4 yr old Accidentally Shoots & Kills Army Special Forces Father

[RobertNashville]

"An Army Special Forces veteran who served in the Iraq War was accidentally shot and killed by his 4-year-old son in northern Arizona, police said."

 

 

When I read stories like this I don't even know what to say...how terribly sad and tragic for...well...for everyone.

 

 

 

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/06/08/4-year-old-boy-accidentally-shoot-and-kills-army-special-forces-father/

 

 

 

[leroy]

Very sad.  One life ended, another ruined.  Prayers for the family.

 

leroy

[RichardR]

Very tragic, I hate reading or hearing stories like this.

"Daddy what is this?" right before the gun went off bothered me a little, by the age of 4 all of my kids were familiar with what firearms were, how dangerous that they are if mishandled & instantly knew never to touch one without asking for permission first.

IMHO every single child who is old enough to know/understand what "dangerous" means should be taught about firearm safety, even if the parents are not gun-owners & have no plans of ever owning a gun.

And no I'm not blaming the parents, not at all, I am just upset that stuff like this happens seemingly all to often, when some of these incidents could be potentially avoided by properly educating young people instead of fear-mongering them into being curious about something which is what always happens when something, anything becomes .... "taboo".

[rhyfelwr]

Train a child up in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.  My 3 and 4 year old sons will not touch my guns unless I specifically tell them too. And they know what a gun will do, and they have a basic understanding of death. When you shoot a living thing its to kill it.

 

In other words, I have trained them in simple firearms safety.

 

Sad though.

[Patton]

Tragic but you know a child that is not taught what a firearm can do will pick one up, along with drugs, needles, snakes, and about a million other health hazards when not taught to respect them.

[vontar]

I hate to hear how the media will twist this.

[Erik88]

This is just horrible. When my brother brings his kids over(once a year  :shake: ) I always put my guns away. They have spent a lot of time around firearms but I'm still not taking any chances. It's just not worth it.

[rhyfelwr]

The only loaded firearms in my house are a single shot 12ga way up high, and if I am carrying my 1911, when my wife feels like a person at the door could be trouble she loads her .38 with a speed loader on hand. Usually the rule in our family is if you keep it loaded, it's with you personally.

[krunchnik]

The only loaded firearms in my house are a single shot 12ga way up high, and if I am carrying my 1911, when my wife feels like a person at the door could be trouble she loads her .38 with a speed loader on hand. Usually the rule in our family is if you keep it loaded, it's with you personally.

My sentiments exactly with the loaded firearm.

[Guest nra37922]

When company is over, all firearms are locked up when company is gone the loaded firearms are made readily available, if you know where to go, again.  Depending on who unexpectedly shows up it only takes a couple of minutes to retrieve them and lock up.  Course we don't have children running around either which would make a very big difference.

[TripleDigitRide]

As a responsible gun owner, I'm sick of reading stories like this. Whoever left the gun sitting around should be shot in the face.

[wipfel]

It sounds like he was...shot that is. I don't know if he was really the person that left the gun there but that would be my guess.

[runco]

Train a child up in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.  My 3 and 4 year old sons will not touch my guns unless I specifically tell them too. And they know what a gun will do, and they have a basic understanding of death. When you shoot a living thing its to kill it.

 

In other words, I have trained them in simple firearms safety.

 

Sad though.

That was how my parents raised me, and this is practiced with my kids today whom I have four under the age of 10, a 9, a 8, a 4 and a 1 yr old.

[Erik88]

It sounds like he was...shot that is. I don't know if he was really the person that left the gun there but that would be my guess.

 

Did you read the story? The gun didn't belong to the man who died. 

[wipfel]

Did you read the story? The gun didn't belong to the man who died. 

 

I did.  It was one of the breaking news stories and did not include that information.  

Edited June 9, 2013 by wipfel

[RobertNashville]

As a responsible gun owner, I'm sick of reading stories like this. Whoever left the gun sitting around should be shot in the face.

The story noted that the visit may have been unplanned...I know if someone just dropped by my house I'd have to go around and collect the firearms I have around since I purposely have at least one in each room that I can always get to in a hurry.

 

I'm not saying that gun shouldn't have been left/secured but I don't know that you can just say this is 100% carelessness on the part of the gun owner either.