Boy kills himself with family gun

mentalfloss

Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
39,778
454
83
Boy kills himself with family gun

A boy of three shot himself dead after finding his father's gun in their car during a stop at a US service station.

The father had put the pistol under the seat and got out to fill the tank while the mother went inside the convenience store, leaving their son and baby daughter in the car.

The boy climbed out of his child seat, found the gun and shot himself in the head. He was declared dead at hospital. The girl was not injured.

Detectives in Tacoma, Washington questioned the parents and called the shooting a tragic accident. The father has a concealed weapons permit, and no charges were anticipated.

It was the third recent shooting by a child in western Washington."It is incredible in light of the other ones," said policeman Naveed Benjamin. "You would think people would take more care, not less."

Washington state does not have a law specifically concerning child access to firearms.

The shooting follows the death of the seven-year-old daughter of a police officer on Saturday when her brother found a gun and fired while the parents were out of their car. And on February 22, an eight-year-old girl was critically wounded in a classroom when a gun fired inside the backpack of a nine-year-old boy as he put it on a desk.

"It's another tragedy in a very short period of time," Officer Benjamin said. It highlights the need for people to secure guns, he said.

"You can't predict what children are going to do," he said. "You need to unload and lock it up if you're not carrying it. ... It's really not that hard to practice firearm safety."

Twenty-seven states have some form of law to prevent child access to firearms, but Washington is not one of them. Such laws can include criminal penalties for adults who allow children to get their hands on guns.

The Press Association: Boy kills himself with family gun



 

damngrumpy

Executive Branch Member
Mar 16, 2005
9,949
21
38
kelowna bc
Every family down there has a channel changer for the TV why not a family gun?
I suppose this will bring out the spring ban gun brigade. Just as sure as the flowers
return for the season the calls for ban everything will begin. Now I agree that the
guns people have should be secured and hand guns need to be registered. Not
for criminals as much as for police going to domestic disputes.
There has to be accountability but we need not punish everyone for the stupidity
or neglect of the few, punish them not everyone else. It is a sad day for the family
though, what a waste of a life.
 

WLDB

Senate Member
Jun 24, 2011
6,182
0
36
Ottawa
Odd how it never makes news when a kid drowns in the family swimming pool - even when both parents leave the kids unattended

I've seen stories like that in the news before. Some parents are idiots.

Who the hell leaves a loaded gun in a car with a kid without at least having a safety lock on?
 

Colpy

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 5, 2005
21,887
847
113
69
Saint John, N.B.
Boy kills himself with family gun

A boy of three shot himself dead after finding his father's gun in their car during a stop at a US service station.

The father had put the pistol under the seat and got out to fill the tank while the mother went inside the convenience store, leaving their son and baby daughter in the car.

The boy climbed out of his child seat, found the gun and shot himself in the head. He was declared dead at hospital. The girl was not injured.

Detectives in Tacoma, Washington questioned the parents and called the shooting a tragic accident. The father has a concealed weapons permit, and no charges were anticipated.

It was the third recent shooting by a child in western Washington."It is incredible in light of the other ones," said policeman Naveed Benjamin. "You would think people would take more care, not less."

Washington state does not have a law specifically concerning child access to firearms.

The shooting follows the death of the seven-year-old daughter of a police officer on Saturday when her brother found a gun and fired while the parents were out of their car. And on February 22, an eight-year-old girl was critically wounded in a classroom when a gun fired inside the backpack of a nine-year-old boy as he put it on a desk.

"It's another tragedy in a very short period of time," Officer Benjamin said. It highlights the need for people to secure guns, he said.

"You can't predict what children are going to do," he said. "You need to unload and lock it up if you're not carrying it. ... It's really not that hard to practice firearm safety."

Twenty-seven states have some form of law to prevent child access to firearms, but Washington is not one of them. Such laws can include criminal penalties for adults who allow children to get their hands on guns.

The Press Association: Boy kills himself with family gun




I say it again, as I said it over and over and over to my students: there are only two acceptable places for a loaded handgun to be: in the holster on your hip, or in your hands.

Period.
 

lone wolf

Grossly Underrated
Nov 25, 2006
32,493
210
63
In the bush near Sudbury
Kinda scary to think I grew up with painted metal dashboards, no seat belts, lead paint, walks to and from school and unsupervised after school (as both parents worked)
 

Colpy

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 5, 2005
21,887
847
113
69
Saint John, N.B.
Forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't that what a gun is for? To kill people?

Actually, handguns are made for a bunch of reasons: to kill game, to punch holes in targets, or to provide the ability to stop an attacker.

In the first instance, killing is the entire point, in the second there is no correlation, and in the third killing is simply an unpleasant side effect.

But, like practically everything else, weapons need to be handled correctly to be safe.......
 

talloola

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 14, 2006
19,576
113
63
Vancouver Island
Actually, handguns are made for a bunch of reasons: to kill game, to punch holes in targets, or to provide the ability to stop an attacker.

In the first instance, killing is the entire point, in the second there is no correlation, and in the third killing is simply an unpleasant side effect.

But, like practically everything else, weapons need to be handled correctly to be safe.......

yep, just like a car, people kill others with their vehicle all the time, and get a slap on the wrist.

the car is no different than a loaded gun.

a friend of ours, many years ago, ran over his own child in their driveway, drinking and driving, killed
his child, then drank all the more, a ruined man at the age of 25, never recovered.

the parents were negligent, and careless, they will be punished by the memory of what they did, and what
that cost their child, for the rest of their lives.