Sunday, July 8, 2012

3 year old son of LEO shot at home.

Every state should require that firearms not in use be securely stored in locked gun safes, with locked trigger guards, and unloaded.

I can already here the screams of protest from those who believe that a gun on the night stand next to their bed is under their control while they are asleep.  I can already here the screams of protest from those who believe they won't be able to shoot all those not-fully-human bad guys that are breaking into their homes - ANY MINUTE NOW.

The reality is that the number of gun owners who ever shoot a bad guy is miniscule compared to the number of shootings like these, and in those cases equivalent or better alternatives to shooting anyone are often available.

EVERY state should require that every gun be kept securely away from children, and be secured so that is CANNOT be fired by one.  One more example of guns don't kill people, people with guns who make stupid, irresponsible decisions about those guns kill people.

I wonder how long it will be before we hear that these kids were taught about firearms, and that this is a man who was always safe and in control of his weapon......except when he wasn't.

My heart goes out to this family, including the cop, for his loss; but at some point we need to be caring for the kid who lost his life to avoidable circumstances because of our gun culture.  It should be noted in those countries with more restrictive gun laws, many police do NOT routinely carry firearms on the job, or keep them in their homes.  It should also be noted that in weighing the benefits of firearms in the hands of police in their homes there is a significantly higher incidence of domestic violence and threat of violence, many of those instances involving firearms, either their professional weapon, or private weapons.  So kids or mostly women being victims of those weapons is not exactly a surprise.  I'm not suggesting this was domestic abuse, only that it is an additional side effect that where there are firearms, women and children are often the victims, or the gun owner in the cases of suicide.  Guns do more harm than good in many, many instances.

In this instance, thank God that no other children or adults died, or were wounded -- at least physically wounded.  It can be argued a lot of people there were psychologically and emotionally traumatized by this event.

from MSNBC.com:

Cop's 3-year-old son shot at home with handgun

In what police describe as a tragic accident, the 3-year-old son of a San Jose, Calif., police officer was shot and killed Wednesday evening at his home in Gilroy. The boy's death from his wounds was confirmed late Thursday.
The Gilroy Dispatch newspaper reported that three other children were inside the home at the time of the incident, indicating this might have happened during a play date.
Police won't say who pulled the trigger of the handgun, but reports say the boy either shot himself or another child accidentally fired the gun.
For more, visit NBCBayArea.com
"Unfortunately, emergency personnel were unable to save the boy and he was pronounced deceased while en route to a local hospital," Gilroy Sgt. Chad Gallacinao said in a statement.
He added that the investigation will focus on how the gun was stored inside the house and why a child was able to get their hands on it.
It is not known if the gun was the father's police-issued firearm.

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