Officials: Boy, 7, shot to death at Pa. gun store

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It does seem rather bizarre to me that the gun would be pointing into the backseat as the guy was putting it into the front console. Unless that is reported wrong, and the child was actually in a front seat. If it's a truck, it might not have a backseat.
 
This has been on our local newscasts, as this location is very near the Ohio line. Absolutely tragic and, as mentioned by so many already, very preventable.

When I learned to shoot, our training included the instructor checking to make sure the gun was empty, then handing it to each of us. We were then taught to recheck the gun and never assume the person who had it before had made sure it was empty. Even asking to see a gun for sale in the shop included the same routine.
 
cluciano63 said:
A 7-year old in a booster seat?
Click to expand...

Not very unusual due to the fact that the safety guidelines go by weight not age.
Some smaller children are in boosters a lot longer than larger children.

ETA: not really weight, but how they fit in a regulator seat.
Link in following post explains.
 
Sonya610 said:
Guns do not magically fire themselves. Firearms do not magically kill people, if you need to kill someone with a firearm it generally takes a bit of effort. If he was placing the firearm in the center console why did it fire? And why was the gun aimed towards the backseat?

Guns placed in consoles face forward as the driver wants to be able to grab the weapon quickly. Who places a gun backwards in a center console??? My hinky meter is going off. Was the father left handed? Would left handed people put the gun in the console facing towards the back seat?
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There's been different versions of what he did and I noticed that Blondie in Spokane's link above says he placed the gun ON the console when it 'went off' which is even more ridiculous if he really did that.

Being left handed should make no difference in following safety procedures. I'm a lefty and used to carry a gun long ago when I worked all hours of the night, and would have never put a gun on top of a console even for my own safety, what if it fell while you are driving and 'went off'? [at the time in Fl. the law was you had to lock a gun in the glove box and I did put mine there but didn't always lock it, but it was always on 'safety' and in the holster.] To me having to reach across and open a console would be awkward.


jjenny said:
It does seem rather bizarre to me that the gun would be pointing into the backseat as the guy was putting it into the front console. Unless that is reported wrong, and the child was actually in a front seat. If it's a truck, it might not have a backseat.
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I think this truck did have a back seat though that has been left out of some news accounts and it was also called a 'car'.

Don't know why the information is so hard to nail down by reporters or LE...maybe because the father was so upset when interviewed. I wish they would or could do a graphic or interactive on what exactly happened. But in any case, this should in no way have happened and was careless handling of the gun. I'm also wondering why the mother is never mentioned. Maybe the father has full custody or she is deceased?

The last article I posted last night quoted a coworker of the father saying the son 'was everything' to him so it's hard to think this was done deliberately. I think he just maybe was aggravated that he couldn't sell the gun and in a hurry to leave and just not thinking...but you cannot do that when handling a gun anywhere, especially around a child.
 
Reader said:
There's been different versions of what he did and I noticed that Blondie in Spokane's link above says he placed the gun ON the console when it 'went off' which is even more ridiculous if he really did that.

Being left handed should make no difference in following safety procedures. I'm a lefty and used to carry a gun long ago when I worked all hours of the night, and would have never put a gun on top of a console even for my own safety, what if it fell while you are driving and 'went off'? [at the time in Fl. the law was you had to lock a gun in the glove box and I did put mine there but didn't always lock it, but it was always on 'safety' and in the holster.] To me having to reach across and open a console would be awkward.

<respectfully snipped to address this>


.
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Not having a safety on the trigger is also of concern to me as well. Not only did he not check that there was no ammunition in the gun but obviously it discharged by itself when he set it on the console. Was he holding it by the trigger? Is the gun so easily fired that it went off by merely setting it down? If so, this was an accident waiting to happen as long as he's owned the gun. Sad that the little boy lost his life due to pure negligence.

:(

MOO
 
panthera said:
According to this article, the boy was buckling himself into a safety seat in the back seat, and the gun was placed on the the console when it went off. So the bottom line still is, WHY had the father NOT made sure there was no ammunition in the gun?

:mad:

MOO
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It would be impossible for the gun to go off just placed on the console and no one touching it. Father must have pulled the trigger. Guns can't miraculously fire themselves and kill people as someone upthread implied. Humans have to make them work. So either this father isn't been honest or all these reporters suck.

The only way a gun can fire without a human hand on it pulling the trigger is if it is an old gun that doesn't have internal safeties. Those guns triggers can be pulled by an object getting in the trigger and pulling it (which should never happen and is extremely negligent) or if it drops and fires (which is pretty rare and again shouldn't happen in this situation). All guns in the last few decades have internal safeties and this can't happen. A finger has to pull the trigger.
 
danzn16 said:
It would be impossible for the gun to go off just placed on the console and no one touching it. Father must have pulled the trigger. Guns can't miraculously fire themselves and kill people as someone upthread implied. Humans have to make them work. So either this father isn't been honest or all these reporters suck.

The only way a gun can fire without a human hand on it pulling the trigger is if it is an old gun that doesn't have internal safeties. Those guns triggers can be pulled by an object getting in the trigger and pulling it (which should never happen and is extremely negligent) or if it drops and fires (which is pretty rare and again shouldn't happen in this situation). All guns in the last few decades have internal safeties and this can't happen. A finger has to pull the trigger.
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Exactly! There has to be pressure applied to the trigger, and in some cases a lot of pressure. It is still beyond comprehension why it was even loaded in the first place.

MOO
 
panthera said:
Exactly! There has to be pressure applied to the trigger, and in some cases a lot of pressure. It is still beyond comprehension why it was even loaded in the first place.

MOO
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Well here most all gun shops have ranges inside the store. If someone were target practicing and forgot there was still one bullet left and it was chambered then it might not take much of a trigger pull to fire.

I have an older 9mm like that, first round requires some pressure, after the first round very little effort is required as the gun is ready and willing to keep firing.

If the gun was on top of the console then that was pretty stupid. As someone already mentioned newer models are modified so the firing pin can't strike if the weapon is dropped.
 
Oh gosh this is so sad :( I wonder if it being tossed into the console, the trigger could of hit something? My son is almost 8 and still in a booster seat. I think its by law to be a certain Height. I have a love/hate relationship with guns.
 
I don't understand why anyone would ever want or have a child near something that is designed for one purpose only: to kill.

Horrific. :cry:
 
It's up to the DA now regarding charges and there was video:

http://www.centurylink.net/news/read.php?id=19189853&ps=1011&cat=&cps=0&lang=en

Hermick said police are reviewing surveillance video from the store, which helped lay out the chain of events; the video is not being released.

"It is very clear-cut exactly what transpired here," Hermick said of what he called clearly an accident. "As he's laying it down, it discharges."..............

Hermick said the father was very distraught and cooperative; he said he doubts there will be charges, but that it's up to the district attorney. The father could face charges, including involuntary manslaughter, Hermick said.

"It's obviously negligent and reckless to some degree," he said. "It's obviously in that gray area, where it's a true accident. But is there negligence or recklessness with him not clearing the chamber?"
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More at link.....

BBM....Yes, IMO.....
 
:heartbeat: :praying: :heartbeat:

My heart and prayers go out to the father and other loved ones of this adorable little boy.
 
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