5 yo shoots 9 months old brother... or perhaps a PNA?

...
Please tell me that leaving LOADED guns where 5 yo can find them is a good idea?

And of course it is a tragedy, not the mother's fault.


PNA by guns. Well shit.

_______________________

“I was talking about children that have not been properly house-trained. Left to their own impulses and indulged by doting or careless parents almost all children are yahoos. Loud, selfish, cruel, unaffectionate, jealous, perpetually striving for attention, empty-headed, for ever prating or if words fail them simply bawling, their voices grown huge from daily practice: the very worst company in the world. But what I dislike even more than the natural child is the affected child, the hulking oaf of seven or eight that skips heavily about with her hands dangling in front of her -- a little squirrel or bunny-rabbit -- and prattling away in a baby's voice.”


― Patrick O'Brian, The Truelove


lib'-er-ty: the freedom given to you to make the wrong decision, based on the reasoned belief that you will normally make the right one.

Gah. Another "boys will be boys" rationalization about how the 5-year-old got into the gun case. I'm so sick of hearing that!

I don't know if 5 is old enough to operate a gun or understand how they work and that they're for killing, but I kind of feel bad for the 5-year-old. He's going to live with this for the rest of his life, and since his Moo doesn't seem interested in taking responsibility for failing to supervise him, I assume she's going to foist the guilt on him for the fact that Loafleigh is dead.

It sounds like Moo and the kyds were guests in Grandduh's home, and whenever you and your brats are visiting someone you should supervise them so they don't steal or damage the host's belongings. And I have a hard time believing she had no idea that her father owned guns...wouldn't that alone prompt a sane parent to keep an eye on their crotchfruit, knowing there were deadly weapons in the house?

What I don't understand is, how do these kyds always manage to land a headshot? For someone with no firearms training, a headshot would be difficult, much less for a little kyd. And yet, that always seems to be the case. I think the toddler who shot his moo dead (in Walmart) also shot her in the head.

Aside from the 'lucky' shots, I always have trouble believing that kyds 5 and under are able to even have enough strength to pull the trigger in the first place.

I think it's a little too coincidental that kids this young can lift firearms (I imagine even smaller guns would be heavy for a kid), "accidentally" aim it, and hold the gun steady enough to land a killing blow every time. I'm personally a horrible shot and have missed things at point-blank range, so how's a five-year-old manage to pull off a perfect shot?

The grand-duh says he had the fucking pistol in a locked cabinet behind the other guns. First of all, what kind of sorry-ass gun cabinet can be opened with a screwdriver or ANY key? Second of all, how many five-year-olds or nine-month-olds have the dexterity to pick a lock? They probably can't even open a lock with the key that's made for it. It's not the grandfather's fault; it's his fucking home and he did his part child-proofing by putting his guns in a locked cabinet.

I think Moo had a part in all this. I think she picked open the cabinet and took out the pistol, and either put it within reach of the older boy in hopes he shot his sibling, or she shot him herself and has convinced the older boy that HE shot his brother. Says the kid hasn't even processed the death of his brother, and I don't get a sociopath "don't care" vibe from the alleged killer kid. I get the feeling he had no part in any of this and just wasn't OMG attached to his younger sibling. He's just the scapegoat.

The article mentions older kids, so I assume there's another child besides the dead one and the one blamed for the shooting. Who's the other kid? Where were they during all this? Could the other kid(s) that weren't mentioned or named have been responsible? Assuming the kid actually said he shot Corbin, I think somebody coached him to say it.

I'm going with post-natal abortion. I find it very hard to believe that a five-year-old dinking around with a gun managed to land a fatal head shot on his semi-infant brother. If anything, a kid that age would be stupid and looking down the barrel of the gun, most likely shooting themselves in the face rather than pointing it at someone else and knowing enough how to aim at the head and pull the trigger. I imagine a child that small would get knocked on their ass from recoil and run crying to Mommy that they fell down.

I don't know who shot the kid, but it's not the one being blamed for it.

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Cambion
I think it's a little too coincidental that kids this young can lift firearms (I imagine even smaller guns would be heavy for a kid), "accidentally" aim it, and hold the gun steady enough to land a killing blow every time. I'm personally a horrible shot and have missed things at point-blank range, so how's a five-year-old manage to pull off a perfect shot?

You do have an interesting point there. Depending on a type of a gun and the caliber, the recoil can be strong enough to knock that gun out of one's hands. Let's just say that the target would have to be really close by in order to be able to hit it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfGUF8T-dUM

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Techie

Quote
Cambion
I think it's a little too coincidental that kids this young can lift firearms (I imagine even smaller guns would be heavy for a kid), "accidentally" aim it, and hold the gun steady enough to land a killing blow every time. I'm personally a horrible shot and have missed things at point-blank range, so how's a five-year-old manage to pull off a perfect shot?

You do have an interesting point there. Depending on a type of a gun and the caliber, the recoil can be strong enough to knock that gun out of one's hands. Let's just say that the target would have to be really close by in order to be able to hit it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfGUF8T-dUM

I think that if the kid has just saw a movie about, say, shooting and somebody put the fun on somebody forehead and shot (yeah, kids shouldn't watch that stuff at least not kid THAT young) then he may try it again with the lil'brother, because at that age, they don't get the idea of "death". So yeah, perhaps it is possible.

But in many other cases, I wonder if the parent has done it and convinced the kid that they are the ones who did the deed.

_______________________

“I was talking about children that have not been properly house-trained. Left to their own impulses and indulged by doting or careless parents almost all children are yahoos. Loud, selfish, cruel, unaffectionate, jealous, perpetually striving for attention, empty-headed, for ever prating or if words fail them simply bawling, their voices grown huge from daily practice: the very worst company in the world. But what I dislike even more than the natural child is the affected child, the hulking oaf of seven or eight that skips heavily about with her hands dangling in front of her -- a little squirrel or bunny-rabbit -- and prattling away in a baby's voice.”


― Patrick O'Brian, The Truelove


lib'-er-ty: the freedom given to you to make the wrong decision, based on the reasoned belief that you will normally make the right one.