Originally Posted by dliske
Oh, if it was only that simple. Some questions though...(I don't want to get into a MM debate)...How was the obtaining of the gun portrayed? Was it mentioned that it was stolen? Was it mentioned there was at least one other stolen gun in the house? Was it mentioned the shooter's family was living in a flop house where narcotics were found? Was it mentioned that one of the gun "owners" had a felony arrest warrant? I'm not asking, simply to be an ass, but those issues complicate your relatively innocuous questions.
No worries. It is a complicated issue...you're right.
According to BFC, the shooter's mother was working two full-time jobs as a part of Michigan's welfare-to-work program. The mother was bussed to and from her jobs (about a 40min commute each way) and as a result, barely saw her son at all.
She didn't even know that her son had taken the gun until after the shooting, when it was confiscated by the school principal. She simply wasn't around to prevent the gun from being taken in the first place.
When the mother lost her apartment due to failure to pay rent, they moved in with the uncle... The same evening the mother and son moved in, the son found the loaded .38 on the living room table in his uncle's apartment.
The young boy took the gun to school in his backpack, and when he later took it out to "show it off", the .38 fired, hitting a fellow first-grade student square in the chest. The victim was DOA....at six years old.
Originally Posted by dliske
In this particular instance, with all of the known facts, I don't believe that any piece of anti-gun legislation could have prevented this particular shooting. The gun was stolen, and the owner was a criminal. The last thought on his mind was "where is the gun lock?"
Gun ownership is a huge responsibility- just like owning a swimming pool, making sure your kids are wearing seatbelts, and keeping medications and poisons out of reach. Responsible gun owners will always be...well, responsible. But, there is no law that will keep the idiots in check.
Very well said. And unfortunately, you're right. We won't be able to stop each and every last accidental shooting.. but I'd like to think there is more that we can do.