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And to whom do we assign that task of discrimination? And what do we do about those whom we judge to be irresponsible? Do we give everybody a True-False test, and if they score over 70%, they're allowed to give guns to their kids? Of if they score under 70% we put their kids in foster homes until they undergo training courses and bring up their score? Is this test in English only?
By the way, the gun was a .22. And if you wanted to kill a human being with a .22, you'd have to be extremely lucky, as well as knowledgeable about where to place your shot to score a fatal hit on a vital organ. If you sent 100 kids to third grade today with .22 rifles and told them to shoot somebody, it is unlikely that there would be a single death.
Needless to day, the news story we have is a classic example of American journalism raising more questions than it answers, and leaving everyone completely in the dark about everything that could possibly have any relevance to intelligent discussion. The function of the American news media is to reinforce our predisposition to ignorance.
Not quite true Jtur, a twenty two is a DEADLY weapon. I have used a twenty two to kill things as small as a sparrow but my Dad and I used a twenty two rifle to put down steers as large as 1,200 pounds or more and one shot in the right place always did the trick. Like another poster pointed out a two year old child is more likely to die from any hit by a bullet because they are very fragile. Nobody who has any familiarity with firearms would ever pooh pooh just how dangerous a twenty two can be. ANY firearm (or even a BB gun) should be handled very carefully.
5 is too early for a child to be expected to act like an informed and responsible adult. I would not leave a firearm, loaded or unloaded, unattended in the presence of an untrained adult, or an adult I didn't trust implicitly with my life. Hell, I would probably not do it even then, except in dire circumstances. Same goes for a child who I might or might not give a firearm to as a gift, depending on their maturity. It would be unloaded (by me or by them while I supervised) and locked away when not in supervised use.
The problem, as always, is not the kids, it's the idiot adults who were allowed to procreate without any checks, controls, or qualification.
The solution, as always, is information. A gun is not a toy, which is why I'm not giving my kids toy guns - it's a contradiction in terms. Someone who has learned bad habits with "toy guns," like pointing them at people, keeping their finger on the trigger etc. will repeat these bad habits with real firearms and in a best case scenario will have to spend a lot of time unlearning them. We see what the worst case scenario is, obviously.
Parents who are going to give firearms to their kids need to educate themselves about safe and proper handling and storage, because they are ultimately responsible, not just for the immediate actions that the child might take, but for the foundation of their firearms education and how they use firearms later in life. Too much work for the parents? Then buy a Wii instead.
Just handing a firearm to a child and leaving the responsibility to them is unforgiveable.
Quote:
...paid little attention as her 5-year-old son, Kristian, played with the rifle
Right there. I have a lot of things to say about that kind of parenting, but it would probably not make for nice reading. "Accidental" my big blue-white behind. The parents should be charged with manslaughter at the very least. This was not an "accident", it was completely preventable and would not have happened had normal safety rules been followed.
Quote:
And if you wanted to kill a human being with a .22, you'd have to be extremely lucky, as well as knowledgeable about where to place your shot to score a fatal hit on a vital organ
As the story shows, you don't have to be either. I see this cow manure about the .22 not being a lethal round spread all over the place. It's untrue and possibly increases the chances of tragic incidents like this one because some uninformed soul will think "well it's just a 22 what can go wrong."
Last edited by Norgy; 05-02-2013 at 01:23 PM..
Reason: typo
This is a parenting (or lack of parenting) problem! Leave the guns and politics out of the thread!
This is the Current Events forum, not the Parenting forum. I suspect if people want to discuss the politics of it, it's entirely relevant to the scope of this forum.
This is the Current Events forum, not the Parenting forum. I suspect if people want to discuss the politics of it, it's entirely relevant to the scope of this forum.
Sticky: The Current Events Forum is strictly for non-political discussions. No partisan jabs and no very controversial topics
This is a parenting (or lack of parenting) problem! Leave the guns and politics out of the thread!
As I said in my original question and then in a follow up post - I want to figure out why someone would want to gift a gun to 5 year old? This is neither parenting nor gun strictly IMO. I don't think anyone is making it political although I kind of had this doubt that it would turn into one but so far hasn't (or mostly).
I am surprised some people don't seem to see any difference between guns and toys. And I guess the mother of these kids is among them. This BS excuse that I went to patio just "3 minutes" before this happened is making me even more angry. I guess this lady still has not changed. God bless the survivor!
On the politics forum, I tried to get the conservatives defending guns in the hands of little kids to specify an age at which handling a gun is inappropriate and too risky for a small kid. They couldn't give me anything. So we can conclude that conservatives today have no limit on how young a child should be before they are given a lethal weapon. So long as an adult is there, hand that gun to that 16 month-old and show him or her how to squeeze one off! You can't start early enough. If they could get these little creatures firing away before they came out of the womb, they'd do that, too, all in the name of their ego and their deranged politics.
Such is the state of conservatives in America. They are so far gone that they can't even agree that a small kid who hasn't even gone to school yet should not be shooting a gun. And if you point out how insane this obviously is, they twist it into a straw man accusation of wanting to take all guns away from everyone.
True to some degree, ambient, but then, liberal Dems do indeed seize on any opp to make their usual tiresome drivel-soaked gun control claims (btw, I'll make it abundanly clear right now that I am NOT a red-necked Republican über-righty gun nut. OK? Clear? I'm just v. tired of the two apocalyptic ultra-180˚positions always spewed out. Stop it, and let's be sensible. )
This mother is/was criminally neglectful. No "gun politics" involved here, just common sense. Sheizee happens, unfortunately, and NO amount of overzealous gun legislation can control all human behavior, esp, when the subject is what? 2 yrs old. I know the Dems would like to control even 2 yr olds, but let's try to think here a bit first..)
As I said in my original question and then in a follow up post - I want to figure out why someone would want to gift a gun to 5 year old? This is neither parenting nor gun strictly IMO. I don't think anyone is making it political although I kind of had this doubt that it would turn into one but so far hasn't (or mostly).
I am surprised some people don't seem to see any difference between guns and toys. And I guess the mother of these kids is among them. This BS excuse that I went to patio just "3 minutes" before this happened is making me even more angry. I guess this lady still has not changed. God bless the survivor!
Agreed. This woman made a major intellectual and simple parentlng mistake. No question. She should be held completely and legally accountable. End of story.
The picture of their house, pretty much says it all I think. Looks like they could find better uses for their money, then buying their 5 year old his own rifle.
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