3rd-Grader Brings Gun To School, Accidentally Shoots Classmate

a reply to: Skid Mark

I honestly think I would have feared for my life, if it had been my Mom coming to the school after something like taking a gun to school, we won't even discuss a discharge of said firearm...

I know she wouldn't have, but there would have been that utter terror that she might...

My mother had an absolutely vile temper, but iron control. I get my temper from her, and thank goodness, the control, too. That's why she never really did the disciplining of us kids, she left it to Dad; though she was always in the background. I think she was always afraid the control might slip...never ever did, but she never took the chance.

But yeah, sitting would not have been an option, nor sleeping on my back, as my buttocks would have not permitted it.

Sadly this will give the people that want your guns taken away more momentum with their agenda, the string pullers adding fire to the racial tensions, they want your guns taken away from you, when it finally kicks off into a civil war which it will, what you got to protect your homes? your families?, your businesses? in Europe they already have most of us over a barrel living in fear of the big bad migrant, America still has time, positive energy going out to the families, get well kid, good things.

a reply to: slapjacks

A simple mandatory safety course for all gun purchases could prevent these sorts of things. And, yes, whoever put the gun in the curio should be charged.

Sorry for some reason commented twice, my bad

In my state, NC it is illegal to have accessibly firearms if minors live in the house.

-Must be locked in a safe or have trigger locks.

What a senseless tragedy. Haven't posted here in a while, but being a parent of a child of similar age, I have a stake in this.

Personally, I do hold the parents of this child responsible, but in a way that only a few commenters here have done so far. This is not about a failure to properly secure the weapon. Stashing a gun away in hopes that the child will never find it will not work. No hiding spot, high shelf, cabinet, etc. will hold their secrets from a determined child. A gun vault or cable/trigger lock can help prevent access to or removal of the weapon, but curious minds will find a way around that too. (Oh look! There's dad's keys. I wonder if any of them will open that big metal box in the garage?). Parents have few secrets from curious children. Heck, for years I knew right where to find the presents from Santa in the weeks leading up to Christmas. (Sorry if I just ruined the Santa myth for any of you.)

Thing is, no matter what you practice at home, you can't control what your child may find at someone else's house or on the streets. You can't control their friends saying in hushed voices "Come look what I found in my dad's drawer." What you can do is remove the mystery. If your child knows that guns are powerful tools that can be very dangerous when used improperly then they will, from an early age, respect firearms for what they are. If you try to keep a secret, well, secrets get out and they'll explore on their own. This is how tragedies occur.

One afternoon when my son was five, I was cleaning my guns in the garage after a day at the range. He son came out and wanted to know what I was doing. I handed him a 9MM barrel and a rag and told him that I'd show him what I was doing if he wanted to sit down and join me. We had a great time going over every piece of the stripped guns while I explained what each part did and how these tools should be, and should not be, used. Of course he didn't understand it all, at the time, but it stuck in that sponge of a brain. He's seven now and knows his dad carries a gun everywhere he goes. He knows that you treat every gun as if it is loaded. He knows that you don't touch the trigger until you have a clear sight picture of what you mean to destroy. He knows to make sure there is nothing beyond the target that you don't want to destroy. He knows never to stay on the wrong end of a barrel. He knows that you can't call a bullet back and that the person that touched the trigger has full responsibly for where that round goes. I have taken the mystery out of what guns are and have taught him how they should be used. He even has some spent (washed) brass as a memento from a camping trip during which I showed a soda can who was boss. He picked the spent casing off the ground and said "Dad, I want to keep this. I know I can't ever bring it to school to show my friends, but it's from the first time you took me shooting and I want to remember that". Awwww.

My son now has Nerf guns that we battle with. I watch his trigger discipline and he's good. (Although he still believes there should be a "time out" when he needs to reload. Heh. If only the bad guys followed that rule.) I've even heard him scolding his friends for running around with their fingers on the trigger. This summer I set up a range in the back yard in which he practices using a spring-powered air-soft pistol under my supervision. I'm his range safety officer and I use the same commands he'll soon hear in real life at a real range. He's safe, and he approaches every session with just the right mixture of caution and excitement. This winter, on his eighth birthday, I intend on giving him the very rifle that my grandfather gave me when I was eight. Yup, I still have it.

/soapbox on.

Parents, if you have guns in the house, be responsible. Don't stick your head in the sand and assume the child doesn't know the guns are there and everything will be okay. Believe me - they do know that they are there. And they are in your kid's friend's homes too. And evidently in their classrooms. Don't teach by avoidance. Teach though knowledge. Teach them to respect the tool. Teach them what to do if a friend or classmate wants to show them one. Take the mystery away. Only then will you have an informed, responsible child and only then will things be okay.

/soapbox off.

Well I guess it's good Walmart stopped selling AR15s or his parents would have had one of those for him to take to school!

a reply to: Tripnman

What you can do is remove the mystery. If your child knows that guns are powerful tools that can be very dangerous when used improperly then they will, from an early age, respect firearms for what they are. If you try to keep a secret, well, secrets get out and they'll explore on their own. This is how tragedies occur.

Exactly!!!!

Thankfully, most are taught exactly that. That guns are, or can be, very dangerous tools. They are not toys.

originally posted by: slapjacks
Should the owner(s) of the gun face criminal charges? Who knows, I think they should. You can't be a gun owner that's not responsible with young children.

They should.

a reply to: Tripnman

Man you took the words right out of my mouth!
My oldest is 5 and distinctly knows the difference between "toy" and "real", has his own ear plugs and ballistic glasses, has seen from close range what a 12 gauge can do to a watermelon, and has fired (with assistance) his mothers .38.
He knows beyond a shadow of a doubt just what will happen if he pulls the trigger. He knows that unlike words, you cannot take back bullets.


As much as I detest compulsory action from a governing body; a part of me likes to think these incidents could be resolved if all citizens were forced to undertake basic military training, or at least the BRM portion. They could then pass that knowledge on to their young-uns...But you can't teach what you don't know; even less so that which you do not know you don't know.

originally posted by: [post=19746422]seagull
The law? My law when I was that age was Mom and Dad. They said what is, what will be...and followed up on it. Painfully if that was the only way the message would get through my thick little skull.

This whole episode is all about piss poor parenting, in dealing with a child that isn't too bright.

You'll have to excuse me when I make the distinction about laws that can actually be enforced by law enforcement, and your example of "the law." I'm obviously talking about governmental laws, you're talking about parental rules--massive difference, and equating the two is disingenuous to the discussion.

Of course, I agree that the parents should be able to lay down rules and have them followed--it wasn't until my teens that I started rebelling against parental rules, but before that, I rarely broke a rule--but that doesn't mean that every child or parent is the same. To equate this occurrence solely to "piss poor parent, in dealing with a child that isn't too bright" is obviously subjective and derived from minimal knowledge of both the child and the parents.

When you jump to conclusions like it, it reflects poorly on your ability to objectively judge a situation, or as is more appropriate in this case, refrain from judgment because you don't have enough knowledge of the individuals whom you are judging.

If only all of the other 3rd graders had guns too, they could've prevented this from happening. The only way to stop a bad 3rd grader with a gun is a good 3rd grader with a gun. Well, that's what the NRA tells me anyway.

a reply to: slapjacks

originally posted by: slapjacks
Should the owner(s) of the gun face criminal charges? Who knows, I think they should. You can't be a gun owner that's not responsible with young children.

Well, on the other hand, it was very educational, I'm sure.

a reply to: slapjacks

Should the gun owner face criminal charges? No. Show evidence that it would help. What are criminal charges supposed to do? Have they ever worked to accomplish anything? Its insulting to me how people are so keen on criminal charges before the victim has been compensated. This is especially true for the EPA, which is absolutely criminal fraud... they collect the fines and keep them for them self. What about the victims?

a reply to: SlapMonkey

The only way we judge is from our own experiances, especially when it comes to parenting.

I happen to think, opinion I know, that these people aren't exactly sterling examples of top notch parenting. Sorry, that's just how I see it.

Now, are they horrible parents in every other way? How the heck do I know? I'm going off of this one example. My judgement? Bad.

As for the kid? Same thing. The kid is eight, maybe nine years old--typical third grader age. Is he a horrible kid, probably not...I freely admit that. But...

Are you trying to tell me that he doesn't know that taking a gun to school is a bad thing, even stupid thing, to do?

I was a typical third grader, and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that something like this was beyond the pale...stupid even.

Yet he did it anyway... That leaves his intelligence in question.

I'm fairly sure, all parties concerned have learned their lessons.