Justin Stanfield Thomas Shot, Killed Accidentally By 4-Year-Old Son In Arizona

[Old Rocks]

My understanding was the father and son were visiting someone. That someone had a loaded firearm that the kid found. The father did nothing wrong. The owner of the gun DID.

The careless handling of firearms by the general public is one of the reasons that we will see some gun control laws passed in this nation in the near future. Just too many stories like this. Seems to be a weekly occurance. Most of the time it is a child killing a child with a gun carelessly stored.

Anyone that owns a gun should be liable for all damages done with that gun if they store it carelessly. And criminal charges should be brought in cases like this.

 

[Old Rocks]

Less then 1000 accidental deaths occur a year due to firearms. But we should ban all guns from 100's of millions cause of that.

100s of millions? There are 300 million people living in the US today. are you trying to claim that every man, woman and child in the US is currently armed?

Gun deaths to surpass traffic fatalities by 2015, data indicate | Nation & World | The Seattle Times

ATLANTA — By 2015, firearm fatalities probably will exceed traffic fatalities for the first time, based on data compiled by Bloomberg. While motor-vehicle deaths dropped 22 percent from 2005 to 2010, gun fatalities are rising again after a low point in 2000, according to the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Shooting deaths in 2015 probably will rise to almost 33,000, and those related to autos will decline to about 32,000, based on the 10-year average trend.

The fall in traffic deaths resulted from safer vehicles, restricted privileges for young drivers and seat-belt and other laws, said Garen Wintemute, director of the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California, Davis.

By contrast, “we’ve made policy decisions that have had the impact of making the widest array of firearms available to the widest array of people under the widest array of conditions.” While fewer households have guns, people who own guns are buying more of them, he said.

About 85 Americans are shot dead daily, 53 of them suicides. Every day, one of those killed by firearms is 14 or younger. Of the total, the CDC data show, 16 are between the ages of 15 and 24, mostly homicide victims. Wintemute said more than 200 people go to U.S. emergency rooms every day with gunshot wounds.

No, nobody is trying to ban everybody from having guns. But we need some sanity in our gun laws.

Any weapon that can fire 30 rounds in under ten seconds is a weapon of war, and who can have one in a public setting should be tightly controlled. You should be required to have the same license for that firearm as for a fully automatic weapon. If you do not have that license, and are caught off your property with that weapon, you should be charged with a felony, and the gun confiscated and destroyed.

In order to buy such a weapon, you would be required to have said license. Anyone selling anybody else such a weapon, and that person has not a license, both should be charged with a felony.

You store your gun carelessly, it is taken and used in a crime, you own that crime, and will stand on the docket with the criminal, facing equal charges.

 

[Rozman]

I wonder how many Libs here would want to be the first to tell the kid he shot and killed his Dad?

 

[Dugdale_Jukes]

No crime was committed.

An urban jury might convict for a crime. Not much integrity or commitment to law in urban America.

But it isn't likely many rural juries would convict a home owner for the irresponsible parenting of a visitor.

 

[Noomi]

Less then 1000 accidental deaths occur a year due to firearms. But we should ban all guns from 100's of millions cause of that.

This death was NOT an accident. It was entirely preventable.

 

[Noomi]

Less then 1000 accidental deaths occur a year due to firearms. But we should ban all guns from 100's of millions cause of that.

100s of millions? There are 300 million people living in the US today. are you trying to claim that every man, woman and child in the US is currently armed?

Take away all the people who died in a single vehicle accident from those numbers, and include only those road deaths who died, or were killed by a drunk or drugged driver, speeding driver, or a texting driver.

 

[tjvh]

The owner of the gun should be charged with manslaughter.

Do we charge owners of pools when the neighbors kids drown in them? Which of course happens much more often.

 

[tjvh]

Less then 1000 accidental deaths occur a year due to firearms. But we should ban all guns from 100's of millions cause of that.

This death was NOT an accident. It was entirely preventable.

Preventable? Every death that comes from accidents are preventable, banning the things that cause death would force everyone to live in a rubber room. How many people's deaths from toasters could have been prevented?

 

[Noomi]

Less then 1000 accidental deaths occur a year due to firearms. But we should ban all guns from 100's of millions cause of that.

This death was NOT an accident. It was entirely preventable.

Preventable? Every death that comes from accidents are preventable, banning the things that cause death would force everyone to live in a rubber room. How many people's deaths from toasters could have been prevented?

I take it think it acceptable to leave a loaded gun around the house, knowing a child could find it?

 

[tjvh]

This death was NOT an accident. It was entirely preventable.

Preventable? Every death that comes from accidents are preventable, banning the things that cause death would force everyone to live in a rubber room. How many people's deaths from toasters could have been prevented?

I take it think it acceptable to leave a loaded gun around the house, knowing a child could find it?

No different than leaving a toaster plugged in with a butter knife laying next to it where children are concerned. Do us a favor and let rational thinking take precedence over your emotions just once.

 

[Noomi]

Preventable? Every death that comes from accidents are preventable, banning the things that cause death would force everyone to live in a rubber room. How many people's deaths from toasters could have been prevented?

I take it think it acceptable to leave a loaded gun around the house, knowing a child could find it?

No different than leaving a toaster plugged in with a butter knife laying next to it where children are concerned. Do us a favor and let rational thinking take precedence over your emotions just once.

Adults need to supervise their kids. This adult failed to supervise a child in his own home. He needs to pay.

 

[Franticfrank]

I take it think it acceptable to leave a loaded gun around the house, knowing a child could find it?

No different than leaving a toaster plugged in with a butter knife laying next to it where children are concerned. Do us a favor and let rational thinking take precedence over your emotions just once.

Adults need to supervise their kids. This adult failed to supervise a child in his own home. He needs to pay.

Death is a very high price to pay. Comparing this incident to leaving a knife next to toaster is ridiculous. Kids are more likely to go for a gun and attempt to shoot. You just can't justify leaving a loaded gun in your sitting room when children are around. Very sad story.

 

[Dugdale_Jukes]

My understanding was the father and son were visiting someone. That someone had a loaded firearm that the kid found. The father did nothing wrong. The owner of the gun DID.

The careless handling of firearms by the general public is one of the reasons that we will see some gun control laws passed in this nation in the near future. Just too many stories like this. Seems to be a weekly occurance. Most of the time it is a child killing a child with a gun carelessly stored.

Anyone that owns a gun should be liable for all damages done with that gun if they store it carelessly. And criminal charges should be brought in cases like this.

No crime was committed and of course no charges should be brought because some halfwit couldn't keep track of his kid.

But you are onto something here. Obamacare is the first shot in the war against guns. Next will be mandatory insurance and a back door registry. The government will create a new class of criminal doing that, but they will do it, probably by 2020.

 

[Star]

No different than leaving a toaster plugged in with a butter knife laying next to it where children are concerned. Do us a favor and let rational thinking take precedence over your emotions just once.

Adults need to supervise their kids. This adult failed to supervise a child in his own home. He needs to pay.

Death is a very high price to pay. Comparing this incident to leaving a knife next to toaster is ridiculous. Kids are more likely to go for a gun and attempt to shoot. You just can't justify leaving a loaded gun in your sitting room when children are around. Very sad story.

It's not likely any charges will be filed in this case but the point of this thread is to discuss the question, why aren't any charges being filed? Even within the shrinking gun culture community, gun safety experts are saying...

[police Sgt] Bonney said the case raises questions about how weapons should be stored in the home even when there are no children present.

"We're still responsible for our weapons," Bonney said. "But do we require people to lock them up all the time no matter what, which might defeat the purpose of home defense?"

Larry Kolontar, owner of Common Sense Firearms Training in Des Moines, Iowa, said the issue isn't about whether children are present inside the home. It's about control of your weapon at all times.

"If it's not on you or in a secured location, out of reach and hidden, it needs to be locked up," said Kolontar, who teaches firearms safety. "This is a very sad, horrible situation, but it's one of those things that could have been avoided if the owner would have taken a little more responsibility and secured the weapon."

Prescott Valley police Sgt. Brandon Bonney says Monday that Thomas and his son had traveled from Phoenix to a friend's home in Prescott Valley for a surprise visit when the boy found a loaded gun, asked a question about it and pulled the trigger.

Bonney says investigators are trying to determine whether the tenant had a reasonable amount of time to secure the weapon.

No children lived in the house.
Firearms experts say owning weapons carries a certain responsibility and that young children should be taught to avoid handling them.

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[Noomi]

No different than leaving a toaster plugged in with a butter knife laying next to it where children are concerned. Do us a favor and let rational thinking take precedence over your emotions just once.

Adults need to supervise their kids. This adult failed to supervise a child in his own home. He needs to pay.

Death is a very high price to pay. Comparing this incident to leaving a knife next to toaster is ridiculous. Kids are more likely to go for a gun and attempt to shoot. You just can't justify leaving a loaded gun in your sitting room when children are around. Very sad story.

That is what I said - it has nothing to do with leaving a knife beside a toaster.