Kids-N-Guns

"Kids hunting for squirrels wing truck triver" Yep, that's one of the headlines in our local paper today. Apparently a two kids got hold of a .22 caliper rifle and decided to go squirrel hunting...NEXT TO THE HIGHWAY! Since the 11 and 12 year old don't have to sense to not shoot towards a highway and TRAFFIC, the truck driver was shot in the arm as he drove down the road.

Ummm...question. WHERE ARE THE PARENTS AND WHY DO THE KIDS HAVE ACCESS TO THE GUN? Why does it seem that whenever an incident like this happens you'll find parents saying something like, "Johnny had been taught how to use a gun. He went to gun safety classes! He's always been very responsible with it. We just don't understand how this happened."

I know how. Because Johnny is NOT responsible. If Johnny was responsible, when he and his friend thought up they idea Johnny would have said, "No, I'm not supposed to use the gun if Mom and Dad aren't home." If Johnny's parents were responsible they would have had the gun locked up in such a way that Johnny couldn't get his hands on it.

I understand that hunters have guns around, especially this time of year. We have hunting rifles around too, but guess what? They're locked up, and the ammo is locked up somewhere else. Kids do stupid stuff, because that's just part of their nature. (I say this as memories come flooding back of having a "shootout" over a pond using bb guns, and my friend's little brother falling into the pond in what we thought was a fake injury. Turns out he wasn't faking. Good thing it was only a bb guy. But..you know...bb guys are "safe".)

Back to Johnny. Mom and dad, until your kid turns 18 it's up to you to keep him alive. Having guns around where your kid has access to them means you're not exactly doing your job. It's also your job to teach him right from wrong. Yeah, this time Johnny was just hunting for squirrels, but apparently the training he had wasn't enough because he didn't remember any of it. What if this particular Johnny had some kids at school he didn't particularly like? What if this particular Johnny was walking through a field looking for squirrel and tripped, shooting his friend?

There are all kinds of "what-if's" here. What if that trucker had been injured worse and his truck took several other cars with him? Sorry, but my daughter was just in a HUGE semi crash a month ago that was caused by someone else doing something intentionally. I don't have much understanding for something like this. I can't wait to hear what the parents have to say about this, because I have all kinds of images of the families developing in my mind, and I hope I'm wrong about them!