5 year old given rifle as gift, kills 2 year old sister

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous' started by Candlelight, May 1, 2013.

  1. Oerdin

    Oerdin Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Nov 2, 2010
    Location:
    Where the surf meets the turf.
    Guns for children? That's just a parent being stupid about their personal fetish beyond all reason. "Here's a loaded gun, kid. Go out and play!"
     
  2. JarodRussell

    JarodRussell Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2009
    So unless you're a licensed hunter, what's the need for a firearm?
     
  3. Kenbushway

    Kenbushway Captain Captain

    Joined:
    May 28, 2012
    Location:
    Georgia, USA
    Again its not for you to decide what is useful or useless to others. Everyone has something they use for recreation. Like I said society doesn't understand why grown adults still play with toys, but that doesn't mean its wrong. Someone shooting at clay targets as a competition isn't wrong.
     
  4. gturner

    gturner Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 9, 2005
    Location:
    Kentucky
    What's the need for:
    A television.
    A sports car.
    Two sports cars.
    A motorcycle.
    More than three pairs of shoes.
    A lawn.
    Cheap sunglasses.
    A second bathroom.

    Unlike those, a gun can defend your life or put food on the table.
     
  5. Timelord Victorious

    Timelord Victorious Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 27, 2006
    Location:
    Germany, Earth, the Solar System
    How many gun owners actually do something productive with guns?

    Also I think there is a difference between a sports rifle (as seen at the Olympics and similar sport events) and what you most likely find in gun households....
     
  6. Gaith

    Gaith Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 11, 2008
    Location:
    Oregon
    *sigh*

    Perhaps it's time for this thread to go to a loving family in the countryside...
     
  7. iguana_tonante

    iguana_tonante Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2006
    Location:
    Italy, EU
    Yeah, we dream the impossible dream. A world where children don't have access to fucking guns, a world where parent don't give fucking functional rifles to their offspring, a world where "shoot the baby sister" is not the main recreational hobby of preschoolers. Not in our lifetime, I know. But we dare to dream! (That was sarcasm. I spell it out because you are known to be somehow... naive.)

    Yeah, one could.

    How about: don't give fucking guns to children?

    Give a try to masturbation. It's cheaper and less dangerous, to yourself and others.

    I understand perfectly. The point is that you don't seem fazed that kids have such easy access to weapons, to the point of owning their own kiddie guns. You can blather about kids "knowing how to handle it safely", but you should be smart enough to know it's bullshit. Kids and guns don't mix. Period.

    It is perfectly clear, and utter bullshit. It's a false dichotomy. "You either train your kids to use guns, or they will be at risk when they find one". Uh, how about you don't make guns available to kids? Or even better, how about you don't have 280 million guns around in your country?

    Whatever safety protocols you instilled in your children, the point is: less guns lying around like they are household items, less accidental discharges. It's maths.

    As an addendum: if you are going to point fingers about being "disingenuous", you should refrain from making sweeping statements like "household where guns are scary evil things". Because it makes you look, well, the opposite of ingenious.
     
    Last edited: May 5, 2013
  8. gturner

    gturner Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 9, 2005
    Location:
    Kentucky
    ^ But children and guns have never been much of a problem for us (older teens in bad neighborhoods are another story). My dad's entire family was probably hunting by age six or so, as were his parents, and their parents, and their parents. Before them, Indian children ran around with weapons, too. We don't want children to be infants forever and we only have about a ten year window to wean them off cartoons and teach them how to hunt, how to skin rabbits, how to disable and subdue armed attackers (been teaching that to the junior-high kid next door), how to fire submarine-launched anti-ship missiles, and so forth. That's not much time between banging a sippy cup and having to master force deconfliction and battlespace management, and somewhere in there they have to learn a bunch of other really important stuff.
     
  9. Peach Wookiee

    Peach Wookiee Cuddly Mod of Doom Moderator

    Joined:
    May 12, 2001
    Location:
    Peach Wookiee
    ^Wait, wait, wait... why wean them off cartoons? Cartoons are good for you! Well... some of them are. :)
     
  10. gturner

    gturner Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 9, 2005
    Location:
    Kentucky
    Well, I suppose they can still watch cartoons like The Tick and Southpark.

    We'll also keep teaching children how to use weapons, one day putting a kid on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise so he can hurl photon torpedoes or fire phasers as the situation might require.
     
  11. Kenbushway

    Kenbushway Captain Captain

    Joined:
    May 28, 2012
    Location:
    Georgia, USA
     
  12. iguana_tonante

    iguana_tonante Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2006
    Location:
    Italy, EU
    You rarely, if ever, make a valid point. This isn't one of this rare instances.

    Uh, yes, I can. That's what laws are for. That's how other countries deal with it. And I hope you don't give me any of that 2nd Amendment shit, unless you want to argue that you will overthrow a tyrannical government with an army of gun-toting 5-year old kiddies.

    Right. It's not like something irreparable could happen. Oh, wait. :(

    Same with people and alcohol, and yet you can't have a beer before you are old enough to be out of college. America: the country where you can't have a beer before you are 21, but you can have a rifle at 5.
     
  13. farmkid

    farmkid Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Jun 1, 2005
    I didn't say I have no problem with kid having easy access to guns. Once again you're putting words into my mouth. I clearly said that if kids are going to be taught to shoot they need to be taught proper practices first and foremost, and should only have access to guns under close adult supervision. That's a far cry from "easy access to weapons".
    Okay, so you would rather have kids not able to handle the situation should they find a gun somewhere. Personally, I would rather prepare my children for as many situations as they might encounter as possible, but I guess that's just me.
    Go ahead and try to take them all away. I doubt you'll get very far.
    Yes, that's true. But I never said anything about them finding a gun laying around my house. That won't happen. I guess the other option is to never let them out of my sight to be sure they won't come across a gun somewhere else.

    I think I'm done discussing this. You aren't arguing in good faith (hence the comment about being "disingenuous", look it up if you don't know what it means", and I have no interest in continuing with someone who is only interested in twisting arguments to make someone look bad, rather than making sincere arguments.
     
  14. Miss Chicken

    Miss Chicken Little three legged cat with attitude Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 23, 2001
    Location:
    Howrah, Hobart, Tasmania
    Can someone tell me what the difference is between the death of this child and the child in this report

    source
     
  15. Kenbushway

    Kenbushway Captain Captain

    Joined:
    May 28, 2012
    Location:
    Georgia, USA

    Did you miss the part or just not quote where I said unless you change the laws? Currently giving a child a gun isn't against the law. Oh shit looks like one of those rare times I made a valid point huh.
     
  16. iguana_tonante

    iguana_tonante Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2006
    Location:
    Italy, EU
    Oh me so sorrya, me notta speakka goodda Inglis.

    I know perfectly well what "disingenuous" means, thus my pun about your arguments not being very ingenious either, i.e. not very clever.

    I hope you are done discussing this, because it means I don't have to hear you dissing people who disagree with you as "terrified of guns", and insinuating that I'm a furriner who doesn't speak the language. Sincere arguments, my arse.

    Uh-uh. And did you miss the part when I said that laws are exactly what you need, to prevent people from giving their kids weapons? Keep digging, auto kid.
     
  17. sidious618

    sidious618 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2005
    Location:
    sidious618
    The obsession with guns is one of the uglier parts of my country and it's sad to see how many people still happily display it. I just can't understand being so passionate about a device made for the sole purpose of killing.
     
  18. Owain Taggart

    Owain Taggart Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 30, 2009
    Location:
    Northern Ontario, Canada

    Yeah, that one puzzled me. Unless I'm missing something obvious, it was almost as if to say, being armed would have stopped the fact that those guys had bombs, which is a rather bold statement to make.
     
    Last edited: May 6, 2013
  19. Rincewiend

    Rincewiend Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 7, 2001
    Location:
    The Netherlands
    I think you got that backwards...
    They where meant to quickly and easily kill living beings...
    That a lot of people now go to a shooting range and use their guns for target shooting is a good side-effect/evolution...
    But 2 reasons why this happened are that we don't have to hunt our own food anymore and there is law-enforcement for when dangerous people need to be stopped...
    But guns aren't toys or sports-equipment, they are power-tools for killing animals and humans...
     
  20. Tora Ziyal

    Tora Ziyal Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 27, 2010
    Doesn't surprise me in the least. "You should have had a gun" seems to be certain people's response to every crime. I found that out when I was attacked three years ago.

    A gun would not have helped in my situation. I was awakened by the assailant already touching me. How the hell would I have grabbed a gun at that point?! Also, he had a big knife that turned out to be from my own kitchen. If there'd been a gun in the house, he might've found that, too.

    When I said all that to a couple people who were pushing me to buy a gun, they had no responses except to keep repeating that I should still get a gun. Sheesh.

    Well said.