Mom Shot After Grounding Daughter

[Endangered Specie]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/10/11/national/main648573.shtml
{
(CBS/AP) A 12-year-old girl upset about being grounded by her mother fatally shot the woman in the face while she slept, police said.

Elvira Marion Walton, 48, was discovered in her bed early Sunday by her son. The 10-year-old boy called police around 1 a.m.

"Apparently the motive is because the daughter was upset that the mother disciplined her," police Sgt. Gary Kirkpatrick said in Monday editions of The Dallas Morning News.
}

[goju]

1. Im guessing it was...

the first time the girl was disciplined. Or maybe it was excessive discipline, often. Nuts!

[SBWCP]

2. This is another example...

Of how much we need gun control! Did this girl smuggle her gun from China? If guns were confiscated, that mother would be alive. That's right, for anyone who supports the second amendment, this lady's life is in YOUR hands.

[goju]

4. So, your first priority is to take away rights?

No concern for the family. No discussion of the girls mental health, or lack thereof. No mention of parenting skills, or lack thereof. Your first response is to start chopping up the Bill of Rights?

Why dont you apply that reactionary process to the 1st amendment too? We could save alot of trouble, like the outing of CIA agents or the scrutiny of presidents ala F 9/11 if we just abolish the 1st amendment. Simple solutions from .... well, you get the picture.

[JeebusB]

5. If you REALLY want to deprive me of my firearms,

you could try it.





but I wouldn't recomend it.

[Pert_UK]

6. Hey nice! An unsubtle implied threat!

Welcome aboard! I look forward to hours of intelligent, rational debate with you!

:eyes:

P.

[Romulus]

3. more info from CNN.com

http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/10/11/mother.shot.ap/index.html

*snip*

"An older daughter, Thanica Derrick, said her mother had been having trouble with the girl. Walton had six children and lived in a converted garage used as the family home.

"She is your average 12-year-old, hormones and everything," said Derrick, 22. "There's nothing that bad to make her do that to my mama. She had been breaking out of the house and not going to school."

*end*


The original story said the Mom was out of work.
While it doesn't explain it all, it sheds some more light on what home life was like.

Edited to add: the same info was in the CBS article. :dunce:

[Pert_UK]

7. My initial thoughts on this tragedy.....

The more observant amongst you will have noticed that I have never (as far as I recall) argued for a total ban on private gun ownership in the US or anywhere else. That's not to say I haven't pointed out the pitfalls of guns in private hands, but that's not the same thing.

My feeling about this terrible tragedy is that (regardless of whether the gun was legally or illegally owned) is that the general attitude towards guns in the US is far too casual. Pro-gunners often (quite rightly) point out that these tragedies wouldn't have happened if the guns involved had been stored / used / cleaned in accordance with common sense, the existing laws and good firearms practice.

The problem is that too many guns are legally owned by people who either have no interest in or knowledge of safe gun ownership, but because owning a gun is seen as a "right" it's also seen as something that can be exercised without risk, and without an awareness of the special responsibilities that come with gun ownership.

Nobody expects to be able to drive a car or work in construction without training and passing tests, yet the public can buy a gun with no training at all and no real instruction on its safe storage.

IMHO nobody should be allowed to own a gun unless they can prove that they're aware of their responsibilities in how it should be stored, maintained and used safely so as to pose minimum risk to themselves and others.

[goju]

8. You can lead a horse to water....

you know the rest.

The problem is that even assuming this mother did not know proper storage measures, educating her wont necessarily make her practice those measures. Alot of people keep guns loaded and accessible for security reasons. I know a few people who do, and education or awareness of proper storage measures isnt an issue with them. They choose to keep their gun(s) loaded and ready.

I dont know what this mother was thinking, but clearly the kid has some psychological issues that probably are a more direct cause of this incident.

[Pert_UK]

9. Kids are dumb and irresponsible.......

Now......would there be MORE or LESS chance of a child killing their mother if they hadn't had easy access to a trivially easy means of murder?

I realise that it's easy to kill people with all sorts of other weapons, but it's still WAY more difficult to kill someone with a knife, hammer, poison etc. than with a gun.

Nobody's saying, "If the kid was well-balanced there would have still have been a murder because the gun caused it." I'm saying, "Even if this kid is murderously disturbed, there probably wouldn't have been a murder if a gun hadn't been easily available."

[goju]

10. Clearly

Im not saying the mother's handling/storage of the gun wasnt a factor. I was just responding to your statement that gun ownership should be subject to or dependent upon some type of education/awareness of gun safety and storage. It might be a good idea, but that doesnt mean it will always be practiced. Drunk driving comes to mind.

[slackmaster]

11. Too many people have no opportunity for basic gun safety training

A 1-hour safety lecture and demo by an expert instructor (using dummy guns if you insist) is enough for most people to learn the fundamental rules of safe gun handling. A good teacher can also imprint on students the specal responsibilities that come with gun ownership, particularly the importance of securing them from unqualified people like children and hormone-ravaged adolescents.

I was fortunate to have a parent who was a firearms expert, a man who spent part of his career in the US Navy as a rifle instructor. My brother and I, his children and my stepson and a lot of other people we've touched in our lives, have benefitted from the gun safety instruction we received as children. Most parents aren't qualified to teach gun safety. That's why I believe it should be taught in public schools just like driver training, sex education, and drug abuse resistance.

[goju]

12. Its the few who "think" they know gun safety that are the problem

We've all met them, the ones who once owned a gun, or his dad owned a gun therefore gun smarts were somehow genetically passed on. Those are the dangerous idiots out there.

Gun safety in public school would never happen, but its an interesting idea. Prop guns, focus on safety, start young. Sounds reasonable.

[slackmaster]

13. I've always regarded unsecured guns as an environmental hazard

I teach kids how to watch for rattlesnakes and black widow spiders. I make sure they know how to swim, and when boating I make them wear life vests. No matter what laws are passed, your children are going to encounter an improperly stored firearm sooner or later.

[op6203]

14. I agree.

I think it should be taught in school. Just the facts - no political twist added. I was lucky enough to have a "hunter's safety" class in 8th grade. We actually went to the local Wildlife Dept and fired a shotgun. I grew up in a family of cops and hunters, so I had a lot of exposure already. But I'm sure many in the class would have never heard the basic rules of firearms safety anywhere else.

Even if you don't plan to own a gun, it doesn't hurt to know how to handle one safely (at least how to make sure it's not loaded).

We got a call one day from an elderly lady that said she saw a gun in her driveway and was too scared to go anywhere near it. Officers were dispatched and found the gun. It was a water gun that some kids had dropped while playing. She was too scared to leave her house until the police came and took the evil thing away. Had she known anything about guns, I think she'd have identified it as a toy and gone on with her life. What bothers me the most is that she REALLY THOUGHT it was a gun and ran away from it - leaving it unattended and in plain view - accessible to any child walking down the street.

OP