posted May 05, 2013 04:07 AM            

A 5-year-old boy in Burkesville, Kentucky accidentally kills his 2-year-old sister with his own "youth model" rifle. (WGN-TV)
View Photo. http://news.yahoo.com/five-old-boy-accidentally-kills-sister-own-rifle-163727911.html

Tribune - A 5-year-old boy in Burkesville, Kentucky accidentally kills his 2-year-old sister with his own "youth model" rifle.

By Tim Ghianni

NASHVILLE, Tenn (Reuters) - A 2-year-old girl was accidentally shot and killed by her 5-year-old brother with a rifle he received as a birthday gift, Kentucky authorities said on Wednesday.

The shooting occurred on Tuesday afternoon in Burkesville, Kentucky, a community in the south-central part of the state, when the boy was playing with the .22-caliber rifle and accidentally shot his sister in the chest, state police said.

The boy had received the Crickett "youth model" gun for his birthday in November, Cumberland County Coroner Gary White said. White said these guns have child safety locks, but "evidently when the gun was put up, there was a live round in it."

He said no one realized the gun, which was kept in a corner, was loaded until the fatal gunshot.

White said the children's mother was home cleaning the house at the time of the shooting.

"She had just come out of the kitchen and went to the porch to throw out some grease from the skillet," White said.

Kentucky State Trooper Billy Gregory said police were investigating and it was "a little early" to talk about possible charges in connection with the shooting.

White called the shooting "a tragic accident."

"I've been the county coroner for 15 years and I think this is the first time I've had a case like this," White said. "I'm hoping that parents will realize that if you have kids, you need to put the guns out of harm's way."

posted May 05, 2013 07:28 AM            

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posted May 05, 2013 08:57 AM            

quote:

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"evidently when the gun was put up, there was a live round in it."

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Responsible gun owners always check to make sure it's clear, and they're not "put in the corner," they're put in the rack (and the ammo often in the closet), and that's assuming they don't have gun safes. Those who expect kids to handle actual guns are not only carefully monitored but are to practice vigilant gun safety rules, which includes never pointing a gun (always treated as loaded) at anything or anyone you're not willing to destroy (should be obvious that 4 & 5 is way too young for that kind of judgment and impulse control as well, even for a beebee). Many of these types of parents won't even let them point a TOY gun at anyone outside of an agreed upon game and make sure the habits are ingrained before allowing them to handle a real gun even just for a moment.

IOW, this is bad parenting and reckless endangerment as well as inexcusably grievous violations of gun safety (though I wouldn't be surprised if the NRA and gun companies have pushed this at the expense of gun safety). At least this is the first time this has happened (in that area anyway) in the last 15 years (though I have heard of a handful of similar outrageous incidents that either begged for a similar tragedy or resulted in a criminally negligent death of a child).

posted May 05, 2013 09:02 AM            

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Oh, and btw, if parents give a 5-year-old the keys of a car (and btw, I have heard of little kids being told to drive a drunk parent home) and gets in a wreck or runs someone over, does that mean the problem with cars is definitive? Especially if it never happened in 15 years before? (Though any such hypothetical parents should definitely be investigated for possible prosecution just as the real ones in this incident should be.)

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posted May 05, 2013 09:23 AM            

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Originally posted by pire:
this "incident" as you say, shows that not only "bad people" as you say may hurt others. the problem with guns is that it is definitive.

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This is horrible, but very, very rare compared to unarmed people getting murdered. Look at Chicago, the home of the Clown in Chief

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posted May 05, 2013 09:27 AM            

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Originally posted by Ami Anne:
This is horrible, but very, very rare compared to unarmed people getting murdered. Look at Chicago, the home of the Clown in Chief

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considering I don't live in the same country, I can only give my opinion. at the end of the day, it is a choice of civilization. what kind of society one decides to live in...

one where colateral damages are kids killing their sisters so adults can show off with guns

or

posted May 05, 2013 09:37 AM            

I used to be a liberal and felt the same way. If I was good, people would be good. That is not the case, sadly enough.

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posted May 05, 2013 10:09 PM            

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Originally posted by pire:
comparing cars and guns is a bit farfetched. guns have no other purpose except killing, unlike cars.

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Both guns AND cars must be treated respectfully or they kill. Unfortunately in the US we have jerks misusing both in large numbers, and also both for criminal purposes (including cars and guns both).

Furthermore, guns have another purpose beside killing: they save lives.

Examples include mothers who saved their children with a gun, and in the rare case they used it they often fired a warning shot into the ceiling. Others who defended themselves with a gun who did actually shot an assailant rather than merely presenting it or firing a warning shot also typically don't kill the perp as they call 911 if they hadn't already which means an ambulance is on the way. And when Florida was hit with an epidemic of rapes the police in one town gave free firearms training to women and the news showed over a thousand women showing up, and while rapes remained constantly high in the rest of the state the number of rapes in that one town plummeted by like 90%. Furthermore the Swiss remained free of the Nazis even when every country on their border had been conquered (and were thus completely surrounded by Axis powers), and that not only saved the Swiss it also saved refugees fleeing the conquered countries. Again, guns saved lives, and that's another purpose they have.

posted May 06, 2013 01:20 AM            

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Furthermore the Swiss remained free of the Nazis even when every country on their border had been conquered (and were thus completely surrounded by Axis powers),

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that is not only because the population owned guns. you need to add the fact it is on the mountains, that it was at best unnecessary to invade, at worst counterproductive, considering it may have fastened the involvement of countries such as the US that didn't get involved before 1942 because of the money in swiss banks.

posted May 06, 2013 01:31 AM            

I am happy to live in a society where carrying a gun is an exception, not the rule.

I feel sorry for the victim of mass murder when I hear about it, and I hope US citizens manage to find peace with it.