3-year-old Michigan boy kills self with gun he finds in bedroom closet

[dead0man]

What I really want to know is....do our gun control fetishists get a full on erection when they read stories like this or just a semi?

[barfbag]

Just goes to disprove the idiotic rhetoric of the NRA.  Guns are on the whole a huge negative for public safety.  The situations where a gun makes someone safer are outnumbered by orders of magnitude by these types of accidents and pointless gun violence.

Then we HAVE TO ban cars because they cause D.U.I.'s and forks must be constitutionally banned because they make people fat. There's just no way around it.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Just goes to disprove the idiotic rhetoric of the NRA.  Guns are on the whole a huge negative for public safety.  The situations where a gun makes someone safer are outnumbered by orders of magnitude by these types of accidents and pointless gun violence.

Then we HAVE TO ban cars because they cause D.U.I.'s and forks must be constitutionally banned because they make people fat. There's just no way around it.

The main difference there is that cars and forks aren't really killing machines designed for no purpose but to wound and kill.

[barfbag]

Just goes to disprove the idiotic rhetoric of the NRA.  Guns are on the whole a huge negative for public safety.  The situations where a gun makes someone safer are outnumbered by orders of magnitude by these types of accidents and pointless gun violence.

Then we HAVE TO ban cars because they cause D.U.I.'s and forks must be constitutionally banned because they make people fat. There's just no way around it.

The main difference there is that cars and forks aren't really killing machines designed for no purpose but to wound and kill.

When someone breaks into your home or threatens you, it's not a bad idea. Let's say your year old daughter goes out on a date. Wouldn't you feel safer knowing she has a means of defending herself? I'd rather this than her call the government to come rescue her.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Someday, american parents will be as enlightened as Austrian ones and put their sh**t away properly.

Or maybe they won't have such dangerous sh**t around, but I guess I am just dreaming at this point.

If by around, you mean at home when there are 3 year olds there, hell yeah, I agree!  My nephew is visiting for the week....he's 9.   There ar no guns in my house now.  When he leaves, I'll bring one back from my office.

[Torie]

Just goes to disprove the idiotic rhetoric of the NRA.  Guns are on the whole a huge negative for public safety.  The situations where a gun makes someone safer are outnumbered by orders of magnitude by these types of accidents and pointless gun violence.

Then we HAVE TO ban cars because they cause D.U.I.'s and forks must be constitutionally banned because they make people fat. There's just no way around it.

The main difference there is that cars and forks aren't really killing machines designed for no purpose but to wound and kill.

When someone breaks into your home or threatens you, it's not a bad idea. Let's say your year old daughter goes out on a date. Wouldn't you feel safer knowing she has a means of defending herself? I'd rather this than her call the government to come rescue her.

You would want your daughter to carry a gun when she goes on dates? Really?  I find that quite insane myself. And what would the guy think? And if he goes "too far," would she pull out the gun?

[Iosif]

Just goes to disprove the idiotic rhetoric of the NRA.  Guns are on the whole a huge negative for public safety.  The situations where a gun makes someone safer are outnumbered by orders of magnitude by these types of accidents and pointless gun violence.

Then we HAVE TO ban cars because they cause D.U.I.'s and forks must be constitutionally banned because they make people fat. There's just no way around it.

The main difference there is that cars and forks aren't really killing machines designed for no purpose but to wound and kill.

When someone breaks into your home or threatens you, it's not a bad idea. Let's say your year old daughter goes out on a date. Wouldn't you feel safer knowing she has a means of defending herself? I'd rather this than her call the government to come rescue her.

You're going to give your daughter a gun to take on her first date?

[bedstuy]

Just goes to disprove the idiotic rhetoric of the NRA.  Guns are on the whole a huge negative for public safety.  The situations where a gun makes someone safer are outnumbered by orders of magnitude by these types of accidents and pointless gun violence.

Then we HAVE TO ban cars because they cause D.U.I.'s and forks must be constitutionally banned because they make people fat. There's just no way around it.

Did I say we should ban guns?  I think guns should be legal, but regulated so we mitigate the inherent danger they pose. 

[Sbane]

Someday, american parents will be as enlightened as Austrian ones and put their sh**t away properly.

Or maybe they won't have such dangerous sh**t around, but I guess I am just dreaming at this point.

If by around, you mean at home when there are 3 year olds there, hell yeah, I agree!  My nephew is visiting for the week....he's 9.   There ar no guns in my house now.  When he leaves, I'll bring one back from my office.

Yup, that's what I meant. These are dangerous things and people need to take responsibility and take care of them properly, especially when kids are around. I fear the celebration of guns has made people less likely to take such precautions.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Someday, american parents will be as enlightened as Austrian ones and put their sh**t away properly.

Or maybe they won't have such dangerous sh**t around, but I guess I am just dreaming at this point.

If by around, you mean at home when there are 3 year olds there, hell yeah, I agree!  My nephew is visiting for the week....he's 9.   There ar no guns in my house now.  When he leaves, I'll bring one back from my office.

Yup, that's what I meant. These are dangerous things and people need to take responsibility and take care of them properly, especially when kids are around. I fear the celebration of guns has made people less likely to take such precautions.

No doubt.  It's hard supporting very liberal gun policies when you have splendid examples of irresponsible assholes constantly being themselves.   

[Indy Texas]

Which is why we have childproof bottlecaps, playground carpeted with soft bark and hard foam, and crossing guards/school zones/crosswalks.

But requiring guns to have trigger locks is the first step on the road to tyranny.

But why make locks a law? Leaving a dangerous object in a child's reach is reckless. Laws aren't going to make accidents go away.

So it's okay for a parent to leave a bottle of antifreeze sitting open on the counter because if a kid mistakes it for Kool-Aid, oh well, accidents happen?

Would it be ok to exploit that accident to try to ban, or restrict, antifreeze?

I agree with you that the issue here is the negligence, not the gun.

The problem is that we don't punish negligence enough. The parent and the owner of the gun should be going to prison for several years for manslaughter. If people understood that those were the consequences they could possibly face, they may be more careful.

[barfbag]

Just goes to disprove the idiotic rhetoric of the NRA.  Guns are on the whole a huge negative for public safety.  The situations where a gun makes someone safer are outnumbered by orders of magnitude by these types of accidents and pointless gun violence.

Then we HAVE TO ban cars because they cause D.U.I.'s and forks must be constitutionally banned because they make people fat. There's just no way around it.

The main difference there is that cars and forks aren't really killing machines designed for no purpose but to wound and kill.

When someone breaks into your home or threatens you, it's not a bad idea. Let's say your year old daughter goes out on a date. Wouldn't you feel safer knowing she has a means of defending herself? I'd rather this than her call the government to come rescue her.

You're going to give your daughter a gun to take on her first date?

No but I would feel comfortable if she had one when she was old enough.

[barfbag]

Just goes to disprove the idiotic rhetoric of the NRA.  Guns are on the whole a huge negative for public safety.  The situations where a gun makes someone safer are outnumbered by orders of magnitude by these types of accidents and pointless gun violence.

Then we HAVE TO ban cars because they cause D.U.I.'s and forks must be constitutionally banned because they make people fat. There's just no way around it.

Did I say we should ban guns?  I think guns should be legal, but regulated so we mitigate the inherent danger they pose. 

Sorry I was skeptical. The left seems very selective when it comes to guns.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Noooo, but the US doesn't have a weapons problem ...

That's the necessary price to pay for FREEDOM, Tender.

[politicallefty]

The NRA opposes mandatory safety locks on guns, which is something I cannot understand in the least bit. There are far too many stories like these happening. In any event, I think the parents should be brought up on charges of negligent homicide. If you choose to own a firearm, you also have the responsibility of ensuring that children do not have access.

[John Dibble]

The family friend who owned the gun left it in reach of a child even though he knew the child was living there. It was loaded, bullet in the chamber, safety off. Charge him with gross negligence or something equivalent.

[DC Al Fine]

The family friend who owned the gun left it in reach of a child even though he knew the child was living there. It was loaded, bullet in the chamber, safety off. Charge him with gross negligence or something equivalent.

This is the correct offence IMO.

[barfbag]

The NRA opposes mandatory safety locks on guns, which is something I cannot understand in the least bit. There are far too many stories like these happening. In any event, I think the parents should be brought up on charges of negligent homicide. If you choose to own a firearm, you also have the responsibility of ensuring that children do not have access.

How to gangs and thugs from the streets feel about safety locks on guns? Are they in line with the NRA? What about the killing culture going on in low income communities where gangs celebrate the number of people they kill? Where are our leaders on this? I agree children shouldn't have access to firearms and the parents were irresponsible, but to nationalize this as the left did with Trayvon Martin is absurd. His parents are idiots.