7 Years for "Accidental" Shooting

The Wall Street Journal reports.

A 22-year-old western New York man will spend up to seven years in state prison for what a judge called a "bizarre" accidental shooting that left a teenage girl paralyzed and unable to eat or talk.

State Supreme Court Justice Penny Wolfgang sentenced Greyler Williams of Depew for assault Wednesday. Williams pleaded guilty for the early morning incident at a home where he and Jalisa Goodman were visiting on Halloween night.

Tiera Goodman told the judge her now-14-year-old sister is in a nursing home and faces a fourth round of surgery as doctors try to remove bullet fragments from her neck. She was struck when the handgun Williams was playing with fired in an adjacent room.

The Buffalo News reports that Williams apologized to the victim's family in court.

What's your opinion? Is that a fair sentence? Do you think it's right to increase the punishment depending on the damage done? If someone dies or is paralyzed, a jail sentence like this, and if no one is hurt, just a slap on the wrist?

Here's my idea. According to the MikeB is King rule, formerly known as the one-strike-you're-out rule, no one does more than ten days in jail for accidents unless it's the second or third time. But guns are confiscated and gun rights are forfeited forever.  Officers of the court will make periodic home-visits to ensure compliance.

Now you tell me, would that cut down on negligent stupidity with guns, or not?

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