The gun Dominique Sullivan, 19, used to shoot his friend accidentally was stolen four days before the shooting, Capt. Steve Morris with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office said.
The Columbia County Sheriff's Office confirms the gun was stolen from an unlocked Dodge parked on Fairfax Street in Martinez the Thursday before the shooting.
On Nov. 11, the Richmond County Sheriff's Office responded to 2560 Andorra Drive to find 18-year-old Delarrion Smith with a gunshot wound to the chest. Smith later died from his injuries at GRU.
Witnesses told deputies Smith picked up Suillivan and that the two were close friends.They said once Sullivan got into the vehicle, he began horseplaying with Smith.
According to the sheriff's office, Smith pulled out a handgun and pointed it at Sullivan in a playful manner. Sullivan grabbed the gun and removed the magazine then pointed the gun at Smith and pulled the trigger believing the handgun was unloaded.
Sullivan has been charged in relation to this incident with involuntary manslaughter, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and pointing a firearm at another.
You see what's missing? No mention of the owner of the gun who left it in an unlocked car. I suppose these guys subscribe to the Greg Camp theory of single-responsibility when someone steals a gun. The victim of the theft can never be looked at, it would be like blaming a woman for her own rape, after all.
In reality, when someone owns a gun and fails to keep it safely stored they are responsible for that. The thief is responsible for the stealing but the gun owner is responsible for the failure to practice safe storage of their gun.
Why is that so difficult for the gun-rights fanatics? Do they really condone leaving a gun in an unlocked car? Why can't they admit that many gun owners are adding to the problem by this kind of sloppy behavior?
I have no problem modifying the law for cases like this. If you use a stolen gun to kill someone, whether accidentally or not, call that felony murder. But Mikeb, you're blaming of the victim won't fly in this country.
ReplyDeleteIf by the victim you mean the owner of the stolen gun who failed to secure it properly, you're overlooking what he did wrong. This has nothing to do with the thief. This has to do with what he as a gun owner failed to do. That should be a crime - I suppose in some places it is. But you want to excuse him entirely. That's wrong.
DeleteI don't support punishing the victim of a theft. The thief is solely responsible for the act. That's true if the object stolen is a CD, a radio, a hundred dollar bill, or a gun. It's not the best choice financially to leave things in an unlocked car, but the owner has the right to make that choice.
DeleteGreg, in some places it's a crime to leave a gun unattended or unsecured. Do you consider this one of those evil laws that you're morally compelled to disobey?
DeleteI'm not compelled, especially since I don't live in or visit such places. There are degrees of evil, and I have to balance my response accordingly.
DeleteMany insurance companies will not replace a stolen car, or items stolen from a car, that was not locked. Because you did not take the simplest precautions, like locking the car.
ReplyDeleteMike, you tend to carry the responsibility to extremes. I don't think I've ever heard anyone here suggest that keeping a firearm in an unlocked car is ok. The problem is that you tend to take it farther and suggest that if someone breaks into a locked home and steals a gun, then that is also the gun owner's responsibility.
ReplyDeleteGreg is correct that the main responsibility falls to the person in possession of the gun. As in the guy who stole it.
Keeping a gun in an unlocked car should be a crime. But it seems all you're willing to go for is that it's not ok. That's too weak.
DeleteMikeb, who made you king?
DeleteThis doesn't take a king. It only takes an honest person with no agenda to sustain. Leaving guns available to thieves or kids should be a crime.
DeleteBelieve what you wish, Mikeb, but know that you'll never see those wishes become law.
DeleteBesides Mikeb, are you claiming that you have no agenda? Now that's funny.
DeleteGreg, this is already the law in some places.
DeleteIn a few places. But then those places tend to make legal gun ownership difficult, so I don't see why there are such laws there in the first place.
DeleteFirst Greg says there is no such law, then he says there is.
DeleteUntil gun owners understand that their gun is their responsibility, these theft incidents will not go away.
ReplyDelete