Teen dies after being shot in face while playing with gun

originally posted by: ShadowLink
Why does a 13 year old have access to his parents guns?

I don't know why this isn't being asked more.

Who in their right mind allows their 13-year-old access to their guns unattended?

DP

originally posted by: DeadFoot

originally posted by: ShadowLink
Why does a 13 year old have access to his parents guns?

I don't know why this isn't being asked more.

Who in their right mind allows their 13-year-old access to their guns unattended?

I had access to firearms at 13. I fact I got my first rifle at 12.... I also went in my first hunt at that age too. As did most of the people that age in my school, and no one ever shot anyone or themselves.

The issue isn't guns it's the lack of parents educations their kids about them.

I do however agree they should be locked up and the parents only know where the key is.

Continuing education and a healthy knowledge and respect for the "tool" is what stems the tide of accidents.

Stemming the tide of those who shoot people however is a social problem that needs to be addressed.

Sadly, from what I've seen, most teenagers have no idea how to handle a weapon. My daughter has quite a few friends and my guns seem to hold a special fascination for them, so I decided to do a little experiment. All her friends are 16 to 18 by the way, just "normal" teenagers and we are in "corn country" in the Mid West. Keep that in mind. Just good 'ol country folk.
She and 5 others were here at the house and a couple asked me about my guns. "Do they kick a lot", What does that do" etc...
I went in to another room, unloaded and safety checked my Glock, then came back in the room and said "Hold this" to each of them in turn.
Every One Of Them Did The Same Thing. Not one of them checked it or even asked if it was loaded and as soon as they wrapped their hand around the grip, they put their finger on the trigger. They turned it over, looked down the sights and in every instance, covered the room with the muzzle. Meaning they pointed it at almost every one in the room while inspecting it.
Now, even knowing it was unloaded, I was still nervous.I just Do Not Like having a weapon pointed at me, even when I know it's not loaded. Not too long before this, a kid here had shot one of his friends with a stolen gun that he didn't know was loaded. [That's a story of astounding stupidity all by itself ] So I did what their parents should have done years ago. I sat them down and gave them a 30 minute gun safety course on how to safely check a gun to see if it's loaded, how to unload it and what to do if they find a weapon.
My daughter amazed them by checking the mag well, then racking the slide to make sure it was empty and then taking it apart. My kids have known gun safety since they were old enough to understand "Don't Touch!!" and how to handle firearms since they were big enough to shoot.
Take The Mystery Out Of Guns and they won't be so likely to play with them.

originally posted by: Orionx2


Kids get shown how to handle a condom, but yet not how to properly handle a gun?


Rubbers and sex okay..... guns.. no no no.... I do not get it.

You're not American are you?

There are a lot of places in America where teaching about any form of birth control is illegal and only "Abstinence Only" education is the mandate. There's a video that went viral a couple of years back where a teacher was demonstrating the proper technique of "putting a sock on a foot", because he was bound by the school system that he couldn't so much as mention condoms.

I tend to agree that some form of basic training takes place. Safety training, I see no reason a child needs to be taught how to aim and hit a target.

I grew up with air rifles from a young age. Taught me a lot about safety.

Interestingly as an adult I have had almost zero contact with guns, but I know not aim one at mine or. Anybody else's face when handling one.

originally posted by: eNumbra

originally posted by: Orionx2


Kids get shown how to handle a condom, but yet not how to properly handle a gun?


Rubbers and sex okay..... guns.. no no no.... I do not get it.

You're not American are you?

There are a lot of places in America where teaching about any form of birth control is illegal and only "Abstinence Only"

I am from the USA. The state I live all public schools are required to have a sex ed class. The Christian/religious and private schools I have no idea.
The rest of this post will try to cover everyone's comments. I am at work on my smart phone so difficult to type.
There has been many comments about the parents should be responsible for teaching gun safety however I think that is coming from people the grew up around guns.
Many parents are anti-gun or neutral on the subject and never owned or handled a gun so it doesn't come up with their kids. That is why I believe it should be mandatory in school.
Also I do believe a simple one hour class by someone that's knows gun would suffice. The first time I took my daughter shooting it took 10 minutes to show her what to do and what not to do. Funs are simple devices. Ever since she has followed that guidence.
There will always be exceptions of course. If fact a local military couple that are gun enthusiasts and well trained bought a Glock. Something was not working and while trying to figure it out the gun went off and killed the wife. Things happen but it should not be an excuse not to try to teach safety.

a reply to: Orionx2

I think we both know why they don't teach anything about how to handle firearms in the public schools. The pansy #ss liberal #hits that teach in those schools don't know anything about firearms. All they know is they don't want white middle class America to have access to firearms because they don't want them to be able to protect themselves.

Otherwise, this is a sad, sad story of idiot parenting, proving that some people shouldn't be allowed to have either firearms or kids.

Any parent should have their handguns locked up in a safe.I would back that law.There must be trigger guards for rifles and shotguns.

a reply to: mysterioustranger

With your statement "sure do miss the 50,000 years of complete peace and non-violence we had before video games were invented." ...

that was called sarcasm, even me and sheldon cooper can see that what it was.

originally posted by: Iamnotadoctor
You're right!
All children should be able to shoot bullseyes.
That's what USA needs the most at this point in time.

Builds confidence like any other sport.

a reply to: hounddoghowlie

I knew that...YOU knew that...but Im quite sure some others did not take it that way. Of course it was in the form of sarcasm.

Listen...I come across many times here as sarcastic...unintentionally, but I recognize that. Ive even addressed how I can be in threads....so....

Understood. Now, do you understand my point? We are all in this together and all comments welcome. Why? Because its supposed to be this way.

Its all good...so are we!

Any and every parent who's toddler, teenager, etc. get a hold of their guns (which should be locked in a gun safe) and injures or kills themselves or others, should be charged with criminal negligence. The simply is no reason for all these kids to have access to daddy's gun outside of poor parenting and a complete failure in the areas of responsible gun ownership.

Edit to add: I own guns. My daughter never saw them one time. had no idea they were in the house, where they were, or anything else.

a reply to: Orionx2

You say rubbers? What about the new "transgender" teaching curriculum where kindergartners are being taught to reimagine their own sexual identity.

originally posted by: Orionx2



Many parents are anti-gun or neutral on the subject and never owned or handled a gun so it doesn't come up with their kids.

The odds of a child accidentally shooting themselves or others in a home without guns are astronomical.

originally posted by: DeadFoot

originally posted by: ShadowLink
Why does a 13 year old have access to his parents guns?

I don't know why this isn't being asked more.

Who in their right mind allows their 13-year-old access to their guns unattended?

I got a 410 side by side at age 8, was hunting on a regular basis with my dad by 9...

age has squat to do with it, education has everything to do with it.

As far as trigger locks etc... my dad eventually got a gun safe oh around the time I was 15 or 16... he thought he hid the combo... I found it in the first day or so.

Kids are much more alert and aware than adults give them credit for.... you want kids to stop shooting themselves on accident... you teach them respect for the weapon... or get all the guns out of your house.

nobody has any business having a gun in the house if everybody in the house is not going to be educated on the how to;s about guns.

Teen dies after being shot in face while playing with gun

GUNS ARE NOT TOYS !

originally posted by: acackohfcc
Teen dies after being shot in face while playing with gun

GUNS ARE NOT TOYS !

Well, everything is a toy. But the important part is you still have to play safe. Guns absolutely ARE toys. They are primarily used for recreation by most Americans who have them. Target shooting is FUN. It's educational and it serves a purpose (keeping your gun skills sharp) but it's also just plain fun.

The same goes for hunting. Hunting serves many purposes and fulfills many psychological roles but fundamentally, a hunter is just a big kid having fun playing with his toys.

What is needed is we really do need to stop treating kids like they're stupid and can't handle anything. Now that doesn't mean you should give your kid a gun and tell him to go have fun. But you have to remember why we send young kids to school in the first place.

Remember something. 2-3 year old kids learn the basics of an ENTIRE language at that age. Kids are not stupid. They're capable of learning. They DO learn. Kids are smart. They can be as smart as we allow them to be. Show me a stupid kid and I'll show you a kid who has had bad teachers and overprotective supervision.

Should kids be supervised? Absolutely. Should they be entirely shielded from reality? no. Can kids handle guns safely? I believe they can. Are accidents still going to happen? Yes. I've heard of people who safely handled guns all their lives who made one wrong move and accidentally died as a result. Guns are toys but they still need to be respected. They're just dangerous toys.

Disassmble your guns THEN lock them up and keep defense weapons under personal control at all times.
Or become the next bad parent whom you indeed are if the offspring dies by your own tools.

originally posted by: ManBehindTheMask
I do however agree they should be locked up and the parents only know where the key is.

Do you think kids are incapable of searching for a key? Unless you put the key on your keyring and physically carry it with you, a kid is going to find your hiding space. I guarantee you, if you ever regularly leave your kids alone at home they have gone through the entire place looking for whatever they can find. They probably know the hiding spots better than you do.