Ind. police: Boy, 3, fatally shot father

CBS/iStockphoto

(AP) SALEM, Ind. - Police say a 3-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his father after finding the man's loaded handgun in a southern Indiana home.

Indiana State Police Sgt. Jerry Goodin says the 33-year-old Martinsville man had brought his gun with him Friday to a home he was remodeling in Salem, about 25 miles northwest of Louisville, Ky.

Goodin says the man, his wife, their three children and a juvenile relative were at the home when the 3-year-old boy apparently found the gun and it accidentally discharged, fatally wounding the man. No one else was injured.

Goodin says the case remains under investigation and prosecutors will determine if any adult should face charges. He calls the case a "tragic accident and a tragic mistake" of leaving a gun within a child's reach.

[TriangleMan]

"prosecutors will determine if any adult should face charges"

Why just the adults? They should charge the 3-year old as an adult. He knew what he was doing, that little murderer!

All the gun-nuts can add this guy to their list of people to blame for why you're 3x more likely to accidentally shoot yourself or your family than actually successfully defend yourself against anything. Lulz.

[tpeks40]

Guns don't kill, 3 year old kids do...

[Hidden_Dragon]

To heck with lethal injection. Give the kid the electric chair and make it snappy and crackly. Murderer!

[Hidden_Dragon]

To heck with lethal injection. Give the kid the electric chair and make it snappy and crackly. Murderer!

[KPeters_from_UK]

by mecanik-2009 July 14, 2012 10:37 PM EDT
I seriously doubt your assessment and the twisting of statistics can prove anything you want them to prove. It's easy to say something when you don't have the data to back it up.
----------------------------------------

Very true. That's why it is necessary to back up an assertion with more than one source of data or facts. Something that was pounded into my head by my Graduate professors. I tend to gather the evidence, examine the variables (the definition of children's ages...young children, teenagers, early 20's...really? 20? ), correlation between states with gun restriction and pro-gun states, and then look at the specific issue (accidental deaths, suicides or murders..tougher argument if the studies include gang violence and gang teenagers). For me the issue of gun availability to accidental and suicide deaths is important. So I gathered a small sample of quotes from studies on children and gun deaths.


For starters, check out the first source and perhaps the best:

In 2007, 613 people died from an unintentional shooting. This stats is directly from the following table...look at the unintentional column: U.S. FIREARM DEATHS and DEATH RATES PER 100,000 POPULATION BY AGE GROUP AND INTENT, 2007

Then......

"For kids ages 0 to 4, the mortality rate is 17 times higher in high gun states than low gun states." ... "The mortality rate from accidental shootings is 8 times higher in the four states with the most guns compared to the four states with the fewest guns." Miller, Matthew; Deborah Azrael, David Hemenway, "Firearm Availability and Unintentional Firearm Deaths."

In 1999 there were 3,385 firearms-related deaths for age group 0-19 years... breaks down to:
214 unintentional
1,078 suicides
1,990 homicides
83 for which the intent could not be determined
20 due to legal intervention
Of the total firearms-related deaths:
73 were of children under five years old
416 were children 5-14 years old
2,896 were 15-19 years old
http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/guns.htm

"Not surprisingly, homicides involving firearms are more common among city youths. But gun suicides and accidental fatal shootings level the score: They are more common among rural kids." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/23/AR2010052304176.html


"As many as one-half of American households have a gun, and each day, nearly 30 children are injured or killed by firearms in the United States - most from guns owned by the child's family or friends" http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2624716/posts

[Farver4girls]

I don't believe the police will file any charges in this case. The person who would be charged is dead. The police won't file charges against a dead person.

[stevex47]

It boils down to we are barbarians.

So many innocent lives taken. No biggie say's the NRA.

[tvwatcher5345]

i hear banjo music

[Bush-cheney-R-Terrorists]

I hope they tested the 3 year old for powder residue just in case he did not actually do the shooting, but was made to appear to have.

[scholarlymama]

Growing up, my father always kept guns in the house, but he was a responsible gun owner. He kept them locked up and explained early and often to my brother and I that his guns were not toys and should only be handled by adults. We kids never touched them, and guess what? We're still alive. The key to keeping guns safely in the house is owner responsibility, plain and simple.

[KPeters_from_UK]

Unfortunately, there are many more idiots out there who have guns just like there are too many idiots who are parents. Question is should we enact laws to protect the vulnerable and the minority of the population? In other words, since we know there is a large portion of the population who obviously do not have the capacity to act responsibly and THINK, should we restrict gun rights in order to protect people from themselves?