GASTON — A 7-year-old girl was killed and a 5-year-old boy was injured Saturday night when another 5-year-old boy accidentally discharged a gun at a birthday party in Gaston.
Lexington County Sheriff James Metts says the children were outside a home on Wild Bird Lane shortly before 9 p.m. when the 5-year-old asked his mom if he could get his toy gun out of the trunk of her boyfriend’s car. The sheriff says the mother and young boy didn’t realize the boyfriend kept a loaded gun in the trunk, and when the boy reached for it he accidentally pulled the trigger.
The bullet went through the trunk and its fragments struck the girl in the chest and another boy in the arm.
The two were taken to Lexington Medical Center where the girl was pronounced dead and the boy remains with a non-life threatening injury to his arm.
Freedom, Second Amendment, respect the culture, “right to defend my family” etc. etc. etc. Keep pretending you don’t have a problem, America.
Southern Beale 
I think we should just start callin’ ’em, “GunMurKKKans” cuz that’s what seems to define them.
Stepping out of my snarkshoes for a moment.
The local prosecutor will probably decline pressing charges as, “People have suffered enough from this tragedy”, etc.(unless of course there is some dark, violent blood coursin’ through the boyfriend’s veins).
When I hear that sort of nonsense I ask myself how I would feel if someone shot a friend of mine–never mind a child or other relative of mine–or contributed to a set of circumstances where something like your post describer happens. I honestly think that my first impulse, after the shock wore off, would be to break every one of the responsible party’s fingers so that they wouldn’t be able to EVER handle a firearm, again. I would likely restrain myself from acting that fantasy out, but I would be very, very angry at that person for a long, long time.
Being stupid, when it hurts the party who’s engaging in the “being stupid”, that’s sad. Being stupid when it hurts those who are not parties to the stupidity, only its effect is not sad, it’s tragic and it tends to destroy lives and relationships in ways that can’t be fixed.
+1 DC.
Snark: “Guess when the brown shirts come to take us to the FEMA camps they’ll give us a chance to get our belongings out of our car trunks.”
Gunloonz: “7 year olds get killed in cars. You gonna outlaw cars?”
Ad infinitum, Ad nauseum.
RJ
I have actually had “arguments*” with several gunzlooonz who have used exactly that “zinger” on me. The fact that the average person who drives operates their vehicle at least an hour per day–along with all of the rest of the differences between the two activities–is not even a speed bump to the deranged.
* Where argument means one side has an assembly of facts and the other a tissue of lies.
So, for motor vehicles we:
a) mandatory registration/taxation of them;
b) mandatory training, testing & licensing for motor vehicle operators, and re-licensing every so many years;
c) a whole barrel of government-mandated safety standards, like seat belts, airbags, etc.
d) mandatory liability insurance for operators;
e) regulations on where they can be operated;
f) minimum age requirement to operate a motor vehicle;
etc. etc. etc.
If any gun loonz would like to have comparable regulations for firearms I am ALL FOR IT.
The NRA uses fear mongering to sell guns, and I suppose it is an effective advertising technique. A direct consequence is that paranoid gun owners then ignore all gun safety rules and keep their weapons fully loaded and handy for themselves and any unfortunate child that happens to wander by.
a) mandatory registration/taxation of them;
Carry permits are not free, just like car registration. You don’t need to pay registration or taxes on a car if you keep it on your property.
b) mandatory training, testing & licensing for motor vehicle operators, and re-licensing every so many years;
Actually, I believe you only need the mandatory training in most states if you are below a certain age, in Minnesota, if you’re over 19, there is no training requirement, just take a written and road test.
c) a whole barrel of government-mandated safety standards, like seat belts, airbags, etc.
And cars made before those standards went into effect are grandfathered in.
d) mandatory liability insurance for operators;
Again, only if you take the car, or gun in public. Keep it on your property, no insurance needed.
e) regulations on where they can be operated;
Carry permit laws already regulate this
f) minimum age requirement to operate a motor vehicle;
Again, something already regulated in carry permit law. No laws for either on private property.
Also, keep in mind that drivers licenses are shall issue, as long as requirements are met, no one can decide you don’t have a legitimate need for a drivers license. Also, drivers licenses have nationwide reciprocity nationwide. Shall we do both for carry permits?
So I take it you ARE for comparable regulations then. WONDERFUL!
As I mentioned, I don’t think the gun control side would be very happy with treating carry permits like drivers licenses. I think they would find the protections given to auto owners would grate on them if applied to carry permits. Especially when you throw in the due process rights that are given to drivers for alleged violations.
“I don’t think ….”
REALLY? TRY US.
That and all of the OTHER regulations that apply to motor vehicles. We can start with removing the product liability immunity Bush gave gun manufacturers.
BTW the post’s title is “Guns-In-Trunks FAIL.” So your arguments related to cars/firearms kept solely on one’s property don’t really apply here.
Southern Beale:
I see that you’re gettin’ some rootin’, tootin’ gunztrollz, now.
ssgmarker? what is that Staff Sergeant, or what?
I see that you’ve been to one of the many sites that features the bulletproof arguments that include statements like:
Having a gun is a RIGHT. Driving is a PRIVILEGE.
If people who are privileged to drive had to put up with the nonsense that people who only want to exercise their RIGHT to keep and bear arms…
“a) mandatory registration/taxation of them;
Carry permits are not free, just like car registration. You don’t need to pay registration or taxes on a car if you keep it on your property.”
Really? And do you suppose that the people whose gunz are going off (all by themselves, mind you) in restaurants, bars, public meetings, supermarkets and the like are AT HOME when those things happen?
“b) mandatory training, testing & licensing for motor vehicle operators, and re-licensing every so many years;
Actually, I believe you only need the mandatory training in most states if you are below a certain age, in Minnesota, if you’re over 19, there is no training requirement, just take a written and road test.”
Right. And then you have an accident your insurance company is on the hook for the damages and they raise your rates or drop you. If you get popped for a DWI (or various other offenses, road rage being one in some states) you get to go to a special mandatory–and generally, expensive–class for a while to re-learn how not to be an asshole while operating a motor vehicle. Otoh, if you accidentally shoot someone you’re not liable for damages in a lot of states–and you’re not required to demonstrate that you’ve learned to not drink and shoot or get pissed off and shoot.
“c) a whole barrel of government-mandated safety standards, like seat belts, airbags, etc.
And cars made before those standards went into effect are grandfathered in.”
There are 300 million or so firearms in the hands of U.S. civilians, some of them are centuries old. What is your point? Is it that all cars must be safe or we can’t reasonably require that guns be safe? I’m not sure what you’re driving at but it sounds like you’re saying that the two things are equivalent. If that IS what you’re saying, you’re wrong.
I have to go to bed now. I’ll get back on this later.
Yes, this idiot decided to follow my blog. I don’t think he will like what he reads here.
“We can start with removing the product liability immunity Bush gave gun manufacturers.”
The laws that gun control advocates complain about were often enacted to counteract misuse. For example, the product liability immunity you speak of was passed because of lawsuits for behavior the manufacturer has no control over. You keep wanting to treat guns like cars, so lets go there. You cant sue a car manufacturer for producing a car that someone buys and misuses.
I’ve seen you postings here some when Mikeb reposts them on his blog and thought I’d come visit. I cant promise to be a regular, but we’ll see how things develop.
“You keep wanting to treat guns like cars…”
Um, no, I was responding to a comment Democommie made about treating guns like cars. But you know what, if we prosecuted gun negligence with nearly the same regularity and severity that we prosecute motor vehicle negligence we’d be making great strides. A toddler finds a gun and shoots himself or someone else and it’s all just a tragic accident, the person who left the gun lying around isn’t charged. A person mows a child down in the street and they’re thrown in jail.
(Unless you’re not white, of course.)
“Um, no, I was responding to a comment Democommie made about treating guns like cars.”
You are correct Beale, sorry about that. We actually don’t disagree in the area of being held responsible for misuse. I carry routinely and have children all the way down to age six. Firearms are either secured or on my person, all the time.
I also dislike the term accidental discharge, because it is more accurate in nearly all the cases you read of to use the military term, negligent discharge.
“I also dislike the term accidental discharge, because it is more accurate in nearly all the cases you read of to use the military term, negligent discharge.”
When I read about the sort of incident that Southern Beale links to in the OP, I, too dislike the term, “accidental discharge”. I am comfortable with the term “murder with depraved indifference and the lesser included offense of manslaughter”.
One of the enduring memes held as gospel by gunzloonz is that gunz are just “tools”. That’s a load of crap–they are weapons. Nobody I have ever known used gunz for anything but shooting (with the exception of the Darwin Award nominees who just don’t know how they work, apparently).
Knives, rope, rakes, hoes, flails, axes, hatchets, ice chisels–are tools. They are tools which are used for a variety of functions in everyday life. They are not, generally used to kill. There are BILLIONS AND BILLIONS of these tools and thousands of other tools, devices and implements which CAN kill people if used improperly either accidentally or with purposeful intent. I could kill you with a snow shovel, a manure fork or a post-hole digger but it’s not the task which any of them is designed to perform. Using such items as lethal weapons is generally the result of a lack of forethought/poor impulse control. They are difficult to conceal if they are much bigger than a hand axe and they require conscious effort and an application of a fair amount of physical strength, at close range, to be effective weapons. They are also difficult to use as weapons to kill a LOT of people.
Motor vehicles are designed to convey passengers/goods from one place to another. They are, occasionally used as weapons but, considering the sheer numbers of them available, their daily use by many millions of people and the circumstances/conditions in which they are used, that use is employed by a vanishingly small %age of users.
Gunz, particularly handgunz require almost no physical strength or training to use, are pretty easy to hide and can kill from a distance. With the standard magazines available for Glocks and a lot of other semi-automatic weapons, a number of people can be killed in a matter of seconds. Gunz are designed for one purpose, to kill things. they are not designed to convey passengers or carry freight. They are not designed to cut steaks or mix cocktails. They are not even designed for “recreational shooting”–that use is training, in virtually all cases, to sharpen shooting skills–so they can hit a deer, a duck or a person. Gunz are designed to kill things.
When the state I live in holds idiots with gunz responsible for maiming and killing people, by stupident, instead of saying that it was “an unforeseeable tragedy” or, “the family has suffered ENOUGH” and sweeping it under the rug, then I might begin to believe that the term, “responsible gun owner” is anything but a bullshit, throwaway line used by the gunzloonz and their enablers.
Demo, guns are the only product when used exactly as they were designed and intended to be used result in something on the other end dying. That is the point.
On the other hand, as we have found over the many, many years I have been writing about guns on this blog, there is absolutely no point in arguing with gun trolls.
Southern – I would say guns are only one of many products that when used exactly as designed result in something on the other end dying – bows, swords, daggers, lethal injections, and of course abortion instruments.
Oh well by all means let’s apply the same standards for women seeking an abortion to anyone trying to purchase a gun, then. Things like unnecessary medical tests — how about a psychological profile to purchase a gun? Mandatory waiting periods and counseling. Limited availability — only one abortion provider in all of Mississippi! How many gun stores are Mississippi? Or the new favorite thing the righties are doing, requiring abortion providers to have hospital admitting privileges and whatnot. Let’s put up all sorts of unreasonable standards for those who sell guns.
Does that work for you?
A bow is not the sort of thing that is easy to conceal, Jimbo,
Fact is, ANY knife might be used as a weapon. There are, in my house, no less than 20 very sharp knives with blades over 4″ long. There are at least another 2-3 dozen with blades of varying lengths in tool boxes and various drawers. I use knives a LOT. In the 50 years that I have worked with knives I have yet to accidentally cut somebody else. Try reading for comprehension,.
“On the other hand, as we have found over the many, many years I have been writing about guns on this blog, there is absolutely no point in arguing with gun trolls.”
It’s not just the gun trolls.
Ironically, the state’s ban on switchblades and knives with blades longer than 4 inches was only repealed 2 days ago. Up until then, you could carry a gun but not a knife.
So, I CAN take a knife to a gunfight! Cooooooooooooooool!
Somewhere, sometime soon (if it hasn’t happened already, I predict we will see a criminal court proceeding that will involve the following.
Two guys sitting in a bar, PHWS*, both perceive the other to be throwin’ down on ’em. Both draw their Glocks with “14 in the box and one in the pipe” and proceed to fire the whole magazine at the other guy. They miss each other and shoot the bartender, a waitress and two patrons, killing two and crippling one for life.
Police and medics show up, cart off the wounded and dying, and arrest the two gunslingerz.
Both shooters claim “self-defense” and their attorneys are in court for a hearing to ask the presiding judge to NOT sever the two indictments but try them both at once.
All of a sudden, the Prosecutor comes into the courtroom, just having finished a phone conversation with some uparmed contribut–, er, I mean “concerned citizens” and tells the judge that the state will not be going forward on the indictments as both parties have suffered enough with having their good names dragged through the mud by the police and liebral press.
The judge dismisses the defendants, whereupon their lawyers immediately go to the clerk’s office to file a motion requesting dismissal of pending civil suits against their clients for maiming and killing four people, since the criminal case was dismissed.
All of the parties (except those unarmed wimps who got themselves shot) then go to the local gunrange/tavern, “Beers, Babes’n’bullets” throw back a bunch of tequila shots and Jaegerbombs and then shoot at the empties to see who’s gonna pay for the round.
Yeah, I know, this couldn’t happen in TN. You don’t allow people to sue somebody for shooting them by stupident, right?
* Packin’ Heat While Shitfaced