Posted on 12/29/2009 3:55:35 PM PST by SmithL
BB guns and other nonpowder guns are often thought of as toys, but they injure as many as 21,000 Americans each year, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. On Christmas day, a Florida boy was among those who got injured this year.
It's a scene right out of Humorist Jean Shepherd's A Christmas Story, only this story takes place in Palm Beach, Florida, so the cast of charters is a little different.
A boy gets a pellet gun for Christmas, and tries out his new toy by shooting his autistic cousin in the buttocks, according to the Treasure Coast and Palm Beaches news site. The boy's stepfather, Christopher Fred Cady, a registered sex offender, decides he needs to teach his stepson a lesson, so he grabs the gun and shoots the boy in the chest. Pow!
The boy ends up at grandma's house with a huge welt, and Cady ends up in jail with a child abuse charge, and he's being held without bail for failing to report a change in address or his name as a sex offender.
"Maybe Cady would have been better served to force the boy to watch the 24-hour marathon of A Christmas Story to show him what happens when you get a BB gun for Christmas. Everybody knows you'll shoot your eye out - or get popped in the chest," writes Todd Wright in NBC Miami's Weird News column.
This story brings up a good question: Should young kids -- say, under age 16 -- have BB guns?
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Play .... is the wrong word.
As long as they act responsibly and only shoot democrats.
NO. Kids should NOT be allowed to play with BB guns.
Kids playing with a loaded AR15 near a mosque I think would be okay.
IMO, having grown up with and around guns, we had BB guns at a pretty young age and definitely knew not to point (much less shoot at) anyone with ANY kind of gun. Of course, we knew what a gun could do and knew not to fool around with them.
I'd say the gun is the least of the issues in this household..
sounds like this whole family is too stupid to have anything but puzzles to play with
Should they HAVE BB guns? YES, as soon as they are able to safely carry and operate them hands off.
Should they be allowed to PLAY with BB guns? Hell no. BB guns ARE NOT TOYS, contrary to The Christmas Story.
Sometime between 8 and 16 (ymmv) you’ll know if they are capable of enough responsibility to shoot under partial or minimal supervision, but until then no.
Parent's hands off that is for you jokers out there (heh)
The question should be: "Should kids be allowed to play with BB guns?"
and not: Should the mother be thrown in prison and lose custody of her kids for allowing a violent sex offender to abuse her children?
The boy's stepfather, Christopher Fred Cady, a registered sex offender, decides he needs to teach his stepson a lesson, so he grabs the gun and shoots the boy in the chest. Pow!
I mean, really?
“The boy’s stepfather, Christopher Fred Cady, a registered sex offender, decides he needs to teach his stepson a lesson, so he grabs the gun and shoots the boy in the chest. Pow!”
Yep - definitly need to get rid of BB guns.
BTW - a BB gun is NOT a toy.
It depends on the child.
If the child is dependably responsible and the gun is treated not as a toy but as a training for future gun ownership, then yes. The pellet gun should be secured like a firearm, and the child should be supervised until the parent is certain that he can be trusted to use it responsibly.
Future gun ownership should proceed with a single shot .22 rifle, perhaps with a clip to be added later.
“too stupid to have anything but puzzles to play with”
That makes an interesting mental image.
Sure they can play with them safely if the kid isn’t a total ahole.
If the kid is always doing stupid stuff causing problem don’t let him have it.
If he just shoots a bird here or there no biggie. If he shoots the dog’s eye out he/she needs his butt kicked. As long as he knows it is a priviledge, he may feel a sense of power.
This is a good time to find out if he can handle a little power. Better than waiting until he’s in the White house screwing up the world.
A BB gun isn’t going to kill anyone, if he/she totally screws it up slam it on the concrete to bend it up and chalk it up to lesson’s learned by you and him.
A little common sense is in order.
And 320,000 children are injured by bikes with 225 of those injuries being fatal.
What's your point?
Well, the parents maybe, but the kid is probably learning fast.
I didn’t watch “A Christmas Story” this year, but I don’t seem to remember any autistic cousins, perverted uncles, or jail anywhere in the storyline.
Maybe their parents should have gotten them BB guns which are 3 times as safe as soccer balls.
With the proper training by an involved parent—yes. My brother and I both played with BB guns as young children. We never shot anybody, nor harmed ourselves.
Of course not....they may shoot their eye out.
oops...perverted stepfathers
Thanks for posting the article.
From article:
Everybody knows you’ll shoot your eye out - or get popped in the chest,” writes Todd Wright in NBC Miami’s Weird News column.
Well, Todd, Santa knows what NOT to get you for Christmas.
My 12 year old son got his first .22 for Christmas. Bought a scope for it today, with his own money. Someday he might save your whiny, liberal, coward ass from harm, so DEAL with it! Oh yeah, he’s an NRA member too. Oh yeah, he believes in God. What a danger to us all!!!
I spent many a joyful day with my pellet rifle. Best present I ever got. I never shot anyone’s eye out, though I do to this day feel some sorrow for how I treated the birds of western Pennsylvania.
Especially if they attended the AL GORE SCHOOL of LONG-STICK-THINGY-manship.
LMAO...at least he didnt have the mag in.
When I was growing up, the largest purchaser of advertising space in Boys' Life (Boy Scout magazine, target age probably 8 - 14) was Daisy Air Rifles. Somehow a substantial number of us made it.
ML/NJ
29 years ago next month, my then 7-year-old stepson was shot with a pellet gun that had BB’s in it and was pumped as high as it would go. Today, he is brain damaged and his “quality of life” is very limited. The part of his brain that was damaged is the part that controls his behavior and emotions and even though he is highly intelligent, he can’t live a normal life and be around people for any length of time before he “loses it.” It is very sad to see. The BB went in behind his left ear, all the way through the brain and lodged in his right temple.
Liberal Translation: Those strangers we send our children to every week day who babysit them for us. (some call it SKOOL).
Well, some of the "adults" in the story probably aren't supposed to be around children without supervision..... the most dangerous thing to a child is mommy's new boyfriend.
Kids and BB guns...good question. Let me go down in the basement and ask my 13 year old who is zeroing in his scope on his pellet rifle.
After a long line of guns I graduated to this.
Start small, dream big.
It didn’t look like that in preview. RATS!
In a proper world, kids should be REQUIRED to at least have gun training, if not outright ownership. But part and parcel of such experience would be education and strict adherence to gun safety practices. Which obviously is a long way from the situation described here....but there’s no better way to instill proper respect for firearms and to nurture the kind of citizenry that will defend the 2nd Amendment and use it’s protection to defend themselves and their country.
In addition to BB-guns, air pistols, air rifles, .22’s, 12-gauge and 20-gauge shotguns, I had (and used) a bow and arrow.
Never harmed anyone (well, some rabbits, and a bunch of frogs)
Not only Yes, but HELL yes!
OMG! Thats an ithica .22 single shot. I got one for my 12th birthbay
Allowed? It should be mandatory!
"target".
YES! We had stay-at-home moms who taught us right from wrong and fathers who came home for dinner most nights who were respected by the children. By 7, I had a BB gun and never once pointed it at another person, nor did I ever shoot a bird. We "played" target practice.....set up cans and took turns seeing who was the best shot.
Morality is taught and emulated....immoral parents can NOT teach morality to their children.
Irresponsible (immoral) parents breed irresponsible (immoral) children...neither the parents nor those children should ever be allowed to have a BB gun.
My outdoor shooting range lets my son shoot his Daisy Buck on the rifle range for free when it isn’t being used by paying customers. I know that my fellow 2nd Amendment supporters and the range masters appreciate the fact that I am teaching my eight year old gun safety by starting out with a spring loaded bb gun and teaching respect for every kind of firearm.
The kid is a crack shot and would try to protect our home with that little Daisy if he had to, I am sure.
“You’ll get yours Black Bart”
My brother shot me in the butt with his BB gun one time while we were out roaming around. I dropped my BB gun and beat him up. That said, a pellet gun is a lot more dangerous because of increased velocity of the projectile, the kid should probably get a whoopin’ and be sent to bed without dinner. That was a stupid move.
If somebody saw two kids in the woods with BB guns nowdays the local SWAT would probably be dispatched. And CPS would get involved, and at least one of the parents would likely go to jail.
What we need are more kids with BB guns and fewer squirrels.
I didn't think it could either until about a year ago not far from where I live.... this happened.
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/14637705/detail.html
Six year old shoots 5 y/o sister, kills her.
Nope... no warning flags there....
Dad’s little lesson was stupid, but a “huge welt” isn’t that big of a deal. In other words, the BB didn’t even break the skin.
When I was a kid we used to shoot each other with BB guns all the time. Stupid, yes, but boys will be boys.
Of course, the best answer is for responsible parents to teach their kids responsible gun handling and use. But, short of that, getting shot in the butt with a BB is just part of being a kid, whether you’re autistic or not.
I’m very sorry to read that. Who shot him? How was he in harm’s way?
A pellet gun, as was stated in the story, will toss a BB at about 3X the speed of a BB gun.
Still, this is tragic. Adults required, and not just someone over 18 or 21, but real grown-ups.
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