Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Authorities say a 4-year-old boy grabbed a loaded gun at a family cookout and accidentally shot and killed the wife of a Tennessee sheriff's deputy. Investigators say Wilson County Deputy Daniel Fanning on Saturday was showing his weapons to a relative in a bedroom of his Lebanon home when the toddler came in and picked up a gun off the bed. Sheriff Robert Bryan says the weapon discharged, hitting 48-year-old Josephine Fanning.<< <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/boy-4-accidentally-kills-tenn-deputys-wife-204026525.html" target="_blank">http://news.yahoo.com/boy-4-ac...525.html</a> One momentary lack of attention and poor judgement ends tragically. Again.
Originally Posted By ecdc And again. And again. And again. I've said this before and I'll repeat it: If all these gun owners are so responsible, why don't we have laws that make sure people like this are locked up for a good long time? Enough with this "tragic accident" talk. Negligent drivers are charged with a crime, negligent gun owners should be also.
Originally Posted By TomSawyer Hey, that four-year-old was exercising his 2nd Amendment right to bear arms. How dare any of you question his American birthright? Let's not get all wrapped up in who killed who. What's really important here is that I can compensate for certain physical and mental shortcomings through weapon ownership.
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 He is/was part of law enforcement so he's going to have a gun. However, I think just leaving a gun around especially if it's the one he was issued probably broke all types of protocol.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan The article says it wasn't a service weapon, so it was his own guns. Also, he apparently was showing off a loaded weapon. With the safety off. Ready to fire. It may be from seeing too many true crime shows, but something doesn't add up in this story the more I think about it.
Originally Posted By TomSawyer Another article said that he was showing off his gun collection to a family member. Basic gun safety is checking to make sure that a round isn't in the chamber unless you are ready to fire the gun. You'd think that someone in law enforcement - of all people - would understand and follow basic gun safety procedures. But, no. And his lack of concern for safety cost him his wife, and saddled a 4-year-old with the knowledge that he has killed a human being.
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 And saying the 4 year old pulled the trigger is a convienent excuse? I've held an unloaded gun once in my life. I was an adult and even unloaded it was pretty heavy. I can't imagine a 4 year old being able to hold a gun. Also wouldn't he also have some sort of powder burns after firing?
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan I don't know, but you're right about guns being heavy. If the child grabbed it, was able to pull the trigger (a stretch for small hands depending on the gun) and then hit the deputy's wife not wounding but killing her at the scene... that's a pretty crazy set of circumstances. It doesn't add up, but this isn't the most in-depth article either, so who knows.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <Negligent drivers are charged with a crime, negligent gun owners should be also.> Yep. And people who simply have a swimming pool and didn't do anything but negligently let a neighbor kid wander into it. If you have a loaded gun in the house and a kid kills himself or someone else with it, you have been negligent in letting that happen, end of story. The NRA makes sure this is not prosecuted, however. There are laws in most states specifically exempting accidental shootings from prosecution, even for negligence.
Originally Posted By TomSawyer Because the NRA knows that a consumer of guns and ammo can't keep sales up if they are in prison.
Originally Posted By EighthDwarf As I have told my gun-owner friends, if gun owners can't figure out how to regulate themselves, they will force the government to do it. And boy won't they hate that. All the gun owners i know are VERY responsible and safety-conscious. They need to be the ones to figure out how to prevent imbeciles like this deputy from abetting the murder of innocent people.
Originally Posted By mawnck And again, and again, and again. Four toddlers have gotten their hands on a gun and shot someone in the past week. <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/04/10/1844121/4-accidental-toddler-shootings/?mobile=nc" target="_blank">http://thinkprogress.org/justi...obile=nc</a>
Originally Posted By TomSawyer I blame Dora. <a href="http://youtu.be/TnpTcrtsN3U" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/TnpTcrtsN3U</a>
Originally Posted By RoadTrip As tragic as this situation is, increased gun control would probably do nothing to prevent it. Sadly, you can't legislate against stupid. Also, never underestimate what a four-year-old can do... give them two seconds unsupervised and they can get in all kids of trouble. It is also my understanding that a gun that is loaded with the safety off can fire without the trigger being pulled. Dropping it or whatever could cause it to fire. Perhaps someone here who actually has held a gun could verify that for me. If the husband is trying to cover up the murder of his wife, that will certainly come out in the investigation. The cops are sure to have the same questions you do.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>As tragic as this situation is, increased gun control would probably do nothing to prevent it.<< Probably not. However, it does underscore the importance of constant reinforcement of very basic gun safety practices. Like, don't leave loaded weapons lying around where a 4 year old can grab it. Or if you have guns in the home, teach the child that guns are not toys. *I'm not convinced yet that there isn't more to this particular story. A quick internet research reveals that modern weapons have something called a transfer bar which is supposed to make a dropped weapon not go off. Perhaps this was an old six-shooter or something. Or perhaps this deputy is telling tales to cover up either his own mishandling of a weapon accidentally... or not so accidentally. "The gun just went off" is a very old story that usually means someone screwed up and pulled the trigger of a gun the presumed to be unloaded or with a locked safety. I have shot guns now and then at target ranges, mostly under the supervision of NRA-trained instructors. They are very thorough and very strict regarding gun safety. Like drivers, gun owners get overconfident and develop bad habits over time. This is why I think one of the most important steps we could take would be to insist that gun owners attend frequent training sessions. The NRA could use their might to make this happen, and their program for both adult and youth gun safety is excellent, so it seems like an easy win/win. I wish more of their focus would be in that arena, but you don't hear much about it.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>Sadly, you can't legislate against stupid. << When I was a teenager, my grandfather was going on a long trip across country, he'd be gone a couple of months. For some reason known only to him, he showed up one day and when my parents weren't around, gave me a .38 and told me to put it up in my closet until he got back. And to not tell my parents (my dad HATED guns). Being a teenager, I of course took it out every chance I got to look at it. I never pulled the trigger and it was never loaded. Eventually he returned and took the gun back home. But looking back, yeah, that's the kind of stupid thing no law could prevent. What if I had gotten really angry at someone? What if I had been very depressed? What if I decided I really wanted to shoot at some target in my backyard, really fast before anyone got home? What a stupid thing for him to do, and unfortunately lunkheads like that are all over the place.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>Sadly, you can't legislate against stupid.<< False. Thousands of examples. Here ... I'll get you started: It's illegal to ride a motorcycle without a helmet. I'm sure you can think of some more.
