7-year-old faces 2 felony charges for shooting BB gun

reply to post by ShadellacZumbrum


Simply by labeling him a felon, he is marked for life. Fair enough on the probation, I was trying to make a point too. This little boy will have legal troubles the rest of his life. I know a couple non-violent felons myself. They made dumb choices in their 20's they have to live with and have paid the price of a lifetime of changed opportunities now that they are in their 60's. This has far reaching consequences for that little boy, forever.

reply to post by woodsmom


According to the article his record will be clean when he turns 16.
Aside from that in the event that it did follow him he would have the ability to have the conviction expunged from his record.

Originally posted by ShadellacZumbrum
reply to post by woodsmom

 

According to the article his record will be clean when he turns 16.
Aside from that in the event that it did follow him he would have the ability to have the conviction expunged from his record.

Not necessarily. Most people do not realize that unless they go through the lengthy and expensive legal process of either having their juvenile record sealed or expunged it will remain on his record for the rest of his life. Most people mistakenly believe that once a person is no longer a juvenile that the record either is unviewable or ceases to exist- neither of which are true.

Their lawyer should have a field day with this.

Every piece of law that I've researched for the state of NC defines a "Firearm" as:

a firearm is (i) any weapon, including a starter gun, which will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive, or its frame or receiver

Simply put: A BB gun is not considered a "firearm" in the state of NC.

This should not even be reaching court in the first place.

If they had wanted to charge the child with something that would stick, it should have been more along the lines of "placing vehicle drivers in danger" as pointed out by other posters, the distraction could have caused an accident.

At most this is a good case of the following:

Incorrect parenting.

and

Authorities being overzealous and going overboard.

For the last part, it will bite them in the rear since the child technically is being falsely charged (IE a BB gun is not a firearm), and that law enforcement apparently do not understand what a "firearm" is), and is wasting the tax payer's time and money on something like this.

However, the parents need to actually be doing their Job.

For example my youngest son is 10. He has a BB gun, a .22 baby cricket, a 9mm Marlin Camper and a composit bow.
He is only allowed to use the BB gun unsupervised, and has been taught to treat it just like it is an actual firearm, which he's had training and takes very seriously.
Even though he's allowed to use the BB gun unsupervised (because of his age and training), we still check on him to see what he's up to with it.

He knows the penalty if I catch him using it in a unsafe manner: his rear end will be tanned to where he can't sit down for about a week!

reply to post by ShadellacZumbrum


It is quite the process to clear, and very expensive as I understand, will he even realize that he probably needs to go see a judge again after the "time limit" is up? Once labeled a felon, always a felon. I bet he will not pass a background check ever again. With the digital age we live in everything is easy access at the touch of a button. This will affect his ability to get some jobs out there at the very least. I still can't believe his mom called the cops on him.

The worst of the worst in parents this kid has. First, a seven year old is not responsible enough to be toting around a damn BB gun. Second, in gun happy America, the kid is lucky someone didn't fire back. third, some kid shoot a BB gun at me (don't care that it's just an air rifle) that family is getting hell from me in every legal avenue I can find.

If they were to find him guilty of a felony, he would never be allowed to own a firearm... ever.

But he could own a BB gun! Maybe even the same BB gun that he committed the 'felony' with. (Oh, no. That's right, some cops kid is shooting that BB gun now.)

Yes, this is ridiculous.

reply to post by woodsmom


Let's not forget about the No-Fly list since the 'Crime' was commited with a 'FireArm'.

BB gun or not, if the parents neglect their job of discouraging vandalism and similar bad behavior - their kid could still get charged with felony. In most states all it takes is doing criminal property damage above a certain price point. Considering how much auto repairs cost these days (body work and paint with clearcoat isn't cheap to fix properly), a couple thrown rocks or eggs could result in a felony charge easy. If that kid was being allowed to wreck some unoccupied house, if the property owner had the damage investigated it might lead to that as well.

Oh well, maybe after going through court and having her kid get a rap sheet - perhaps the mom will have some sense rubbed into her. Maybe if she's lucky she'll be able to plea bargain it by paying the car owners or insurance companies the cost of damage her kid may have done.

reply to post by ShadellacZumbrum


Every state I have lived in has definitions of what a "Firearm" is and a BB gun don't qualify.

Arizona's definition: "Firearm" means any loaded or unloaded handgun, pistol, revolver, rifle, shotgun or other weapon that will expel, is designed to expel or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive."

A BB gun uses air to push the BB and not an explosive (gun powder).

Unless this state is different I would fight it!

Actually upon researching it North Carolina law defines firearms as:
G.S. 14-409.39(2) (defining a firearm as a weapon that “expels a projectile by action of an explosion”

So shooting a Bb gun is not a "firearm offense........get an lawyer!!!

reply to post by mwood


along with the lawyer, perhaps a padded helmet for the officer would be in order too?

I doubt this is going anywhere, in order a 'weapon' to be classed as a firearm it needs to be either charged with explosive ordinance, or capable of firing a projectile with a muzzle velocity or more than 1.2 joules, (approximately 322 feet per second).

So unless his BB gun was in fact an air rifle, it wont count as a 'firearm'.

Interestingly though if he actually pointed at someone and they believed it be a real fire arm, he's guilty of a felony, even if he didn't fire it. (ADW) That's why you Americans insist on putting the orange 'toy' marker at the end of the barrel so toy guns can be identified as toys. In some states, removing the orange flash off the end of the barrel is enough to be found guilty of manufacturing unlicensed firearms.

But the kid is 7, if common sense prevails, the judge will give him a stern telling off and dismiss the case. I cant believe any attorney is going to want to become known as the one who gave a 7 year old a criminal record for something like this.

reply to post by redshoes


I agree, there is no way these charges will stick. I believe they are severe to prove a point.

A BB gun is now a firearm? Unfortunately the conservative media is trying to obfuscate the big question: what parent would give a battleship's gun to a child?

With each shell weighing in at 1900-lbs and a muzzle velocity of 2500 feet-per-second the range for a "BB" gun is 24 miles of terror.

No doubt as he shot that poor abandoned home and demolished it, he could only salivate at the thoughts of turning towards firing at occupied cars. He's lucky he didn't kill someone.

Those shells must have totaled those vehicles!

Where the Hell did a mother get those Mk 7's anyway? They are bigger than. 50 so the ATF would have been informed of the sale.

We need stricter gun control! A "BB" gun, aka 16"/50, should not be allowed to fall into the hands of children.



Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

A BB gun is now a firearm? Unfortunately the conservative media is trying to obfuscate the big question: what parent would give a battleship's gun to a child?

With each shell weighing in at 1900-lbs and a muzzle velocity of 2500 feet-per-second the range for a "BB" gun is 24 miles of terror.

No doubt as he shot that poor abandoned home and demolished it, he could only salivate at the thoughts of turning towards firing at occupied cars. He's lucky he didn't kill someone.

Those shells must have totaled those vehicles!

Where the Hell did a mother get those Mk 7's anyway? They are bigger than. 50 so the ATF would have been informed of the sale.

We need stricter gun control! A "BB" gun, aka 16"/50, should not be allowed to fall into the hands of children.



Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

A felony for pointing and presenting a BB gun? Sheesh, I'm glad he didn't have a sling shot! When I was little, I carried a Red Ryder and had a Marksman .45 pattern BB pistol on my side in a real WW1 leather holster, my Boy Scout knife in my front pocket and my Marksman slingshot in my rear pocket with ammo for all!

Those were the days!

He's too young to know better, it's not like he was 17. The fail is the parents.

What?! They're actually going to charge a 7 year old?
But he's a child, surely they can't hold him responsible, his parents should have took it from him if it was dangerous.

reply to post by ShadellacZumbrum

The solution is simple.

You yell at the kid.

Then you get his parents to pay for the damage.

Felony? Sounds like overkill to me.