Nine month old shot dead by older brother

www.9news.com.au...

This is so sad , no one deserves to lose a child but in a case like this where it could be totally preventable just makes me angry . The last 2 paragraphs . Well the first surprised and shocked me .

Around 100 children under the age of 14 are killed accidentally by gunfire every year in the US.

But the second angers me .

Attempts to legislate safety regulations, such as child locks, are routinely blocked in Congress by powerful lobby groups such as the NRA.

Im scratching my head here . How can this happen given the accidents that have happened in recent times . I honestly just dont know what people are thinking sometimes .

Teach children gun-safety from day one.
Guns are not toys.

a reply to: skunkape23

But in all honesty can you teach a 5 year old , although having said that when i was around that age we would get a whipping for pointing a plastic gun at each other . Different time i suppose .

Authorities say they have no reason to treat the incident as anything other than a tragic accident.

Umm how about negligence? You don't leave a loaded gun unlocked for a child to find.

I leave a few of my guns unlocked in certain places, but you can bet your ass they are getting locked up if anyone I don't know well is coming over, and always/especially if a child comes over (which is pretty rare).

I don't think it's entirely necessary to punish the parents with prison (and subsequently punishing an innocent child), they're now well freaking aware what not to do. They obviously didn't want this to happen. I think it may be prudent to bar them from owning firearms and punish them in some other way.

Freaking sad man. Feel for the parents (and am also pissed at them) and especially for that poor little guy that shot his brother.

MORE idiots who don't KNOW how to handle guns anger us all.

originally posted by: hutch622
a reply to: skunkape23

But in all honesty can you teach a 5 year old , although having said that when i was around that age we would get a whipping for pointing a plastic gun at each other . Different time i suppose .

I was not allowed to have toy guns.
I was a good shooter by the time I was 5.

a reply to: hutch622

300 million guns in the US.

you say out of that 100 fatalities. I say gun owners are pretty damned responsible compared to people securing their prescription drugs:

Between 2004 and 2005, an estimated 71,000 children (18 or younger) were seen in EDs each year because of medication overdose (excluding self-harm, abuse and recreational drug use).4


You See this right? 71 freeking Thousand kids! 71,000 and this is not suicide or recreational drug abuse in this number. How about instead of freeking out about guns we secure the prescription drugs? LOL


Well, how about we ban swimming pools and bath tubs: 2 children a day 14 or younger die every freeking day! Damn those bath tubs and swimming pools! That is over 7 times the deaths! Ban Them!

www.cdc.gov...

Overview Every day, about ten people die from unintentional drowning. Of these, two are children aged 14 or younger. Drowning ranks fifth among the leading causes of unintentional injury death in the United States.1 How big is the problem? From 2005-2009, there were an average of 3,533 fatal unintentional drownings (non-boating related) annually in the United States — about ten deaths per day. An additional 347 people died each year from drowning in boating-related incidents.2 More than 50% of drowning victims treated in emergency departments (EDs) require hospitalization or transfer for further care (compared with a hospitalization rate of about 6% for all unintentional injuries).1,2 These nonfatal drowning injuries can cause severe brain damage that may result in long-term disabilities such as memory problems, learning disabilities, and permanent loss of basic functioning (e.g., permanent vegetative state).3,

And hell, Prescription Drugs! BAN Prescription drugs!

www.cdc.gov...

Deaths from drug overdose have been rising steadily over the past two decades and have become the leading cause of injury death in the United States.1 Every day in the United States, 120 people die as a result of drug overdose,8 and another 6,748 are treated in emergency departments (ED) for the misuse or abuse of drugs.2 Nearly 9 out of 10 poisoning deaths are caused by drugs.8

Between 2004 and 2005, an estimated 71,000 children (18 or younger) were seen in EDs each year because of medication overdose (excluding self-harm, abuse and recreational drug use).4

Among children under age 6, pharmaceuticals account for about 40% of all exposures reported to poison centers.5

We may need to ban those Televisions and furniture as well since this kills kids as well:

www.abc15.com...

Across the nation, more children are being hurt or killed by falling furniture. More than 22,000 kids are treated in emergency rooms every year for injuries related to instability or tip-over. And televisions are typically to blame. They are involved in 70% of furniture-related deaths. According to a recent report by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, one child is killed every two weeks in the United States.

It's a tragedy that could have been prevented and I can't imagine what the parents are going through.

I am not calling it an accident because it wasn't. When a firearm is left unattended ALONG WITH children (or adults) who have not been raised & trained around firearms and someone is shot and or killed it is no accident....it is negligence.

You CAN NOT legislate ignorance away. Passing a law will not make problems disappear, if it did we would have no murders, no thefts, no assaults, no drug illegal use or anything else that the thousands of laws they have written cover.

I own 26 firearms, have owned firearms all my life. My father owned many firearms...as did my grandpa, uncles, aunts, cousins, friends, grandma and now my adult kids do.

Between everybody, your probably talking a couple hundred guns over the years mixed in with dozens of kids of all ages.

No one has ever had an incident involving a firearm because all us from my grandfather when he was young all the way up to my own grand children have been around guns all their life, been taught about them, respect what they can do and are trained in their use when they are old enough. There is no mystery or curiosity about them, they all know what they do, how dangerous they can be.

Hundreds of guns.....dozens of kids......zero incidents. Educating people on gun safety is the key

Of course that is my opinion and many will disagree.

a reply to: infolurker

I get where you are coming from . Every child that dies from something that we as adults could have prevented is a tragedy .

a reply to: infolurker

Well yes, prescription drugs are getting more and more regulated...

And actually many are calling for them to be taken off the market.

So yes you are right, lets regulate things that kill people.

a reply to: Sremmos80

So yes you are right, lets regulate things that kill people.

That SOUNDS good but there is a problem. You can't regulate or legislate common sense.

Pretty soon I'll need a team of poorly trained people to hold my ladder and supervise me cleaning out the gutters. Or some government lockbox that I can only access with a witness to use bleach. All the current regulations on motor vehicles are probably helping, but they sure aren't perfect. I'd rather not rent a police officer every time I go to the store.

I'm VERY pro gun rights, but I do think there should be an IQ test, and a gun IQ test. Pay $20 and it lasts a lifetime. You don't get dumberer and if you're so dumb you forget the basic rules of gun safety you didn't pass the IQ test (there is a bit of hyperbole somewhere). When I was in Driver's Education, they showed us pictures of horrific accidents. Make people get a license at 18 and see victims of negligence and pass a simple test. Weed out the morons and those that don't care enough to put in a few hours of their time. Oh look, I tried to regulate and legislate common sense. Crap.

a reply to: Domo1

I'm VERY pro gun rights, but I do think there should be an IQ test, and a gun IQ test. Pay $20 and it lasts a lifetime. You don't get dumberer and if you're so dumb you forget the basic rules of gun safety you didn't pass the IQ test

Very interesting idea . I had a similar idea about passing a basic first aid course before obtaining a licence to drive . Cant pass the course no licence .

a reply to: Domo1

That is true and like your idea of the test.
I would also like a psych test too.

originally posted by: Domo1
a reply to: Sremmos80

So yes you are right, lets regulate things that kill people.

That SOUNDS good but there is a problem. You can't regulate or legislate common sense.

Pretty soon I'll need a team of poorly trained people to hold my ladder and supervise me cleaning out the gutters. Or some government lockbox that I can only access with a witness to use bleach. All the current regulations on motor vehicles are probably helping, but they sure aren't perfect. I'd rather not rent a police officer every time I go to the store.

I'm VERY pro gun rights, but I do think there should be an IQ test, and a gun IQ test. Pay $20 and it lasts a lifetime. You don't get dumberer and if you're so dumb you forget the basic rules of gun safety you didn't pass the IQ test (there is a bit of hyperbole somewhere). When I was in Driver's Education, they showed us pictures of horrific accidents. Make people get a license at 18 and see victims of negligence and pass a simple test. Weed out the morons and those that don't care enough to put in a few hours of their time. Oh look, I tried to regulate and legislate common sense. Crap.

Skip the IQ test to own a gun and back up to the point where people are about to reach breeding age. That's the time to give the IQ test and prevent the biggest accident of all.

originally posted by: skunkape23
Teach children gun-safety from day one.
Guns are not toys.

This is just another nail in the "gawd Americans are completely blank..." statement for Europeans.

No other civilised country let's their kids try, use or learn about guns, nor does the population feel a need to have one in the house for what ever reason.

When old ideas become dogma then you have to seriously consider getting rid of that idea. The world will not end if you don't have a gun the house nor will your freedom be taken from you.

Best argument I've heard so far. Guns don't kill people, bathtubs kill people!!! a reply to: infolurker

a reply to: flice

Thank god we really don't care what the Europeans think...

a reply to: infolurker

300 million guns in the US.

you say out of that 100 fatalities. I say gun owners are pretty damned responsible

Nice twisting there Psst...they were only the children under 14... 100 deaths to much.

compared to people securing their prescription drugs

And justifying a problem by comparing to another problem is a fail or lack of argument, which is typical in this topic every time.

They are two independent problems that BOTH should be taken care of.

It's like saying plane crashes are ok because carcrashes also happens, so no need to regulate safety on planes.

a reply to: flice

As long as guns are prevalent education in fire arm safety is the only way to lower accidental deaths by firearms.

a reply to: hutch622

Im scratching my head here . How can this happen given the accidents that have happened in recent times . I honestly just dont know what people are thinking sometimes .

Because it is unenforceable.

Why is it that people think legislation is the cure to negligence? Why do you people think that detached elitist scum can dictate what is and is not responsibility?

There's a thread in my signature that deals precisely with this sort of thing. Its called basic gun safety. Negligence like this can only be dealt with by education.

That said 100 or so instances out of 100 million gun owners, including 40-50 million with children in the house is hardly a reason to start hysterical calls for more unenforceable and arbitrary legislation.