Follow up to a sad story I posted a while back

[contender]

Many of y'all will remember back right after Christmas about a good friend, who's little girl had accidentally shot herself in the head on Christmas day. She had gotten into her Dad's truck and found a gun, and shot herself. It was NOT her Dad's gun. She'd had an accident on her bike,, and was being taken home to be cleaned up. Initially the report had stated the gun was left behind and forgotten by a "close friend."

Well today,, they finally released many more details,,.

Until now, I was sworn to not release anything else I may have known.

Todays report came out. In it,, the District Attorney has stated, that while NC law does allow for criminal prosecution when an adult allows a child unauthorized access to a firearm,, no charges are to be filed. His words were; "Due to the extreme suffering that has taken place, no prosecution will be match the life long suffering here."
I won't go into all the details of what happened,, but it was truly an accident where the gun was actually in a holster, and stuck in a place where kids normally would not be. Yet,, the little girl was able to get it out, and shoot herself.
Tragically, the owner of the gun was her older, step brother.
I know this young man. And I know he loved his step sister. He actually has always been a very kind person, and I watched him grow up in my BSA Troop, earn Eagle, and is a leader type personality. Very well liked. He has been devastated by this.
With todays report,, some are upset that he's not being charged. But the local DA is a fair person, and knows that even if he got the maximum sentence, it would pale in comparison to what the family has suffered all around.
And despite all of it,, the Dad doesn't blame his son.
But the local FB liberals are screaming for charges. Luckily,, in a few weeks they'll have something else to whine about.

I know this is a tragedy. But many have asked about the outcome. As of today,, case closed.

 

[hittman]

No winners here. 😥

 

[Shotgungibbs]

My heart goes out to that young man, and the family. What will giving him a sentence do? He'll suffer for the rest of his life, as will the family. It was an accident, and unfortunately, it happened. Hopefully we all learn something from them, this one included.

 

[RC44Mag]

Absolutely horrible story. I’m so tired of hearing of young ones getting ahold of firearms and this happening. Thoughts for all involved.

 

[Dave P.]

I get angry every time I read or hear a story of an accidental shooting involving a negligent gun owner and a unsecured firearm.
Most all go through their lives with either diligence or in some cases just dumb luck and never have to pay the price for a mistake you
just can't make. The little girl is dead and now this man and his family get to live with his negligence... everybody looses.
I can see the prosecutor's point, but personally I'd have went for some kind of community service deal. Maybe speaking to gun or hunter safety classes,
perhaps speaking to local elementary schools, don't really know. Somehow push something in a positive direction out of the deal.
If this was a neighbor's or friends child you can bet the legal ugliness would just be getting started and I suspect he would have been charged with
something.
The non PC cynic in me looks at this and says " so it's ok to kill your own family's child but not somebody else's "
I have no answers but can see both sides.

 

[Kevin]

This was in the news. I saw it. How terrible. There is no easy answer. Kids will get into places adults might not ever think possible. I’m very sorry for the family.

 

[contender]

Dave P,, I understand your thoughts.

And yes,, if it had happened to someone other than a family member,, I'm sure lawsuits & such would have happened.

As I said,, I didn't post a lot of the details. But suffice it to say that it actually wasn't easy for this little girl to get the gun out,, yet she did. She was in the seat, waiting on Mom,,,, and sadly, was able to get the gun out of it's spot, and out of the holster.

Her older step-brother,, as I mentioned,, is a good young man. And he is very educated in gun safety & hunter safety etc. He already does volunteer teaching youth at his church, & has long before this tragedy.

To try & put out all the details & such on this Forum wouldn't do any good.

I just wanted to share the follow up end result with those who've asked me.

I will say that this family still can use prayers. They are getting a lot of negative feedback from the local liberals.

hittman has it right,, "No winners here."

I've known this family a long time. And I shared with them my feelings over the loss of a child. They appreciated my viewpoint. here it is;

When we lose an innocent child,, we often question why. We cry, we ask God what purpose could it be to take a child from us. But after the loss of a baby myself,, I was able to get through it by thinking; "Maybe somewhere in Heaven, there's a young mother that never got to raise her own child, and God chose my special child for his Angel to care for. Two Angels together."

When I read of the sudden loss of Snake's 5 month old,, I cried all over again. Losing a very young child hurts like nobody can understand unless it happens to you.
Sadly, I'm in that club of "been there, and it happened to me." NOT a club I would choose for anyone.

So, if you read this,, please send a soft prayer for this family. They are God loving people.

 

[Bullthrower338]

Very sad indeed, kids need to be taught from the very beginning that when handled improperly firearms are dangerous. I definitely was not born an exceptional child with a above average intellect. Dad had loaded guns in the truck and in the house, all three of us boys knew the result of touching one of them without permission. I taught my boys the same respect for them although I was less likely to leave a gun within reach of one of them, it still happened and my kids would come tell me when they found one sitting out but they wouldn’t touch it.
Treat every gun as if is loaded can’t start early enough.
Prayers for all affected by this tragedy, I couldn’t imagine the grief and guilt the boy feels.

 

[Dave P.]

No offense to those that do but I don't believe or pray.
The little girl is dead and the only possible remote sliver of good in it is that those of us who learned or read about it will maybe at some
point in the future think about it. Maybe we'll make a choice on how we secure a gun, maybe comment on someone else's choice that wasn't
too smart. I'm guilty at times of making a convenient decision that wasn't the best choice. Maybe I'll remember this story at some point in the future
to help with the unfailing discipline needed with loaded guns.
Humans make fatal mistakes every day, be best if we learn something from other's ultimate loss.

 

[eveled]

I have learned not to judge. I’ve made 1000 mistakes in my life that could have ended very badly. Luck plays a part in everything.
This young man made a poor choice and will have to live with it forever. There is no way to punish him anymore than he is punishing himself.

Prayers sent for all involved.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

Many of y'all will remember back right after Christmas about a good friend, who's little girl had accidentally shot herself in the head on Christmas day. She had gotten into her Dad's truck and found a gun, and shot herself. It was NOT her Dad's gun. She'd had an accident on her bike,, and was being taken home to be cleaned up. Initially the report had stated the gun was left behind and forgotten by a "close friend."

Well today,, they finally released many more details,,.

Until now, I was sworn to not release anything else I may have known.

Todays report came out. In it,, the District Attorney has stated, that while NC law does allow for criminal prosecution when an adult allows a child unauthorized access to a firearm,, no charges are to be filed. His words were; "Due to the extreme suffering that has taken place, no prosecution will be match the life long suffering here."
I won't go into all the details of what happened,, but it was truly an accident where the gun was actually in a holster, and stuck in a place where kids normally would not be. Yet,, the little girl was able to get it out, and shoot herself.
Tragically, the owner of the gun was her older, step brother.
I know this young man. And I know he loved his step sister. He actually has always been a very kind person, and I watched him grow up in my BSA Troop, earn Eagle, and is a leader type personality. Very well liked. He has been devastated by this.
With todays report,, some are upset that he's not being charged. But the local DA is a fair person, and knows that even if he got the maximum sentence, it would pale in comparison to what the family has suffered all around.
And despite all of it,, the Dad doesn't blame his son.
But the local FB liberals are screaming for charges. Luckily,, in a few weeks they'll have something else to whine about.

I know this is a tragedy. But many have asked about the outcome. As of today,, case closed.

Dad may not blame his son, but there should be a lot of discussion as to why an unsecured firearm was left in a vehicle. I do not care where you live, what state etc . You do not leave unsecured firearms in vehicles The glove box is not securing it! Nor is stuffing it behind the seat etc. IMHO

 

[Hvymax]

It's never too early to teach safe gun handling. When they're old enough for gun toys 2-3 they're old enough to start learning muzzle discipline and appropriate firearm rolls. Play combat is fine but when not engaged in "Combat" with willing participants discipline is to be exercised at all times. My kids grew up with softair and paintball guns and even had their Hunter Safety Certification at 8yrs old. Once my son shot his sister with a softair when she was doing something and I wore the gun out on him.( Plastic shatters pretty easily) It's never too early.