5 year old shoots and kills 2 year old sister.

[Green Ranger]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/30/kentucky-shooting_n_3189828.html

BURKESVILLE, Ky. — Authorities in southern Kentucky say a 2-year-old girl has been accidentally shot and killed by her 5-year-old brother, who was playing with a .22-caliber rifle he received as a gift.
Kentucky State Police said the toddler was shot just after 1 p.m. CDT Tuesday in Cumberland County and was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
Cumberland County Coroner Gary White told the Lexington Herald-Leader that the children's mother was at home at the time.

White told the newspaper that the boy received the rifle made for youths last year and is used to shooting it. He said the gun was kept in a corner and the family didn't realize a shell was left inside it.

White said the shooting will be ruled accidental.

An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday.

 

[Vaanes]

*sigh* Wonderful. This is why you lock guns in a place where your young children cannot get to them.

And for *****s sake, you ALWAYS unload the damn things! Double or triple check the stupid thing just to be sure! Not to mention the supposed firearms safety training that is required (or if it isn't it damn well should be).

 

[Crim]

What the... I don't even... but... who the hell gives a five year old a gun as a gift?

 

[Green Ranger]

What the... I don't even... but... who the hell gives a five year old a gun as a gift?

There's enough money in the idea to warrant child sized rifles, of which the rifle involved was apparently made by. Source

 

[Kiro]

Like Vaanes said... even if you have child sized rifles, lock them up, DO NOT GIVE THE CHILDREN THE KEY, keep them unloaded, and store the ammunition in a place they couldn't reach in any case.

Guns in themselves aren't the problem. It's idiocy, like not following the above, which causes most gun-related issues. Not all (like someone going around the bend in a spree) of course, but most.

 

[MasterTyvokka]

I have no words for this level of ******g stupidity.... lock the damn things up.

 

[Crosby]

Here comes CPS.

 

[Blaxican]

This wouldn't have happened if the 2-year old had a gun!

 

[Matt]

Or, you know. Just don't have the gun in the first place.

 

[Horizon]

Or, you know. Just don't have the gun in the first place.

Either works perfectly fine.

 

[Jiang Winters]

Or, you know. Just don't have the gun in the first place.

I'm going with Matt on this one. It's grossly irresponsible to give a child that age a gun, and it's absolutely idiotic to leave it out of a gun safe. The most basic rule of gun ownership is to keep your piece unloaded and locked away somewhere safe and away from children. How these parents failed to do something that simple [it takes all of 20 seconds to unload and lock up a rifle] is beyond me.

I sincerely hope that this puts Crickett under pressure to target more adult customers. Right now they're marketing to little kids as if guns are toys, which is disgusting.

 

[Kiro]

Agreed.

I can almost understand the whole cultural aspect of kids starting early with guns, but five year olds is extreme even then. But as I stated earlier, and Jiang just said, keep the gun locked up and unloaded at all times except when you're at a designated firing range with a range master and a safety officer.

Apparently the mom was on the porch outside, and they believed the gun was unloaded, according to VG.no, the biggest Norwegian news agency.

 

[Veritas et Lux]

That poor little girl could still be alive right now. I'm not one for Taking away peoples' rights to own firearms, but this is a prime example as to why we should be regulating the guns that our people have.
For **** sake. No body should have to surrender their weapons (unless they're a convicted felon), but dammit fill out a form or two and honor given safety precautions. As Jiang said. 20 seconds. That girl could be alive if those parents had spent 20 seconds out of their lives from eating KFC and watching king of the hill to put that gun away. Despicable.

 

[Kiro]

An IQ test should at least be done, to be quite honest.

 

[Veritas et Lux]

An IQ test should at least be done, to be quite honest.

haha! agreed.

 

[Black Noise]

I'm going with Matt on this one. It's grossly irresponsible to give a child that age a gun, and it's absolutely idiotic to leave it out of a gun safe. The most basic rule of gun ownership is to keep your piece unloaded and locked away somewhere safe and away from children. How these parents failed to do something that simple [it takes all of 20 seconds to unload and lock up a rifle] is beyond me.

I sincerely hope that this puts Crickett under pressure to target more adult customers. Right now they're marketing to little kids as if guns are toys, which is disgusting.

This.

EDIT: A thought though, in a Yahoo Article on this subject, the mom is noted to have claimed to step outside 'for a couple minutes'
Anyone who leaves a five year old and a two year old alone for any reason, even in an entirely 'safe' household, for any length of time, is not worthy of caring for their children. You don't leave young children unsupervised, ever.

 

[MasterTyvokka]

I think anyone who purchases a firearm should be required to purchase a gun safe. Granted there will still be those idiots who leave the things out but I think it would encourage the safe storage of them.

 

[Nameless]

I got a .22 when I was 5, but I was also instructed on how to handle it safely. That and it was kept under lock and key unless my dad was with me.

 

[Kiro]

This.

EDIT: A thought though, in a Yahoo Article on this subject, the mom is noted to have claimed to step outside 'for a couple minutes'
Anyone who leaves a five year old and a two year old alone for any reason, even in an entirely 'safe' household, for any length of time, is not worthy of caring for their children. You don't leave young children unsupervised, ever.

Eh, I think you're exaggerating a bit here. If you're like, right outside the door to take a smoke on the porch, or something like that, or to take in the laundry you haid air-drying outside or something, then it's fine. But leaving further away than that, or for longer than that is irresponsible.

 

[Black Noise]

Eh, I think you're exaggerating a bit here. If you're like, right outside the door to take a smoke on the porch, or something like that, or to take in the laundry you haid air-drying outside or something, then it's fine. But leaving further away than that, or for longer than that is irresponsible.

Going to smoke outside, set the kids in a pen behind the door. Doing laundry, take them with you. I have twin 4 year olds in my house, and they'll just beat on each other with a parent in the room for the simple reason of 'he's looking at me.' You can't leave kids at that age alone for honestly any more than a few seconds.