The importance of an education

[trish]

This kid knows. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090222/ap_on_re_us/pregnant_woman_killed_15) After shooting his fathers pregnant girlfriend in the back of the head, he made sure he caught his bus in time.

Maybe I should have put this in the Muslim beheading thread? :\

mug shot (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/22/jordan-brown-pennsylvania-murder)

[RusH]

First, what was his fathers education?

[SteveH]

geez, that kid is just a baby himself :(

[trish]

First, what was his fathers education?

I don't know. I just wish he had kept that gun locked up. No child should be able to grab a gun whenever they feel like it. I don't care what type of gun it is.

[Andrew Longman]

"An 11-year-old kid — what would give him the motive to shoot someone?"

Oh, I don't know. I've witnessed some pretty ugly morning arguments about getting up, getting dressed, eating breakfast, and getting to the school bus in time, etc.

Could have been self defense. ;)

[Ankf00]

how could you look that kid in the eye ever again?

[oddlycalm]

No child should be able to grab a gun whenever they feel like it.
An unassailable truth and it should be a matter of law in all 50 states.


Oh, I don't know. I've witnessed some pretty ugly morning arguments about getting up, getting dressed, eating breakfast, and getting to the school bus in time, etc.

Absolutely, and kids minds can't yet process what an appropriate response is, which is why the guns should stay locked unless there is a specific shooting activity with an adult that understands firearms to supervise.

Charging the kid as an adult when the adults in the household failed the basic common sense test is the final failure IMO. Kids that age have no concept of actual consequences of their actions, which is why you don't allow them unsupervised access to guns in the first place.

oc

[Andrew Longman]

...which is why you don't allow them unsupervised access to guns in the first place.

oc

But it is the American tradition to provide young boys with guns, even inherited as proud baby shower gifts (see related TF thread) . :rolleyes:

But responsible gun ownership doesn't always come along with this. Letting an 11 year old have access to live ammo and a shotgun, even if it his own, is no less endangering to the welfare of a child than letting him ride unbuckled in the front seat of a car while you drive drunk. Sadly, a lot of my fellow citizens don't see it that way.

At least this mope dad gets to dwell on the fact that he is responsible for the loss of life of his girlfriend and unborn daughter, taking away their mother from two children and ruining the life of his own son.

[datachicane]

At least this mope dad gets to dwell on the fact that he is responsible for the loss of life of his girlfriend and unborn daughter, taking away their mother from two children and ruining the life of his own son.


I doubt it. He'll blame violent videogames (which he purchased), Time Warner, rap, the lack of prayer in public schools, the 1960's, etc., etc. ad nauseum before he ever considers the possibility that he himself had a hand in it.

That's the American way.
:(

[trish]

I was thinking maybe he was abused or treated badly by his future step-mom, but if pictures could tell a story I wouldn't believe she was anything but a sweetheart. victim (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jfUUCNd8ljeuLU4Qr3BF_5pwHXlwD96HG71O0)

I guess we'll find out either way.

[Andrew Longman]

I was thinking maybe he was abused or treated badly by his future step-mom, but if pictures could tell a story I wouldn't believe she was anything but a sweetheart. victim (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jfUUCNd8ljeuLU4Qr3BF_5pwHXlwD96HG71O0)

I guess we'll find out either way.

I get you, and I don't want to blame the victim.

While I have sympathy I still wonder what choices she made to be 26, unmarried with two kids ages 7 and 4, nine months pregnant and two months engaged, living in that house with an 11 year old boy and an unsecured shotgun. We all are a victim of life's circumstances, but some a little more than others.

[Methanolandbrats]

The hillbilly code says about the time a boys balls drop he gits his own gun. 99.999 % of kids shoot squirrels and stuff like that, not people. There is a chance the kid was abused, but a greater chance he is just nuts.

[trish]

I've also been wondering where his biological mother is.

[Methanolandbrats]

I've also been wondering where his biological mother is. He must have gotten away with that one :gomer:

[oddlycalm]

The hillbilly code says about the time a boys balls drop he gits his own gun. 99.999 % of kids shoot squirrels and stuff like that, not people. There is a chance the kid was abused, but a greater chance he is just nuts.

Having been shot at twice by young boys screwing around with guns and having the next door neighbor's wife shot in the leg by one leaves me a bit less sanguine. You're right about the hillbilly code but you overlook how that same code applies to rural incident reporting, rural medical reporting, rural police reporting and small town press self-censorship. Nobody in those communities wants outside attention on something like this.

Not many years ago a 12yr old boy shot his sister with his .30-30 lever action after a sibling squabble in Molino, a small town ~20mi south of Portland and it was interesting to watch the parents, community and local cops all trying their hardest to suppress what had happened. The LDS church circled the wagons and went to great lengths to protect the doer from any consequences to the extent of moving him around and hiding him. Eventually the state police came in and sorted things out. If Molino had not been within such close proximity to Portland nobody outside a couple dozen families would have ever known it happened and the cops wouldn't have put it down as an "accident" which they were trying their damndest to do.

oc