carry permit.

[alcibiades_mystery]

26. Guns are so plentiful that you can just forget that you left a loaded one on the floor of your car

Tra la la! Oh, what? I had an extra gun somewhere? Now, where did I leave that extra other gun. Mmmmm. I know I had it at the pizza place because I contemplated shooting those suspicious looking teenagers. I think I had it at the dentist. Where could it have gotten to? Oh, well! I guess it'll turn up when it does. Tra la la.

Gunner Shitheads of America.

[Iggo]

28. Never.

It's the price we pay for free-dumb.

[ManiacJoe]

29. There is no excuse for an unsecured firearm.

[Logical]

30. Simple: Parents should be jailed when young kids hurt someone with a unsecured gun. nt

[tazkcmo]

32. Santos leaves behind an 11-month-old daughter.

And a very stupid and negligent friend.

[oneofthe99]

39. Thread after thread on these shootings yet everything stays the same

I have been invited several times to go shooting by a good friend of mine.

Yesterday was the first time I said all right to him but now I'm beginning to reconsider
going. I know he's a safe person and was military trained but I just don't know anymore.

He knows that I never fired a gun or for that matter even held one.

[rocktivity]

40. Not only do I think you should go, but you should discuss how you're feeling

Tell him the truth: that you've come across a rash of stories about kids having access to guns very recently. Ask him how he secures his guns -- especially if he has kids. Ask what the gun laws of his state are, about open versus concealed carry, and things like how to check if a gun is unloaded or if it's possible to un-cock a gun, and of course if you're holding the gun properly. That way, if you decide you're anti-gun or anti-gun control, you'll know what you're talking about!


rocktivity

[oneofthe99]

42. You would go ?

Did someone teach you how to shoot a gun?

To be honest I never paid gun control no mind until after the Newtown shooting at Sandy hook elementary school.

I live in New England and it just made me think more about gun control.
The subject just never came up with the people I hang with but after the shooting no one seemed
to want to talk about anything else.

[rocktivity]

44. I got to shoot a rifle during a tour of an Army base 20 years ago

Last edited Fri Apr 18, 2014, 10:22 PM - Edit history (1)

An M1, I think -- haven't touched a gun since.

I don't see how it can hurt anyone to have a basic knowledge of guns -- and gun safety.

If the crazy gun owners don't get us, the lazy gun owners will.


rocktivity

[awoke_in_2003]

45. Basic gun knowledge is good...

my stepdaughter had a crazy ex, and one day she brought his gun over to our house to hide. Problem was, I have grandchildren over from time to time. My basic knowledge helped me drop the magazine, empty the chamber, then take the slide off. The mag, grip, and slide got put is three widely separated, and secure, areas of the house.

[doxydad]

50. one step further....

Get rid of it. Periood. Stand up to this guy, and tell him, NO. NOT IN MY HOUSE.

[Skittles]

41. it will not end - American gun humpers have won

[SecularMotion]

48. Scenes from Everytown: 4:08pm

[doxydad]

49. Never.

When a firm 93 per cent of America cannot get the gun manufacturer's lobby arm (THE N.R.A. to)take their place as NOT being the law, but as what they are...until the majority of people actually stand up against all these goddamned arms, and until there is education, eradication and cessation of this murderous society, there is no end. God save us. PLEASE.

[B Calm]

51. What the hell was a gun just laying around on the floorboard! Some people have no common

sense whatsoever. The irresponsible gun owner should be prosecuted!