Boy turns 2, shoots self to death with gun he found in drawer; parents arrested; father a felon

[alp227]

Antioch boy shot to death on his 2nd birthday
by Joe Garofoli, San Francisco Chronicle

(12-02) 17:58 PST ANTIOCH -- Antioch police have arrested the parents of a boy who was shot to death Thursday on his second birthday with a newly purchased gun that the father had placed in a bedroom drawer, authorities said.

Eddie Lee Carr, 27, and Laqinda Modique, 28, were booked on suspicion of child endangerment and other crimes after their son, Jayon Carr, was shot, possibly while playing with the gun with his 4-year-old brother.

Modique, who had just bought the gun, and Carr, a felon barred from owning firearms, left the boys with their grandmother Thursday morning in their apartment on the 2400 block of Lemontree Court, police said. Carr had taken the gun out of a safe, loaded it and left it in a drawer in the couple's bedroom, investigators said.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/02/BA201GL7QE.DTL

[hlthe2b]

1. May they both be haunted with the most horrific nightmares...

every day for the rest of their lives. Spare me the talk about how many gun owners are responsible. These obviously were not. Damn.

[sharesunited]

2. Zero tolerance for guns and ammo in the hands of the public despite the 2A.

Exactly the same as zero tolerance for possession of child pornography despite the 1A.

[safeinOhio]

3. I can understand your feelings about guns.

They are your feelings.
On the other hand, I don't think we throw the baby out with the bath water. That is we don't throw out the 1st because of a small number of child porn cases. We arrest those that violate the 1st and the 2nd laws that restrict them for good and sound reasons. It is not a perfect world for either side of gun issues.

[pipoman]

5. Zero tolerence for privately owned swimming pools

since they killover twice as many kids. Zero tolerance on sports because they kill and maim 10 times more kids, Zero tolerance is for complete idiots always.

[one-eyed fat man]

6. Did you miss the part?

"...a felon barred from owning firearms... escaped your attention?

He was already barred from owning a gun. Repeat, more slowly, this time: It was already against the law for him to have a gun.

So by your reasoning every dick-owner is a fucking rapist?

[lawodevolution]

9. Just as murder or violent crime with a gun is illegal, so is child porn though it

Remains legal to own a camera.

Banning guns to stop violence is like banning cameras to stop child porn.

99.9 percent of gun use is legal and recreational or occupational just like 99.9 percent of camera use. I will not allow guns to be banned or any further controlled because of what a tiny fraction of people do with them just like I don't support banning cameras to stop the bad things a tiny percent of people do with them.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

19. Can you support that 99.9 percent number? Because

I've been out on the open internet and there is ALOT of porn. :7
I'd support saying 90% of camaera use is legal - lol.

[X_Digger]

22. How about 99.858% of guns are not used in crimes / suicides..

There are ~300m firearms in the US.

There are approximately 400k non-fatal gun crimes each year (DOJ's BJS), ~9k firearm homicides (FBI), and about 17k firearm suicides (CDC's WISQARS, 2007).

That's 426,000 out of 300,000,000.

That's a little over one tenth of one percent- 0.142 % of all firearms.

http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/glance/firearmnonfatalno.cfm
http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/offenses/expanded_information/data/shrtable_11.html
http://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate10_sy.html

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

24. Oh, I agree with your firearms statisics. Although it would not contain 5 significant figures.

I was picking nits with the statement the "99.9% of camera use"

Theres simply too much porn out there. Way to much porn.
(this may not be a bad thing though :7)

[X_Digger]

25. *snort* true..

Of course, even if you say that there's a lot of porn, that doesn't necessarily mean that a large percentage of it is illegal.

[Glassunion]

27. Define "illegal"?

usually the standard is that if it "feels" really good or is really "fun", they(government) make it illegal.

Like:
Whale Hunting in Utah or Oklahoma is illegal (fun)
Fishing in your pajamas is illegal in Chicago (feels good and is fun)
Drinking beer from a bucket is illegal in St. Louis (again feels both good and fun)
Driving around the town square more than 100 times in a single session is illegal in Oxford, Mississippi (fun but nauseating)
Sleeping on a fridge is illegal in Pittsburgh (feels neither good nor is it much fun)
Hand-walking across the street is illegal in Hartford, Connecticut (more stupid than feeling good or fun)
"Marital Aids" are still illegal in some states (yep!)

[RSillsbee]

35. Or like banning spoons will make Rosie O'Donnell skinny? NT

[cleanhippie]

26. Oh look, a broken record.

[Pavulon]

36. pfffart, a second time.(nt)

[RSillsbee]

4. A felon barred from owning firearms

Carr, a felon barred from owning firearms

So, how are those mandated background checks working out for you?

[safeinOhio]

7. But it does stop sales to felons

http://archive.southcoasttoday.com/daily/02-97/02-26-97/a05wn025.htm

Background checks estimated to have stopped 186,000 illegal gun sales

By Michael J. Sniffen, Associated Press writer
WASHINGTON -- Police background checks since 1994 have blocked more than 186,000 illegal over-the-counter gun sales -- 72 percent by would-be buyers who were convicted or indicted for a felony, the Justice Department estimated yesterday.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics estimated that 6,600 applications to buy handguns or long guns are rejected each month not only in the 32 states covered by the federal Brady Act but also in those states that have their own similar laws authorizing background checks of gun-buyers.

The figures cover the 28 months from Feb. 28, 1994, when the Brady Act took effect, through last June.
By far the largest reason for blocking gun sales was the discovery that the buyer had been convicted or indicted for a felony, which occurred in 72 percent of the cases.
Fugitives accounted for 6 percent of the rejections; those barred by some state law provision, 4 percent; those under court restraining orders, 2 percent; mental patients, 1 percent. Some 15 percent were rejected for other reasons, including that they were drug addicts, juveniles, illegal aliens or violators of local ordinances.

While this is not a recent article, it does point out that many sales are prevented. Perhaps you can find more recent numbers on sales denied because of background checks. While in this case the law did not stop a legal person from buying the gun and then making it available to a prohibited person, it does stop many sales. Because it didn't work in this one example, there is no reason to throw out the law or not extend it to private sales. Just like the recent post about 3 CCW holders in one county busted for waving their guns in road rage incidents, a few anecdotes should not form policy. But you'll always dismiss anything that doesn't prove your point.

[oneshooter]

8. Aparently as well as the registration lists do. n/t

[lawodevolution]

10. Just because they blocks a legal gun purchase does not mean it blocks

A felon from turning to the black market, so you can go ahead and consider that every felon who tried to pass the NICS and failed went ahead and still got a gun off the black market.

[safeinOhio]

12. I guess you guys will ask for your NRA dues back.

The NRA has and does support NICS background checks. They even teamed up with Democrats to pass the NICS Improvement Act of 2007. About the only group to disapprove of it is the crazies at Gun Owners of America. So, do you agree with the NRA or the crazies at GOA? Never mind, your post show were you are at.

[benEzra]

14. What in the world are you talking about?

I guess you guys will ask for your NRA dues back. The NRA has and does support NICS background checks. They even teamed up with Democrats to pass the NICS Improvement Act of 2007. About the only group to disapprove of it is the crazies at Gun Owners of America. So, do you agree with the NRA or the crazies at GOA? Never mind, your post show were you are at.

What in the world are you talking about?

Since you addressed "you guys", I've always said I'm OK with the NICS background check on purchase from a dealer, as long as the law is followed about no retention of records on those of us who pass, and the sale goes forward after 3 days if the government ignores the check request.

And how many members does GOA have compared to NRA, again?

[Texasborncowboy]

16. I agree.

I was always a fan of the instant background check.

The first gun I bought was in 1986 in Oklahoma. The process was a little too easy in my opinion. I picked out a cheap pistol, showed my drivers license and filled out a form. I gave the guy $40 and went to the range. The time it took from picking out my gun to shooting it was about 45 minutes.

I was a little concerned with the ease with which I was able to "get a gun". I wondered if a felon or mentally ill person could buy a gun if they just had a drivers license. I sleep a little better knowing they flag these types of people.

[safeinOhio]

17. "You guys" are those

responding to my post. Not you.

[friendly_iconoclast]

20. So start plumping for public access to the NICS system, already

We get it. The NICS is a good idea. I say expand it, so it could be used for private transfers.

But that would interfere with your stated desire for mandatory registration. So no sale, eh?



Typical of you lot: You're all for 'reasonable' and 'common-sense gun control' laws- right up to the point of where some compromise

on your part is called for. And then you're surprised when you end up with 100% of nothing...

[pipoman]

33. It should have stopped them from shopping the black market too

but alas since there are almost never even investigations into denied NICS attempts you are right. Much if not most of the time a failed NICS attempt is the result of perjury as failure to disclose on the NICS form constitutes perjury.

[Glassunion]

13. Updated information.

You can look at reports dated up to October of this year.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/nics

Interesting tidbit if you look at the 2009 NICS Operations report...
On Saturday, April 4, 2009, at 8:35 p.m., the NICS Section processed its 100 millionth transaction. The transaction originated in Arizona and was delayed at the NICS Contracted Call Center where it was transferred to the NICS Section for processing. The NICS Section placed the transaction in a delay status and implemented research to determine the individual’s eligibility to purchase a firearm. The delayed transaction was subsequently provided a proceed status.

Also you will notice as the years go by, the volume of denied transactions is declining. Good thing? Not sure.

I had a post a while back and cannot find it, but it outlined the fact that our DOJ rarely goes after those who are denied and confirmed to be prohibited from purchasing a firearm. Basically stating that the denied people would swamp the federal courts. WTF is the point of the law if it is not enforced? You have a record of an illegal act, almost being handed to you as a prosecutor, however they rarely go after these people. Both the Brady Campaign and the NRA are upset that only a tiny fraction are charged with the crime.

[safeinOhio]

18. I think we are all in favor

of going after the crooks. I know of people that had passed checks years ago and were denied more recently because of some forgotten youthful drug bust. The law still makes it more difficult to buy if you are a member of the restricted groups. while I'd like to see real bad guys in jail, the most important part is making it a hassle for them to purchase. I wouldn't throw the law out because of a few faults in it. I would say the law is enforced to stop purchases. It does need some work on busting those that try. I wouldn't put the burden on the dealer to stop and arrest someone for an attempt. That would be up to the Feds.

[Euromutt]

30. There's a legal question regarding prosecuting someone who fails a NICS check, though

Section 922(g) of the U.S. Code says that:

It shall be unlawful for any person— <list of disqualifying conditions> <...> to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.

Emphasis mine.

While a prohibited individual who attempts to acquire a firearm is certainly attempting to commit a criminal offense, a denial on the NICS check effectively prevents the offense from being completed. Now, the Revised Code of Washington (to name the state code with which I'm most familiar) has a section on "anticipatory offenses" such as "criminal attempt" (essentially, trying to commit an offense) but does anyone know whether there's such a provision in the U.S. Code?

[X_Digger]

32. Well, if nothing else, it's falsifying a federal document.

The 4473 even has it in the fine print that it's a felony to provide false information on the document, such as checking 'I am not a felon'.

[Euromutt]

34. I forgot about the Form 4473! You're so right!

I ought to have remembered that you have to fill out the 4473 before the NICS check is run.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

11. Carr didn't own the gun. His SO bought it

Her background check must not have set off any flags.

[guitar man]

15. I hope they nail her hide to the wall

She had to have damn well known he wasn't legally allowed to own a firearm when she bought it and gave it to him :grr:

[friendly_iconoclast]

21. As we've seen, the Feds probably won't.

They're not too big on prosecuting straw buyers.

[guitar man]

23. Well, as a law abiding gun owner

I fully support anything it takes to crack down on straw buyers and anybody else who knowingly puts a firearm into the hands of someone who is not supposed to have one. I take my responsibility as the custodian of my weapons very seriously.

"Dude, can I borrow one of your guns?"

"Fuck no, get your own!"

If somebody can't legally get their own, they are not going to get one from me.

[spin]

29. The only person who ever borrows one of my handguns ...

is my daughter. I trained her how to shoot and she has a concealed weapons permit.

[spin]

28. Straw purchasers should spend lengthy sentences ...

in prison.

If the weapon they purchased is used to murder or rob they should be treated as accessories to the crime.

Future gun control should be focused on criminals and those who aid them obtain their weapons rather than attempting to ban or restrict firearm ownership by honest citizens.

[Euromutt]

31. Nit-picking correction to the thread title: it's not clear the kid shot himself

He was in the room with his 4 year-old brother, and it might have been the latter who handled the gun and caused it to discharge.

It's largely irrelevant, I know. If the investigators' description of events is correct--"Carr had taken the gun out of a safe, loaded it and left it in a drawer in the couple's bedroom"--it's entirely the dad's fault, because that's the exact opposite of the responsible thing to do when you leave the house (namely, you should clear and put it in the safe).