Boy age 5 shoots and kills 2-year old sister

Pheran

Diamond Member
Apr 26, 2001
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5-year-old Kentucky boy fatally shoots 2-year-old sister

A Kentucky mother stepped outside of her home just for a few minutes, but it was long enough for her 5-year-old son to accidentally shoot his 2-year-old sister with the .22-caliber rifle he got for his birthday, state officials said.

OK, I'm all for gun ownership, but what kind of insane idiot gives a 5-year old an actual working .22 rifle for his birthday rather than a BB gun or something??
 

Chiropteran

Diamond Member
Nov 14, 2003
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This wouldn't have happened if the sister had a handgun of her own for self-defense.
 

JTsyo

Lifer
Nov 18, 2007
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5yr old unsupervised with a .22 rifle, who would have guessed something would go wrong? Him having the rifle is fine but should only be handling it with adult supervision. I mean would you give a power drill to play with at 5?
 

Pheran

Diamond Member
Apr 26, 2001
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Him having the rifle is fine but should only be handling it with adult supervision.

At age 5, I'd argue that having a real firearm is not OK at all, regardless of the supervision. Children that age are not competent enough to handle deadly weapons.
 

Slew Foot

Lifer
Sep 22, 2005
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Another day in Kentucky. Mom was too busy reading her Bible to care, no matter. Pray for a couple days and it will be fine that was gods plan anyway.
 

mnewsham

Lifer
Oct 2, 2010
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At age 5, I'd argue that having a real firearm is not OK at all, regardless of the supervision. Children that age are not competent enough to handle deadly weapons.

agreed, even a .22, wait until they are 8-10. BB gun at 5-6 is fine, but teaching them gun safety with it before giving him a real gun is much smarter.
 

JM Aggie08

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2006
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At age 5, I'd argue that having a real firearm is not OK at all, regardless of the supervision. Children that age are not competent enough to handle deadly weapons.


Meh, I was taught proper handling and respect for a weapon around that age and never managed to harm anyone, or myself for that matter.

Then again, I've always pissed excellence.
 

Mixolydian

Lifer
Nov 7, 2011
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Hope the mom goes to jail for giving her 5 year old a firearm!

I mean, I could see letting a child use a BB gun or air-soft gun, but this is insane.
 

Red Storm

Lifer
Oct 2, 2005
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Even with a BB gun though, what if he shot his 2 year old sister in the eye at point blank cause he doesn't know any better?

The only gun a 5 year old should be playing with is the toy kind.
 

Jeeebus

Diamond Member
Aug 29, 2006
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Parents at fault, and probably deserve jail time...

but I can't even begin to imagine the agony that they must already be going through. Your 5-year old just killed your 2-year old, and you know it's your fault. As a parent, even pondering this situation makes me want to curl up in a ball and makes my stomach sick.
 

vi edit

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 28, 1999
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I was "given" a .22 bolt action for my 5th birthday from my Grandpa. By "given" it really meant that it was hung unloaded, about 8' off the floor on a gun rack and I got to shoot it a couple times out in a pasture under very strict supervision of my Dad.

"Giving" a gun to a 5 year is different than letting them handle a loaded one, in the presence of other people/children and being completely bat shit retarded about it.
 

Pheran

Diamond Member
Apr 26, 2001
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Even with a BB gun though, what if he shot his 2 year old sister in the eye at point blank cause he doesn't know any better?

There is a huge difference between a BB gun and a .22 rifle. Just about the only way to get a real injury from a BB gun is a direct hit in the eye. A .22 round is going to penetrate your body and quite possibly kill you.

If he'd done real damage to his sister with a BB gun, this would have been a freak accident rather than sheer unbridled stupidity.
 

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
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Meh, I was taught proper handling and respect for a weapon around that age and never managed to harm anyone, or myself for that matter.

Then again, I've always pissed excellence.

You probably didn't have unrestricted or unsupervised access to it either. Only a complete fool allows a child access to firearms. Are your parents complete fools?
 

Jaskalas

Lifer
Jun 23, 2004
34,004
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OK, I'm all for gun ownership, but what kind of insane idiot gives a 5-year old an actual working .22 rifle for his birthday rather than a BB gun or something??

Charge the parents with the crime, in this case I'd presume manslaughter.
 

SunnyD

Belgian Waffler
Jan 2, 2001
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www.neftastic.com
My wife linked me the HuffPo article of this earlier. The part that got me:

White told the newspaper that the boy received the rifle made for youths last year and is used to shooting it. He said the gun was kept in a corner and the family didn't realize a shell was left inside it.

I'm sorry, but the parents should be charged with at the very least gross neglect and child endangerment if not manslaughter for not locking the fucking thing up when not in use.
 

JM Aggie08

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2006
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You probably didn't have unrestricted or unsupervised access to it either. Only a complete fool allows a child access to firearms. Are your parents complete fools?

It seems you missed what exactly I was replying to.

At age 5, I'd argue that having a real firearm is not OK at all, regardless of the supervision. Children that age are not competent enough to handle deadly weapons.