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

[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

[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)

[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...

[original PM]

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

HTH

Ba dum tshh

Don't give up your day job!

[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]

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

should I worry about guns?

(serious question!)

[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.

[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...

[GlenW]

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?

Nope it doesn't, well not to me anyway.

[northernladuk]

Florida law requires gun owners to secure their loaded firearm in the presence of children younger than 16 years old.

crawled across the seat and found the gun that was stored in the glove compartment

The detectives “do believe the gun was stored properly,”

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?

[SpontaneousOrder]

the comment was that it was secured in the Glove compartment. If it had been on the Father or mothers hip in a holster the incident would be less likely to happen.

I wasa thinking the same, but I wonder how hard it is to pull out a gun from the hip when you're sat in a car seat.

[jmo21]

I had a boss in the US a few years back, who accidently left his 3month old baby in the back of his car in the child seat and then got the train in, it was only when his wife went to pick up the kid from Kinder garden 8hrs later they realised what happened, very sadly the baby didnt survive, he was looking at man slaughter charges but let off in the end.

Never thought I would hear from the guy again but within 6 months he was back in the office and I was having my daily calls with him, before he returned work I was made to talk to a psychologist to coach me of how to talk to him, what not to say, what to say and how to respond if he mentions it.

Nicks Monday links had an article relating to this type of event a few months back and it was the most gruesome and horrifying thing I've ever had the misfortune of reading.

[vetran]

I can understand the weapon having already been made ready if you're worried about being car-jacked or something, and don't want the additional 1 second it takes. But chambered rounds & 2 year olds don't mix well.

the comment was that it was secured in the Glove compartment. If it had been on the Father or mothers hip in a holster the incident would be less likely to happen.

[GlenW]

I can understand the weapon having already been made ready if you're worried about being car-jacked or something, and don't want the additional 1 second it takes. But chambered rounds & 2 year olds don't mix well.

Agreed, hence my last statement. This poor child's death is the responsibility of his parents.

[SpontaneousOrder]

lock it up, make sure the ammunition is separate etc..

That's because they're only for sport in the country. It would make defence usage infeasible. Makes sense I guess.