Posted on 05/02/2013 8:33:46 PM PDT by Colonel Kangaroo
I should have attributed this story to the New York Daily News, not the Post.
A five year old given a .22 rifle as a present? Most kids didn’t even have a BB gun until eight or nine and .22 around twelve. What were the parents thinking?
“Although the safety lock was on, the family says they didn’t realize a shell was still inside the firearm.”
IT WAS THEIR JOB TO CHECK AND MAKE SURE there were no bullets in it. Is that so difficult????????? Good grief, stuff like this pisses me of. RIP little girl. You’re away from people and I hope in a better place.
I plan to give my boys .22s ...when they’re 15.
They weren't, of course.
When my daughter was a kid we had a neighbor with a girl her age and a son a couple of years younger. These numbnuts left lighters laying around with their smokes where the boy could reach them. Yeah, he got caught playing with them...as well as the pocket knife his half wit father left laying out.
Really pushed my button.
It sounds like these parents gave the kid a rifle and let him have his head with it with no supervision -- incredibly stupid.
RIP little angel.
I think it is good for children to be exposed to firearms at a young age and from day one be taught the proper respect and care that needs to go with guns.
At that age they think they are nothing but toys to play with. There are even adults who treat a .22 as a toy.
What kind of a$$hole gives a 5 year old a rifle?
By the time my boys were ten, we lived in a more populated area. They had guns, but were more restricted in their use.
Five is not too young to learn the proper use of guns,but they should be out of reach except when they are supervised. If they can't be locked up, the bolts should be pulled and secured from little hands.
In basic training, my platoon had a guy from Kentucky. He had coke bottle glasses, nearly blind as a bat. He was hitting the targets dead center at 300 meters with his M14. Must have had his first rifle when he was five.
Is there really more than one kind of ass?
I feel sadness for the poor brother who shot his sister. He will likely be messed up his entire life.
I do feel for parents...but they showed a remarkable amount of careless disregard for safety.
Five is not too young to learn the proper use of guns,but they should be out of reach except when they are supervised.
How about 4? Thats not too young, is it? Maybe even 3?
This may be crude but the boy has a good chance of growing up to be a Democratic candidate for President.
http://barrybradford.com/2012/11/13/adlai-stevenson-and-the-killing-of-ruth-merwin/
He actually was 4 when he received it. Your point is well made and I agree with it. IMO five is also way to young to have a firearm whether in KY or anywhere else.
Was Raylan Givens in the area?
Bubblegum would probably boggle Sharon's mind.
I don’t have a problem with teaching a child that age how to be responsible with a firearm. However, the parents in that house didn’t do that. It doesn’t matter whether the firearm was designed for young children, there is no reason a child should be in possession of the firearm anywhere but a gun range.
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