After more than 5yrs of gun safety training.

[russ1943]

Chesco D.A.: No charges in shooting death of 11-year-old
Published: Wednesday, March 02, 2011
By JENNIFER MILLER
Special to the Times

WEST CHESTER — Chester County District Attorney Joseph Carroll announced Tuesday his office will not file charges against the 14-year-old Westtown boy who fatally shot his 11-year-old sister in December.
The parents were aware their son had a fascination with guns and should have anticipated possible danger, Carroll said, and the gun was loaded even though the children were home alone.
“They certainly didn’t use the best possible method to protect their children,” he said. “However, their failure was no worse than what happens in a lot of households. I think there’s negligence here; I don’t think that crosses the line into criminal.”
At the same time, Carroll said, the parents had discussed gun safety with their son; he had been training with firearms since age 8. And his parents had expected he would only handle the firearm during an emergency or under the supervision of his father, the district attorney said.
http://delcotimes.com/articles/2011/03/02/news/doc4d6e70073c587789854440.txt?viewmode=fullstory

[CBGLuthier]

1. It WILL happen again. and again. and again

Until they start holding legal gun owners to some fucking responsibility.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

4. Well, it's been happening less. and less. and less ...

See post 3 if you want proof.

[WatsonT]

2. A 14 year old with 5 years of training is still not an 18 year old.

[X_Digger]

3. Good thing both fatal and non-fatal accident rates are trending down..

calc'd from:
http://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate10_sy.html
http://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/nfirates2001.html

[russ1943]

7. Unintentional death & injury are increasing!

Unintentional death and injury are but one important facet of the total gun problem in this country. The long term downward trend of unintentional gun DEATHS is, at least in part due to increases in medical technology and urgent care responders.
The combined total of unintentional death and injury however, has recently (most recent statistics available) been.............. INCREASING.

Year non fatal + fatal = combined total
2006 14,678 + 642 = 15,320
2007 15,698 613 16,311
2008 17,215 * 17,215
2009 18,610 * 18,610

*WISQARS has statistics available thru 2007 for fatalities & thru 2009 for non-fatal. When the fatalities are determined and made available for 2008 and 2009 the combined total will obviously be increased.
http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/index.html

[lawodevolution]

8. Wrong, in the last 5 years emergency medicine has not changed at all.

The decrease in death rate shows the trend while the increase in unintentional injury rate indicates increased reporting of more minor injuries

[X_Digger]

9. Notice I said *rate* -- reading is fundamental. n/t

[russ1943]

10. Notice I didn’t, say rate, so what?

I also didn’t fail to specify any cherry picked age group. I’ve used all ages.
For those that recognize the importance of rate, BOTH the numbers and RATES of the combined figures of Unintentional Firearm Gunshot Nonfatal Injury RATES plus known Unintentional Firearm Gunshot Fatality RATES for the most recent years available are as I stated, INCREASING.
YEAR crude rate
2006 5.13 per 100,000
2007 5.41
2008 5.66
2009 6.06

Rather than intentionally distorting the most recent known statistics regarding all known US firearm gunshot unintentional injury and death, my posts (see # 7) on this subject identify the years, the numbers and with this post the rates and the source is WISQARS.
http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/index.html

[X_Digger]

13. So do my graphs.. and my graphs are topical to the OP, unlike your numbers..

Since the OP is about kids and an accidental shooting, which do you think is more appropriate? And which one is a red herring?

Just for shits and giggles, here are the graphs for rates for all ages-





Both are trending down.

[Hoyt]

5. Well DA, if "fascination with guns" becomes a crime, the courts will be packed.

There are people here who can't leave home without one tucked where they can touch it. And many have weapons caches rivaling some countries. It's more an obsession, and the way we glamorize and promote guns is a threat to society.

This kid would likely grow up to believe he has more training than the police. And there will be a lot more like him if the NRA and gun expansionists have their way.

[friendly_iconoclast]

11. And the "Westboro" school of gun control is heard from...

Declare something (or someone) evil, and proceed as if the declaration is axiomatic.

Repeat regularly.

[guitar man]

6. Something smells here

As a safety measure, the parents left one of the gun’s five chambers empty. The boy, Carroll said, was aware of this and believed that even if he pulled the trigger it would not fire. But Carroll said the cylinder rotated to a loaded chamber when the boy pulled the hammer back.

If he had actually had 5 years training,and was trained with a revolver, he'd damn well know that when he pulled the hammer back it was ready to fire empty hole or not.

And this:

While the boy’s father had instructed the child on how to use the firearm properly, Carroll said, the parents did not intend for the boy to use the firearm in his father’s absence, nor did they tell the boy where the gun was located

doesn't fit with this:

And his parents had expected he would only handle the firearm during an emergency or under the supervision of his father, the district attorney said.

If they wanted the boy to be able to get to the gun to handle an emergency, why would they not tell him where the gun was?

This story is just not adding up....

[David West]

12. Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like the parents were terribly knowledgeable about firearms.

Unless it was more than a couple decades old or (possibly?) an exceedingly cheap revolver it would either have a hammer block or transfer bar type safety, so there is absolutely zero possibility of a blow to the hammer setting off a round. If they'd known more about their gun, perhaps they wouldn't have put silly notions in the boy's head. I've heard countless people prattle on about the "always leave a chamber open" advice who seem to have no idea that this really only applies to OLD single action revolvers.

That said, what are you going to do to these people? Punish them for a tragic accident? Take an arbitrary amount of money from them? Force them to pay restitution to... well, themselves? Throw them in prison where they can become tax burdens on the state and learn to be REAL criminals?

The lack of compassion and empathy in the anti-gun crowd can be astonishing.

[Taitertots]

14. Negligence and Bad Parenting

I refuse to be punished (egregious gun control) for other people's parenting failures.