Boy Who Killed Girl Over Puppies Used Gun in Closet

[Nithavela]

http://www.newser.com/story/214132/boy-who-killed-over-puppy-found-gun-in-closet-cops.html

An 11-year-old boy accused of fatally shooting his 8-year-old neighbor when she refused to show him her puppies got the 12-gauge shotgun used in the shooting from an unlocked closet in his mobile home in White Pine, Tenn., police say. Jefferson County Sheriff Bud McCoig tells the Washington Post the gun belonged to the boy's father. A neighbor tells WBIR that MaKayla Dyer, 8, was playing outside with neighbors around 7:30pm on Saturday when the pair began speaking through an open window of the boy's home. "He asked the little girl to see her puppies. She said no and laughed and then turned around, looked at her friend, and said, 'Let's go get the—' and never got 'puppies' out." McCoig says the boy "retrieved a gun" and shot MaKayla through the window, before throwing the gun outside.

Emergency personnel found MaKayla, who lived nearby with her mother and older siblings, "lying on the ground with a gunshot to the chest," McCoig says. When the boy's mother was told what happened, "she slammed the door, locked it, and we never seen her after that," the neighbor adds, per the Guardian. MaKayla's mother, meanwhile, says the boy had a history of "just being mean to her. I had to go to the principal about him, and then he quit for a while." The superintendent of a juvenile detention center says the "very tiny" boy, who weighs about 55 pounds, is being kept in a regular "pod" with other juveniles aged 12 to 17 until a hearing Oct. 28, reports CNN. He's the youngest person to be held there on a murder charge during the superintendent's 44-year career. "It is the most pitiful case on both sides," he says. Meanwhile, a heart-wrenching photo on Twitter shows one of MaKayla's puppies on her porch, apparently waiting for her to come home.

 

[Aldebaran]

http://www.newser.com/story/214132/boy-who-killed-over-puppy-found-gun-in-closet-cops.html

Ok. Your point being.....?

 

[Nithavela]

My point is that an 11 year old boy shot a 8 year old girl with a gun he was able to take out of a closet.

 

[98cwitr]

Repost: http://www.christianforums.com/thre...-by-father-now-in-trouble-father-not.7911556/

 

[GoldenBoy89]

Ok. Your point being.....?

Annnnd... this is what's wrong with America.

 

[Aldebaran]

Annnnd... this is what's wrong with America.

I wasn't aware that the actions of a 12 year old define what is right or wrong about a country.

 

[GoldenBoy89]

I wasn't aware that the actions of a 12 year old define what is right or wrong about a country.

They point to a much deeper problem.

 

[ToddNotTodd]

I wasn't aware that the actions of a 12 year old define what is right or wrong about a country.

This is the news and current events forum. It's for reporting... news and current events.

Which is what this is...

 

[Aldebaran]

They point to a much deeper problem.

Well, if someone (either you or the OP) would tell us what that deeper problem is, then we can discuss it.

 

[Aldebaran]

This is the news and current events forum. It's for reporting... news and current events.

Which is what this is...

I was under the impression that it was for discussing those events. The news outlets already report them. Simply reposting them here would be for the purpose of discussing them.

 

[Vylo]

Well, if someone (either you or the OP) would tell us what that deeper problem is, then we can discuss it.

I think the issue is idiots leaving guns where kids can get to them.

 

[Nithavela]

Okay, if you want my opinion on this...

The problem is that weapons are not kept out of unsupervised childrens hands. Guns should be kept in a safe, unloaded, while the ammunition should be kept in a second safe, and the location of both safe keys should be different and kept secret from any child in the household.

Also, sorry for the story repost, I was not aware that it had already been posted. I would be okay with this thread being deleted.

 

[Aldebaran]

Okay, if you want my opinion on this...

The problem is that weapons are not kept out of unsupervised childrens hands. Guns should be kept in a safe, unloaded, while the ammunition should be kept in a second safe, and the location of both safe keys should be different and kept secret from any child in the household.

Also, sorry for the story repost, I was not aware that it had already been posted. I would be okay with this thread being deleted.

How about keeping a loaded firearm in a personalized safe where the owner could actually use it if needed? Or how about teaching the child basic gun safety?

 

[Vylo]

How about keeping a loaded firearm in a personalized safe where the owner could actually use it if needed? Or how about teaching the child basic gun safety?

Its fine to teach them safety, but children should not have access to guns at such an early age. It often ends quite badly.

 

[Nithavela]

1 would still be better than keeping it in the open.

2 doesn't work for children at that age. You can "gun safety train" them as much as you want, some of them still go for the gun as soon as they are out of an adults eyes and start messing around with them. And this goes doubly so for a case like this, where a child actually used the gun with the intent to harm (if not kill).

 

[Aldebaran]

Its fine to teach them safety, but children should not have access to guns at such an early age. It often ends quite badly.

It can. But I think maturity level and earned trust play more of a role in whether a person of that age plays more of a role than age itself. There are plenty of people well into adulthood I would be less comfortable having a gun than some teenagers.

 

[pgp_protector]

I think the issue is idiots leaving guns where kids can get to them.

I had access to guns and ammo when I was a kid, was bullied to boot.
I don't recall ever shooting anyone though.
Wish I knew I could of just blamed it on the guns.

 

[Aldebaran]

1 would still be better than keeping it in the open.

2 doesn't work for children at that age. You can "gun safety train" them as much as you want, some of them still go for the gun as soon as they are out of an adults eyes and start messing around with them. And this goes doubly so for a case like this, where a child actually used the gun with the intent to harm (if not kill).

I guess it all comes down to the individual. Plenty of parents have taught their children how to use a firearm (properly), and the child doesn't start messing with the gun as soon as the parent is not around. There have even been cases where a teenager was home and used the firearm to successfully defend the home against home invaders who had broken in. But like I said, it's still an "individual basis" thing.

 

[Vylo]

I had access to guns and ammo when I was a kid, was bullied to boot.
I don't recall ever shooting anyone though.
Wish I knew I could of just blamed it on the guns.

That doesn't mean we should be risking it. Kids are exponentially more likely to make poor choices.

 

[Aldebaran]

That doesn't mean we should be risking it. Kids are exponentially more likely to make poor choices.

That's why they need parents to guide them at that stage in their life. Those who don't are doing a disservice to their children and everyone else, which is why they are ultimately responsible for the actions of their children.