5yr old gets rifle as gift, shoots 2 yr old sister
Newsbot @ Wed May 01, 2013 11:59 am
Title: 5yr old gets rifle as gift, shoots 2 yr old sister
Category: Uncle Sam
Posted By: BeaverFever
Date: 2013-05-01 11:55:57
BeaverFever @ Wed May 01, 2013 11:59 am
Another great tale from the American heartland...
andyt @ Wed May 01, 2013 12:05 pm
Page comes up blank.
I was going to post this, but then thought do we really need to go another round here with the same arguments made about swimming pools and guns don't kill people, five year-olds kill people, and so on?
BeaverFever @ Wed May 01, 2013 12:08 pm
Hmm....content can't be posted in a frame, it says.
$1:
US boy, 5, accidentally shoots and kills sister, 2
By Mira Oberman (AFP) – 1 hour ago
CHICAGO — A five-year-old boy who was playing with a .22 caliber rifle he'd been given as a gift accidentally shot and killed his little sister in their Kentucky home, officials said.
The shooting happened Tuesday in rural Cumberland county and the two-year-old girl was rushed to a hospital where she was pronounced dead, the state police said.
Cumberland County Coroner Gary White identified the girl as Caroline Starks and said the children's mother was cleaning the house at the time and had stepped outside onto the porch.
"She said no more than three minutes had went by and she actually heard the rifle go off. She ran back in and found the little girl," White told WKYT news.
The rifle had been given to the boy last year and was kept in the corner of a room. The parents didn't realize a shell had been left in it.
"It's a Crickett," he told the Lexington Herald-Leader. "It's a little rifle for a kid. ...The little boy's used to shooting the little gun."
An autopsy was set to be conducted on Wednesday, but White said he expects the shooting will be ruled accidental.
"Just one of those crazy accidents," White said.
There were 851 deaths caused by accidental discharges of firearms in the United States in 2011, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A further 14,675 people were injured by accidental discharges of firearms in 2011, of whom 7,991 were under the age of 18 and 3,569 were under the age of 13.
The United States has been embroiled in a heated debate over gun control and gun culture in the wake of a horrific December shooting at a school in Newtown, Connecticut that killed 26 young children and educators.
President Barack Obama has pushed for tougher federal gun laws to require universal background checks on gun buyers and called for a ban on assault weapons like the one used in Newtown.
But last month, his background check proposal -- condemned by the powerful National Rifle Association as an infringement on Americans' constitutional right "to keep and bear arms" -- failed to muster the necessary 60 votes needed to clear the US Senate.
No efforts have been made to prevent children from using firearms for hunting and sporting purposes, a treasured tradition for many American families.
The Crickett is just one of many child-sized rifles on the market and is sold with the tag line 'My First Rifle.'
It comes in a number of child-friendly barrel designs and colors, including hot pink for little girls. A host of accessories are also available, like story books and a gun-toting beanie baby of the rifle's mascot, a cartoonish cricket.
Copyright © 2013 AFP. All rights reserved
By Mira Oberman (AFP) – 1 hour ago
CHICAGO — A five-year-old boy who was playing with a .22 caliber rifle he'd been given as a gift accidentally shot and killed his little sister in their Kentucky home, officials said.
The shooting happened Tuesday in rural Cumberland county and the two-year-old girl was rushed to a hospital where she was pronounced dead, the state police said.
Cumberland County Coroner Gary White identified the girl as Caroline Starks and said the children's mother was cleaning the house at the time and had stepped outside onto the porch.
"She said no more than three minutes had went by and she actually heard the rifle go off. She ran back in and found the little girl," White told WKYT news.
The rifle had been given to the boy last year and was kept in the corner of a room. The parents didn't realize a shell had been left in it.
"It's a Crickett," he told the Lexington Herald-Leader. "It's a little rifle for a kid. ...The little boy's used to shooting the little gun."
An autopsy was set to be conducted on Wednesday, but White said he expects the shooting will be ruled accidental.
"Just one of those crazy accidents," White said.
There were 851 deaths caused by accidental discharges of firearms in the United States in 2011, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A further 14,675 people were injured by accidental discharges of firearms in 2011, of whom 7,991 were under the age of 18 and 3,569 were under the age of 13.
The United States has been embroiled in a heated debate over gun control and gun culture in the wake of a horrific December shooting at a school in Newtown, Connecticut that killed 26 young children and educators.
President Barack Obama has pushed for tougher federal gun laws to require universal background checks on gun buyers and called for a ban on assault weapons like the one used in Newtown.
But last month, his background check proposal -- condemned by the powerful National Rifle Association as an infringement on Americans' constitutional right "to keep and bear arms" -- failed to muster the necessary 60 votes needed to clear the US Senate.
No efforts have been made to prevent children from using firearms for hunting and sporting purposes, a treasured tradition for many American families.
The Crickett is just one of many child-sized rifles on the market and is sold with the tag line 'My First Rifle.'
It comes in a number of child-friendly barrel designs and colors, including hot pink for little girls. A host of accessories are also available, like story books and a gun-toting beanie baby of the rifle's mascot, a cartoonish cricket.
Copyright © 2013 AFP. All rights reserved
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... 9194dc.841
peck420 @ Wed May 01, 2013 12:09 pm
andyt, close the frame to see the article.
Absolutely ridiculous,
$1:
"Just one of those crazy accidents," White said.
Hard to have an accident when ammunition and firearms are stored separately.
And, if owners aren't competent enough to do it themselves, laws are required to do it for them.
Zipperfish @ Wed May 01, 2013 12:14 pm
What kind of parents think it's a good idea to let their 5 year old play with a loaded gun unsupervised?
Gunnair @ Wed May 01, 2013 12:17 pm
Price of doing business in the US gun culture, I guess.
BeaverFever @ Wed May 01, 2013 12:18 pm
Didn't you read? The gun was made for kids and he'd been trained to used it before. He's part of the "well regulated militia".
Regina @ Wed May 01, 2013 12:28 pm
Life is like a box of chocolates.......................... 
jeff744 @ Wed May 01, 2013 12:37 pm
BeaverFever BeaverFever:
Didn't you read? The gun was made for kids and he'd been trained to used it before. He's part of the "well regulated militia".
But if they are raised around guns and are trained on them accidents like this would never happen because kids are responsible enough to never make mistakes with guns.
PJB @ Wed May 01, 2013 12:40 pm
*dueling banjos in the background* "It's alright ma. Junior is qualified. Not potty trained yet but damn he can shoot."
When will some Americans learn?
Gunnair @ Wed May 01, 2013 1:01 pm
PJB PJB:
*dueling banjos in the background* "It's alright ma. Junior is qualified. Not potty trained yet but damn he can shoot."
When will some Americans learn?
When will some Americans learn?
Well, to break it down a bit more, shitatrdedly stupid parents run across political and cultural boundaries.
desertdude @ Wed May 01, 2013 1:47 pm
They make guns for kids !
Unsound @ Wed May 01, 2013 2:12 pm
This is just so fucking sad.
It's why, even though I didn't like the long gun registry, I am a fan of the way Canada has gun owner control. I did the course last year and safe storage is hammered into you. Following even the least of what they tell you to do would have stopped this from happening. Make the gun SAFE, and lock it up or put a trigger guard on. SO fucking easy.
Strutz @ Wed May 01, 2013 2:16 pm
Another senseless tragedy. Horrible. F*cking horrible.
$1:
"Just one of those crazy accidents," White said.
Yeah... crazy... that's the word I was looking for.
Go head, just keep on down-playing these things. Sooner or later everyone will just accept these incidents as "one of those days". God help us all.Could say so much more but what's the point? This general topic has been beaten to death enough times around here. The solutions are obvious but do not seem to make any difference.
Yet another thread that will turn into a shit fest by page 3.