Florida toddler fatally shoots himself with father's gun while parents load car

[mudskipper]

Hmm..... I'm not a lawyer but I this doesn't seem to add up really....

I know it's easy to say sitting behind a computer but if people aren't prosecuted for following the law when someone is killed breaking it how can it be a deterrent to avoid this again in the future.. if that makes sense?

Well, much as I hate the whole gun culture, it is a fact of life in the good ol' US of A, so I can't see what good prosecuting the parents would do.
If the risk of losing your child isn't a deterrent, I can't see how a fine is going to work. Just as I wouldn't want to see parents prosecuted if their kid drank bleach, or swallowed their painkillers.

Wonder what happened to that girl/woman who shot her brother at New Year when they were posing with guns though? Might dig that one out...

[northernladuk]

Well, much as I hate the whole gun culture, it is a fact of life in the good ol' US of A, so I can't see what good prosecuting the parents would do.
If the risk of losing your child isn't a deterrent, I can't see how a fine is going to work. Just as I wouldn't want to see parents prosecuted if their kid drank bleach, or swallowed their painkillers.

Wonder what happened to that girl/woman who shot her brother at New Year when they were posing with guns though? Might dig that one out...

There is that I guess but if the parents had taken the law more seriously and acted responsibly and in accordance with the law this wouldn't have happened. I can see the argument for holding the parents responsible.

I'm on the fence about parents been prosecuted for acting irresponsibly though. On one hand the end result is the worst punishment possible but acting negligently and allowing the child to be harmed surely is a heinous crime. Sometimes the law just has to be seen to be done though? Could you not argue that because they are grieving due to their own failure to follow the law shouldn't be a reason to not apply it? They are there to protect from the end result are they not. Can't just forget the law when the worst happens? I could change my mind daily on this one though.

Pedant point on the bleach thing though, there aren't strict laws around owning bleach that should be adhered to so slightly different.

[original PM]

me n the whole family are off to Florida this Easter....

should I worry about guns?

(serious question!)

[GlenW]

me n the whole family are off to Florida this Easter....

should I worry about guns?

(serious question!)

No, don't worry, you can buy them there.

HTH

[original PM]

No, don't worry, you can buy them there.

HTH

Ba dum tshh

Don't give up your day job!

[d000hg]

It's also entirely possible a 2yr had seen the gun in use and copied... if a 2yr can remember how to open iPlayer and find their favourite show on an iPad...

[mudskipper]

BBC News - US boy, three, shoots both parents in New Mexico

Another tot gets hold of a loaded gun. Fortunately the parents have lived to learn the lesson (and possibly face charges)

[EternalOptimist]

BBC News - US boy, three, shoots both parents in New Mexico

Another tot gets hold of a loaded gun. Fortunately the parents have lived to learn the lesson (and possibly face charges)

The dad was shot in the bum apparently, and he's been sh!tting himself ever since