Ken Schram: I hope someone learns from these child shootings
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The jury couldn't reach a verdict.
Derek Carlile was charged with manslaughter in the accidental shooting death of his 7-year old daughter.
The Marysville police officer had left a loaded handgun in the family vehicle.
His 3-year-old son picked it up and fired one shot that killed his sister.
Around the same time, another little girl almost died from a gunshot fired from a handgun that was in her classmates backpack.
There were lots of guns laying around his house and he'd just picked one up and took it to his elementary school.
Then there was the tragedy of the little boy who accidently shot and killed himself because his mom and her boyfriend left an unsecured gun in their car.
Charges against the adults in those cases were also filed.
I've long believed that irresponsible gun owners should face legal consequences when their stupidity results in a tragedy.
I supported charges being filed against all the adults in the cases that I've noted.
Derek Carlile had his day in court.
The jury could not reach a verdict.
There's no reason to believe another trial with another jury would end differently.
I think it would be cruel for the Snohomish County Prosecutor to re-file charges against this grieving father.
And I hope and pray that gun owners have learned something from all this.
Lock your weapons up when not under your control.
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Have something to say to Ken? Login or signup below to post a comment. Just be sure to read the rules and keep things civil. You can also e-mail him at kenschram@komo4news.com. You can also connect with Ken on Facebook.
Derek Carlile was charged with manslaughter in the accidental shooting death of his 7-year old daughter.
The Marysville police officer had left a loaded handgun in the family vehicle.
His 3-year-old son picked it up and fired one shot that killed his sister.
Around the same time, another little girl almost died from a gunshot fired from a handgun that was in her classmates backpack.
There were lots of guns laying around his house and he'd just picked one up and took it to his elementary school.
Then there was the tragedy of the little boy who accidently shot and killed himself because his mom and her boyfriend left an unsecured gun in their car.
Charges against the adults in those cases were also filed.
I've long believed that irresponsible gun owners should face legal consequences when their stupidity results in a tragedy.
I supported charges being filed against all the adults in the cases that I've noted.
Derek Carlile had his day in court.
The jury could not reach a verdict.
There's no reason to believe another trial with another jury would end differently.
I think it would be cruel for the Snohomish County Prosecutor to re-file charges against this grieving father.
And I hope and pray that gun owners have learned something from all this.
Lock your weapons up when not under your control.
---
Have something to say to Ken? Login or signup below to post a comment. Just be sure to read the rules and keep things civil. You can also e-mail him at kenschram@komo4news.com. You can also connect with Ken on Facebook.
http://we-are-smith.blogspot.com/2012/11/derek-carlile.html
This isn't rocket science. Two things need to be done to reduce these types of incidents. First is to educate our youth about guns. If you own guns, teach your kids about gun safety. Second if to keep your firearms secure. My are in the safe unless I'm carrying them or we are going to the range. Then they are locked via trigger locks, barrel locks, etc. The only firearm I don't keep locked is the one I conceal carry and that is on my person. If it isn't on my person then it is locked.
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Why is this difficult for people, especially a police officer? Keep your firearms secure!
This is a tough call for a lot of you I can tell. A few of my thoughts are that at the least he should never be allowed to be in any type of law enforcement again, never be allowed to own any type of firearm again, he should do some community time like in firearm training telling folks what he did as an example of what not to do and lastly he should have to pay back all the money he has collected in pay since this happened. What he did is a crime, and the Marysville police department putting him on administrative leave is a crime and a rip off of the Marysville tax payers!
I'm in Marysville twice a day and would hate to think Mr. Carlile was there up holding the law when he couldnât obey it himself at the cost of his little girls life.
A lot of folks haven't gotten off that easy, and are in jail for less. Letting him go to work would show how extreme the two tiered system we now live under is.
Gun safety if you own a gun is your responsibility; my revolver is locked in four touch combination vault for easy access at home. If Iâm on the road with it and I donât feel I can carry it into a certain establishment, the bullets come out and go into my pocket and the gun gets locked in the trunk.
Before all you gun control types jump on this one, think about this. The kid that brought the gun to school in the backpack, resulted from an illegally owned gun. The parent was a felon in possession of firearms. Gun control laws are and will be broken by the bad guys. Also remember, that children are 100 times more likely to accidentally die in a home with a swimming pool vs. in a home with a firearm. That's a fact.Â
This man should be in jail, he could not have been more negligent.Â
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It is a horrible situation, but we can't let someone get away with that. No way.
 @Melissa Angevine Yeah that will teach him, what a dolt.
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Ken, I think the only reason this trial ended in mistrial is that the prosecutor - apparently wife of the elected prosecutor - was trying very hard to get an acquittal by charging too high and arguing too low. Prosecutors do not like to convict police officers. But while I don't think prison time would be especially appropriate, this should have ended (and yet should end) in a conviction serious enough to at least keep this guy from being a cop anymore. It is sad to say, but as this is a cop (and thus by training should have known far better) he really needs to be held to a higher standard so that other cops - and the public at large, as in the couple in Tacoma - will take warning.
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Question: if this guy is so careless with his firearms, would he also leave one unsecured in his patrol car along with a detainee/suspect maybe inadequately secured also? Police officers should be the LAST people to be careless with deadly firearms!
 @JLS1950 I don't think with was all a "pre-plan" form the prosecuter or the jury like you are saying to get him off easy - whatever that means, he is carrying this with him until he dies, so it's not easy on him-but if a non-law enforcement citizen was trialed and the jury was divided I am sure the public would not be so eager to retrial.
 @Rica Consider that the elected SnohoCo Prosecutor chose his own wife to run this case: that screams "special treatment". Now the question to ask is, how aggressive was this prosecutor in pursuing this case? The hung jury tells the story: NOT VERY AGGRESSIVE. This prosecutor pursued this case for the purpose of finding a way of burying it - plain and simple. And she did so in a manner that is intended to create "plausible deniability" by putting the blame on the jury.
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Rica, if you do not understand that prosecutors and police are in each others' pockets, then you are sleepwalking through a judicial minefield.
 @JLS1950 I understand your way of looking at it, still don't agree and that's ok:)
If he is able to walk FREE.... then the others convicted of the same should be able to so as well!!!!! REGARDLESS of what type of past. EVERYONE MAKES MISTAKES!!!.... Obviousl.... NOT everyone has to pay for them!
First of all, I am BEYOND PISSED that this man has been able to walk around free as long as he has!!!! U Ken think its a waste of time to try & take him to court again? Is this because he has a PAID ATTORNEY who will FIGHT FOR HIS FREEDOM???? This is BULLSH*T!!!! What about the little boy at the gas station who's mom & mothers friend left a gun in their car & the lil boy shot his self? THEY WERE CHARGED RIGHT AWAY!!!! Sittin in JAIL RIGHT NOW!!!! Couple other as well!!!! THIS IS BULLSH*T~ He was an effin COP..... of all PEOPLE... this one in parituclar should be HELD ACCOUNTABLE for HIS ACTIONS!!!!!! None of the other people were able to mourn for their children and burry them. No one else is able to get support & counseling for ther trajic event!!!! THIS COUNTRY IS SOOOooOOOooOOo screwd up!!!! If you have lots of money & support from those with money, u can basically get away with murder!!! PROOF right here. Even the NEWS is suggesting that WE... leave him & his family alone blah blah blah WHAT THE EFFF EVER~ Makes me want to picked his HOUSE!!!!!!
There is much to learn from these two terrible accidents. Â
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The first is that you NEVER LEAVE A LOADED REVOLVER AROUND CHILDREN. Â Revolvers are UNSAFE. Â They have NO safety.. Â Even a child can pull the trigger on them since they have little trigger resistance. Â
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I will not keep ANY revolvers in my house, they are unsafe when loaded, Â they do not have a safety, and they take far too long to load IF YOU DO NEED IT.
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I keep only SEMIAUTOMATICS around my house with a loaded clip and NO ROUND in the chamber. Â It takes LESS than a second to rack a round into the chamber, and most semiautomatics slides are far too hard to a child to operate. Â In addition, there are safeties on almost all semi-automatics, and I always leave that engaged.
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Remember, NO LOADED REVOLVERS anywhere around any kids EVER! Â Best not to own one at all. Â And keep the chamber clear on a semi-auto until you need it!
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And lastly, semi-automatics have far more rounds in clips, and are far easier to re-load than any revolver.
 @Kenneth Weigel Never leave ANY gun around children!!! "Safety" is a joke, and yes, a child CAN rack a semi if they have seen it done and they try hard enough!
 @JLS1950 NOWHERE did I intimate that you leave a loaded gun of ANY kind anywhere that a child could find it.
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At the same time, neither you or I can GUARANTEE that NO child will EVER be around our gun while we are not present.
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It  can happen to anyone, and it happens EVERY DAY.  No, a child is not killed every day, BUT anyone who knows anything about statistics can PROVE that the accidents we hear about are only the TIP OF THE ICEBERG of the instances in which a loaded handgun WAS LEFT around children.  We see only those that resulted in injury or death.  Statistics reveal that for EVERY child death or injury from this source, there a 29 close calls, and 300 occasions where a child handled a loaded gun and it did NOT go off, or if it did, no one was hurt and it did not make the news.
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Wake up people. Â LOADED REVOLVERS Â are unsafe! Â They will ALWAYS be unsafe, even it they have a safety, since flipping the safety off is the ONLY prevention against accidents. Â And like I said, most revolvers do not have a safety to begin with.
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If you carry the revolver unloaded with speed loader clips, you can eliminate this exposure, but we all know most people are not going to do it.
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 @JLS1950 I do NOT leave any GUNS AROUND CHILDREN.  That is not the issue in this thread.  And yes, a child CAN rack a slide on on a semi-automatic, but it is MUCH more difficult than just pulling the trigger on a loaded revolver, which did NOT HAVE A SAFETY.  Do you think a 3 year old child could pull the slide on a semi-automatic pistol and fire it? Â
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Most children do not know how a semi-automatic handgun operates, and they would not even know you have to pull the slide to rack a round in the chamber.
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Do you think this accident would have happened if that gun had been an SEMI-AUTOMATIC with no round in the chamber?
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The answer is NO, it would not have happened.
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Stay on topic.
 @JFR  @Kenneth  @JLS1950 Whatever floats your boat.  Me, I feel much safer with an semi with a clip in it, no round chambered,  and the safety on as opposed to a revolver with rounds in the cylinder. Â
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And I do not worry about MY finger on the trigger. Â I worry about somebody ELSE putting THEIR finger on the trigger. Â As was the case in this accident.
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One more time, if this had been a semi-automatic with the safety on and no round in the chamber, this accident never would have happened. Â And it MAY not have happened if there HAD been a round in the chamber and the safety was on, since I suspect most 3 year old kids could not know that you would have to take the safety off to fire it.
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Loaded revolvers are inherently unsafe, since few of them have internal safeties. Â In addition, they are useless if they are unloaded, since they take too long to load. Â Sure, speed loaders will shorten the time it takes to load one..........if you carry one everywhere you go all the time!
 @JFR  @Kenneth  @JLS1950Â
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I can raise and rack the slide on my semi  faster than you can load a revolver, even with clips.  I have used clips on my previously owned revolvers. Â
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And of course, most semi-automatics hold far more than 5-6 rounds that a revolver holds.Â
@Kenneth Weigel @JLS1950 Having a pistol without a round chambered ready to fire for self defense use is like carrying a knife handle without the blade, just plain stupid. The only safety you need on a self defense weapon is your finger not being on the trigger. You can tout all day long that your able to quickly slap a magazine in rack the slide and zero in on your target, but when push comes to shove and adrenaline and fear for your life kicks in you'll be dead before you even get the slide racked sorry to say.
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To each their own to carry what they're comfortable with, personally I carry condition 0, round chambered safety off fully hot and ready to go. No I don't have children if I did they would be properly be raised with the correct respect and knowledge of firearms, doesn't mean I'd leave em locked and loaded and laying around the house, but it does mean my child would also know better than to try to "play" with one as well as any responsible gun owning parent should do. Obviously this depends on the child as well but if you raise them right (as I was) then it should never be an issue.
 @JLS1950  @Kenneth Weigel You are right.  I own a Glock 20, and it is just as you say, NO SAFETY. Since I never chamber a round in any of my pistols, it is as safe as any other pistol for me.  In addition, it is very difficult for someone who does not have adult strength to chamber a round, since the slide is very stiff.  I do not even put a clip it it otherwise.  GLOCKS and other striker fired pistols without a safety  are  unsafe as far as I am concerned, and I much prefer the SA/DA actions like the Ruger P Series.  I have several of the P Series, and they are my home defense pistols.  They have a true safety, and of course, like all semi-automatics, I can slap a clip in it and rack a round FAR faster than anyone can unlock a revolver, or even load one with loose rounds. Â
I can even do it in the dark. Â So can my wife.
 @Kenneth Weigel As far as I understand, most cops (~65%) carry .40 Glocks - which DO NOT have a true safety at all but rather a "Safe Action" involving a two-part trigger called an "integrated trigger safety" and two mechanisms to prevent accidental discharge from dropping or striking - and that they carry them by training and department policy with a round chambered, because they want to be able to fire very quickly. I have NOT read that this tragedy involved a revolver - which most police today disdain. So on that basis I would tend to agree that the type of firearm and the way it was "carried" (or actually NOT carried) may have contributed to this tragedy.Â
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Nevertheless, suggesting that gun mechanics or a "safety" can really improve the safety of a gun in the hands of a child is pretty just plain nuts. It was the officer's personal responsibility to ensure that neither his child nor anyone else could EVER get control of his firearm.
@Kenneth Weigel All your post say's is you're an unexperienced gun owner which is scary in of its own right. Many revolvers do not have safetys but many do S&W is one, most revolvers have around a 12-14lb trigger pull so yes while a child can fire one it's not as easy as you'd purport to be.Â
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When it come's to gun's it doesn't come down to how many bullet's a gun can hold but how accurate the shooter is. It should only take one or 2 well placed shot's to disable/kill an attacker a 6-7 shot revolver will do the trick just fine, dont believe me just ask my wife who can put 6 rd's 21 feet down range in a 3 inch group in a matter of seconds.
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My advice to you is go out and and actually take a gun course or to because by your ignorant remarks you definately need a few! And untill then for the safety of the rest of us please please lock your guns up!
 @JFR  @Kenneth No sir, with a revolver you can easily pull the hammer back which will SIGNIFICANTLY reduce that trigger weight. Especially a Smith and Wesson. Think again, a semi automatic will take more intuitiveness to operate. Strait facts their.
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In either case, what a sad state of affairs for this family that will last a life time.
It all really depends, I have a S&W Model 19 (back when they were still making good revolvers) and the hammer pull alone is probably around 15lbs or so, easy for an adult like me, but a child would have a much more difficult time to get the hammer back.
 @JFR  @KennethÂ
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Sorry, JFR. Â I have owned guns for over 60 years. Â I stand by what I said. Â There are SOME NEW Â revolvers that do have INTERNAL locks, but most do not. Â Those revolvers which do not far outnumber those that do in the hands of the public.
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FOR INSTANCE, the revolver which was involved in this shooting did NOT HAVE AN INTERNAL safety lock. Â
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If this had been a semi-automatic with no round in the chamber, this accident never would have happened, especially if the safety were on..
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Also, MOST PEOPLE who have revolver do not engage that internal lock, since it takes time you may not have in an emergency.
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What do you say to that?
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AND it is VERY difficult for a child to rack the slide on a semiautomatic, Â especially a 3 year old child, which is the subject of this thread. Â Do you think a 3 year old child could have done it?
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And you can make a semiautomatic even safer by NOT putting a clip in it.  It is still ready for instant  by inserting a clip and racking the slide, which any adult can do FAR faster than they can unlock and load a revolver.
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I hope you take the gun safety course you are recommending to me. Â You need it more than I do.Â
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And I hope you sell your revolvers if you have any, and get a good semi-automatic with a safety.
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 @Kenneth Weigel I'm just curious why you think a loaded gun is unsafe, have you ever accidentally pulled the trigger of your unloaded gun?
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I haven't, so I don't worry about doing it with a round in the chamber either. Â I mostly carry a Glock, magazine always loaded and most of the time a round chambered. Â I also carry a Springfield 1911 cocked and locked.
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Ultimately it's up to the individual and what they are comfortable with but I contend if you aren't comfortable enough to carry loaded than you probably shouldn't carry.
 @oledawg  @JFR  @Kenneth DAWG:  To each his own.  You are free to continue to own those unsafe  loaded  revolvers..........just like the loaded .38 revolver that killed this child.
 @JFR  @Kenneth Anyone who uses the term clip and starts spouting off about safeties loses any credibility in my book when it comes to firearms.
@Kenneth Weigel @Kenneth You've obviously never heard of speed loaders for revolvers have you??? I can have my revolver hot faster with my speedloaders than one could load a magazine and rack the slide on a semi auto all day long. No matter revolvers are no more dangerous or safer than a semi auto, a gun is a gun, no matter how many "safeties" it has it's still a dangerous tool, safeties can fail just like anything else and to ever trust and rely on a safetie is foolhardy at best. Even trigger locks can be bypassed, most can be used to fire the weapon by simply hitting the lock hard enough against something in the direction the trigger travels. the only "safe" firearm is one that is locked in a safe where noone can get to it. We could go back and forth all day about the nuances of revolvers vs semi auto's (like revolvers can't jam like your beloved semi auto's can) etc but it would be pointless by the proof of your obvious ignorance. The fact that you own any gun's with the thought processes you have scares me quite a bit.
I only worry when people start getting shot by guns that aren't owned by a family member. Â
 @Travis Hartnett Oh! Drew Peterson and his ilk will be SOooo encouraged to hear that!
Calm down folks.  This is not an epidemic.  Considering the number of guns out there in the public, there are not many accidental deaths to children.  This is not to say that these deaths aren't painful and regrettable, but they are not the norm.  Yes, people should take gun safety courses and learn how to safely  use their weapons.  But there isn't a need for more laws or gun bans.  If three tragic gun accidents warrant a gun ban, then why do we still allow people to drive cars?
Too many missed the classes in critical thinking offered in government schools. The same awareness has provided government by keystone kops. Guns, drugs, knives and cars are available to those not mature enough to use them. Do we need more laws when those in existence aren't obeyed? Seen folks tailgating at 60 mph on Aurora? Texting?
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 @deadcandance Wrong, people will learn that you can get away with being negligent and people will feel sorry for you.Â
I don't believe there is a reason for charges, Leave the man and his family alone, they made a mistake, he admits his mistake and he already has to live with pain and suffering, self resent mint for the rest of his days for his mistake. No family, no matter what their career is should face charge unless there is proof without any doubt at all that the parents were complete careless fools, like the boy who brought a gun to school for example, parents were felons, guns just laying around everywhere...Â
 @@amber@ Would you feel the same way if he'd driven with his kid unsecured in the car, gotten into a collision, and the child was killed or crippled for life? Would you feel the same way if he had driven while intoxicated with the same result? Maybe you think that the killing of a child is of no real consequence when the parent is responsible?
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Where is the justice for the now-dead daughter, Amber?
 @@amber@ Leaving your children alone with a loaded, unlocked gun in the cup holder of your vehicle IS proof to me, beyond ANY doubt that these "parents were complete careless fools..."  The fact that this guy was a police officer makes the tragedy that much more tragic, and the fact that this had just happened to another child should have made this parent and police officer all that much more careful. Shame on him. He deserves to pay for his negligence, and should never be allowed to be a police officer or a licensed gun holder again.
RU, he is already paying a very high price, with the death of his child. He will be paying for the rest of his life.
 @JLS1950 I'm pretty sure she locked the kids in the car & drove them into the lake, but by progressive logic, you're right!!
 @ddrum Well, by that logic we should just let Susan Smith go, huh?
While I am certain Mr. Carlile is suffering beyond belief for his carelessness, he is a law enforcement officer and has no doubtedly responded to the same careless actions of others while on duty, which should've made him even more aware of what he was doing leaving the weapon in the car with two children. Children aren't supposed to be left unattended in a vehicle - with our without weapons to begin with. It is a tragedy that the family will never overcome.Â
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Ken Schram:" I hope someone learns from these child shootings" Let's see what we learned When you are tired and driving around early in the morning with your kids in tow you might leave them unsupervised alone in a car , then you forget there is a loaded weapon in the car with the safety off , then both you and your wife leave the car and return to find a tragedy has just happened. And after many weeks the DA decides to charge you with a crime and you are not found guilty or innocent However if nearly a day latter something very similar happens to a non police officer , the DA immediately charges them with the same charges and more then likely will have to be represented by a court appointed attorney there is a high likely hood these people will be found guilty. So what did we learn from these events ? That you must never never leave a gun where a child can get it ? or you should always at least keep the safety on? These are thing I belive most responsible "Police" gun owner know . Carelessness can kill , we most likely know that also. So please enlighten us Mr Ken Schram: What exactly did we learn ?
 @realdeal The blood lust of those who want a public hanging has not been satisfied. To whom should restitution be given?Â
I agree that irresponsible parents should be charged with endangering their kids lives but it should be done on a case by case decision. They certainly should be charged with a minor felony and lose their right to own a firearm. If they're dumb enough to leave weapons laying around with children in the area then they're just to irresponsible to own guns. But also they have a huge tragedy to live with and its got to be pretty tough for any parent that has lived through this. I imagine a lot of them never make it back to a stable home life once something like this has happened. We could sentence the parent to death but what does that really accomplish? It leaves a family that will most likely end up on welfare and then the tax payers will have to support them for the rest of their lives.
 @Blindman "case by case decision"... You mean like cops: no charge, others: throw the book at?
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This was a trained police officer - trained explicitly and at great expense to taxpayers NOT to do this. This "accident" was a violation of public trust rooted in just plain recklessness. I would vote for a felony conviction with no prison time: just the record so he NEVER works in law enforcement again!
If the boy had used a hammer and hit his sister in the temple with it and she died, would people be as upset?Â
This will be a great lesson to all mankind. Children (especially boys) love weapons, Anything can be used as a weapon. Accidents happen and this was on of them.
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Years ago I was at a park with my baby sister in my arms. THe next thing I know she is crying. I look at her and her temple has a large bump on it. A boy had been throwing rocks and it hit her. Did he mean to hurt my sister? No. But she could of died that day. It was an accident.Â
 @agatha comparing the chances of a child being hurt by a bullet if a gun is pointed at them with the chances of a fatal blow from another child playing with a hammer is just ridiculous.  of course anything can cause harm.  but responsible parents lock up those things that are of a much greater risk to their children - guns, knives, prescription drugs, etc. Â
 @justanothervoter  @agatha In addition, you can't even purposefully squeeze the hammer in a certain area and cause a potentially deadly projectile traveling at a high rate of speed to be launched. The argument is moot, there's not going to be a lock your tools up campaign.  No matter how old or young, educated or not, gun accidents happen when people don't practice gun safety.  One such story that happened not too long ago in this area was the gentlemen who shot and killed his daughter while cleaning his gun.  Don't be careless and lose your family or or your own life, practice gun safety, and always educate yourself.
 @agatha The thought of people like you owning a weapon is what makes me favor gun control legislation. You brush off monumental irresponsibility so cavalierly that one can almost hear you thinking "Kids are replaceable... they can make another one."
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 @Fooey Patooey!  @agatha Just remember, the only ones who follow the laws of this land are law-abiding citizens. Those people are the ones we don't have to worry about...
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 @agatha I am a firearms owner.. I take very serious efforts to ensure my firearms are secured... you use a hammer as an example? Hammers are not designed to kill. Firearms are. The analogy is ridiculous.
 @TruthinAdverts  @agatha "analogy is ridiculous" to you perhaps but not to those capable of deeper thought. Emotion
 @contraryjim  @agatha Jim, firearms are weapons designed to kill... that is their primary reason for existence, be that war, or hunting, it's their primary purpose for existence. As I said, I own firearms. But I am not so desperate to deny their inherent dangers that I will spark asinine... perhaps I should spell it "assinine" comparisons to pointy sticks... for heavens sake... How desperate are you people?
 @TruthinAdverts thank you for saving me the time to type out the exact same thing. Two thumbs up.
 @TruthinAdverts  @agatha You can substitute knife, rock, baseball bat, club, stick, etc... A firearm is designed to send a projectile down range at high speed. It literally is a rock being propelled through the air. What about a slingshot? Anything can be a weapon. Whether or not it is used mainly to kill has no bearing on the statement by agatha.
 @swatspyder So do you think most people would have the same reaction if they walked into their kids rooms and saw a hammer sitting on the dresser as they would a pistol.
 @SeattleJoe  @TruthinAdverts  @agatha I concur.
 @swatspyder  @TruthinAdverts  @agatha Regarding "Whether or not it is used mainly to kill"  How exactly does one say this is true? In other words by what measurement. I contend that the primary use of guns is not to kill. Of all the 100's of millions of rounds fired every year, how many are actually used to kill? Take all the killings, human or otherwise and add them up. What you find is that fiearms are actually used for target practice, plinking, competition etc by orders of magnitude more than killing.Â
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I remember some of the posters who say "The only purpose for a gun is to kill". Riiiight. Laughable considering that comparatively they are used for that very little. Granted I'd like to see 0 deaths from firearms or anything else for that matter but thats not very realistic since there will always be bad people and accidents do happen but we can take steps to handle our firearms responsibly to keep this from happening as much as we can.