GA - Mitchell 'DJ' Maxwell, 11, shot to death, Waycross, 20 Nov 2009

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noZme

noZme

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Waycross GA

11 year old accidently shoots his best buddy with a .177 caliber pellet gun. 12 year old dies from punctured aorta.

The boy who died was at a sleepover at his friend's house, the son of his football coach. The shooting occurred as the boys played Call of Duty 4, a video game in which the player looks down the barrel of a rifle.....( What the hell kind of game is that? )

"The three boys were playing a PlayStation 3 video game when one of the boys picked up what he thought was an unloaded pellet rifle and pretended to shoot it, then handed it to a 12-year-old who apparently shot Maxwell in the chest from point-blank range. After trying to stop the bleeding themselves, the children notified two adults watching television in the next room that Maxwell was hurt, but did not immediately say he had been shot. This begs the question of why this gun was lying around carelessly for a child to find? The 12-year old child that fired the gun is old enough to know that was dangerous and you shouldn't play with guns, period."


http://www.ajc.com/news/family-s-grief-spills-213789.html?imw=Y


http://blackpoliticalthought.blogspot.com/2009/11/mitchell-dj-maxwell-11-shot-killed-with.html

http://www.news4jax.com/news/21694555/detail.html
 
I think this is the first time i've heard of anyone being killed with an air rifle (pellet gun, bb gun). There is probably a lot of misconception out there that air rifles can't kill people.
Regardless, kids should know better than to point them at people, loaded or not.
They could always make an example out of the boy who shot him and charge him with manslaughter.
Now i'm wondering if there are any statistics about deaths involving air rifles or pellet guns..
 
Looks down the barrel of a rifle - that's kind of standard in shoot em up video games.

Kids should not have unsupervised access to any type of gun unless it's a nerf gun or a squirt gun.
 
As a gun owner who has been shooting since he was a kid and owned my own since I was 16, I am appalled that guns are used as toys. My kids do not now and will never have toy guns, although they are always welcome to come with me the the range and shoot real ones.

Making a "toy" gun and telling kids it's OK to point it at each other does not teach proper respect for firearms. Air rifles like the one in the story are not considered firearms, and this is not the first time someone has been killed by one.

Sorry for the rant, it's a pet peeve of mine. I've got 3 handguns, a shotgun and a semiautomatic rifle, and nobody in my house ever picks them up or plays with them like they are toys.
Click to expand...

We've got firearms in our home, too. When my boys were little, we did just like you: no toy guns. My boys made "guns" out of twigs and legos, but at least there was no resemblance to the real thing and they couldn't accidentally shoot each other.

I've seen kids playing with such realistic toy guns that if the tip of the barrel wasn't orange, I'd think they had a real weapon. Kids who play with such realistic weapons surely could pick up the real deal one day and not even realize it IS the real deal.

This kid probably owned the air gun, or perhaps an older sibling. There is a conception out amongst the public that these are toys, even though the packaging is clearly marked "NOT A TOY" and you must be an adult to purchase one. I hear every once in awhile of a kid who hurt himself or a friend while playing with air guns, although I'll admit this is the first time I've heard of a child being killed with one.
 
I read that story too. It is so sad. We're not really a gun family, and I don't know the difference between an air gun or a pellet gun or a bb gun, but I need to study up!

My boys love toy guns and we've got loads of those and they've never bothered me. They have both been using guns and learning about gun safety and marksmanship in Boy Scouts, and they have asked for bb guns for Christmas.
 
I have had guns in the house all my life. My dad, brother, husband & son are all hunters. Many guns were there when I was growing up, but they weren't accessable. I own a pistol & enjoy target shooting & sometimes shoot skeet. My dad taught me how to handle guns & I have attended classes. My son was drilled with respect for firearms & took hunter safety & other classes. Mr noZ collects & has about a hundred various guns in safes & a locked closet.

I love guns but am freaked out than some parents aren't even aware their kids have guns & are walking around town with "loaded" pockets. And I am appalled at the gameswhich involve shooting at people. In this particular case, I don't know whether the sons were allowed to play with the pellet gun or had it without permission. By all accounts, they appear to be loving, involved parents. A moment of poor judgement took the life of one child & cast a pall on the lives of the others. If he had been hit on the leg, shoulder or somewhere else, Little Max would be fine. Instead he was hit in the worst possible spot, his aorta punctured & now he is dead. It's so incredibly sad.

When my son was about 9 or 10, he came running indoors to tell a neighbor was shooting at wild birds & squirrels. I intervened, took the air-rifle & called his mom. She thought I over-reacted because it wasn't a real gun. I informed her, our city is a bird sanctuary & not even bb guns are legal. She thought I was a kook & I had the same idea about her..... I don't have time to look up the statistics right now, but bb & pellet guns do injure, maim & kill.

I remember an actor dying on a movie set after being hit in the temple with the burst of air from an air gun. Who was that?
 
noZme said:
I have had guns in the house all my life. My dad, brother, husband & son are all hunters. Many guns were there when I was growing up, but they weren't accessable. I own a pistol & enjoy target shooting & sometimes shoot skeet. My dad taught me how to handle guns & I have attended classes. My son was drilled with respect for firearms & took hunter safety & other classes. Mr noZ collects & has about a hundred various guns in safes & a locked closet.

I love guns but am freaked out than some parents aren't even aware their kids have guns & are walking around town with "loaded" pockets. And I am appalled at the gameswhich involve shooting at people. In this particular case, I don't know whether the sons were allowed to play with the pellet gun or had it without permission. By all accounts, they appear to be loving, involved parents. A moment of poor judgement took the life of one child & cast a pall on the lives of the others. If he had been hit on the leg, shoulder or somewhere else, Little Max would be fine. Instead he was hit in the worst possible spot, his aorta punctured & now he is dead. It's so incredibly sad.

When my son was about 9 or 10, he came running indoors to tell a neighbor was shooting at wild birds & squirrels. I intervened, took the air-rifle & called his mom. She thought I over-reacted because it wasn't a real gun. I informed her, our city is a bird sanctuary & not even bb guns are legal. She thought I was a kook & I had the same idea about her..... I don't have time to look up the statistics right now, but bb & pellet guns do injure, maim & kill.

I remember an actor dying on a movie set after being hit in the temple with the burst of air from an air gun. Who was that?
Click to expand...

I believe that you may be thinking of the death of Jon-Erik Hexum caused by a "blank" load in a gun.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0382149/bio

On October 12th, 1984 after a long and draining day's shooting on the set of Cover Up (1984) (TV), Hexum became bored with the extensive delays and jokingly put a prop .44 magnum revolver to his temple and pulled the trigger. The gun fired, and the wadding from the blank cartridge shattered his skull, whereupon the mortally injured Hexum was rushed via ambulance to hospital to undergo extensive surgery. Despite five hours of work, the chief surgeon Dr David Ditsworth, described the damage to Hexum's brain as life ending, and one week later on October 18th, he was taken off life support and pronounced dead.
 
Melly53 said:
I believe that you may be thinking of the death of Jon-Erik Hexum caused by a "blank" load in a gun.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0382149/bio

On October 12th, 1984 after a long and draining day's shooting on the set of Cover Up (1984) (TV), Hexum became bored with the extensive delays and jokingly put a prop .44 magnum revolver to his temple and pulled the trigger. The gun fired, and the wadding from the blank cartridge shattered his skull, whereupon the mortally injured Hexum was rushed via ambulance to hospital to undergo extensive surgery. Despite five hours of work, the chief surgeon Dr David Ditsworth, described the damage to Hexum's brain as life ending, and one week later on October 18th, he was taken off life support and pronounced dead.
Click to expand...

Also, Brandon Lee in 1994's The Crow - who took a dummy bullet to his stomach.

I appreciate this discussion very much as BB guns may be coming into our lives this Christmas.
 
southcitymom said:
I appreciate this discussion very much as BB guns may be coming into our lives this Christmas.
Click to expand...


At your boys ages & in your home, I think BB guns are a good introduction to firearms. There is no doubt dangers will be explained & supervision tight. Shooting tin cans & paper targets is fun, teaches many life lessons & paves the way for handling "real" guns should they choose to become hunters (& slaughter beautiful, defenseless ducks, quail & deer, like my guys).

I bet for every bb gun that comes into a responsible home, there are 2 that are given to kids with only a warning "Here's the toy you wanted, be careful". Frightening, huh?
 
My son plays that game call of duty and now I will be looking deeper into the game. He knows to never touch a gun and does not have a bebe gun either but you just never know.
 
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