Another day, another Onion-esque headline. The clip you’re about to see is something that would have been hilarious on SNL about 30 years ago, as the ultimate extension of gun insanity in America. Today, it’s just one more story on the news, a week before a second grader took his parents loaded revolver to school to show it off, and a 15-year-old murdered four of his classmates and injured nine others.
Kids love to play with guns. I had my Annie Oakley costume and my six shooters that shot caps and smoked and I loved running around with them when I was a kid. There’s a big difference between that and the real thing. So you can’t blame the 2-year-old who was playing a game. Blame the father who left the loaded gun lying around where the kid could get it.
Now this happened in Missouri and so did the second grader taking the gun to school, which was reported two days ago.
A police spokesperson said the student found the gun in a lockbox under his parent’s bed and wanted to show it off. Police said they do not intend to seek charges due to the nature of the incident.
A statement from the school district reminded parents to check on any weapons in the home and secure them out of the reach of children.
“The safety and security of our children and staff are top priorities in our District and, it must always be our shared responsibility as a school community,” the statement said.
The incident was also reported to the Department of Family Services in accordance with the district’s procedure. An investigation is ongoing.
This also was reported in Missouri this week.
These people seem to have a lot of time on their hands and hate in their hearts, not a very good combo.
— Dawn's Double Vaxed & Still Masked (@viewsfordays) December 8, 2021
Here’s a similar work of art from 2019, one you’ll like better.
Guess who's been busy today mowing a stiff message for Trump under the Stansted flightpath… Please share and let's see how far we can spread the welcome!#climatechange #Trump #welcometrump pic.twitter.com/crnZo5rnDv
— born_eco (@born_eco) June 2, 2019
Maybe this will become a thing, gun locks at every library. “Oh honey, did you remember to lock the gun?” “No, damn it. I sure hope the babysitter’s still alive when we get home. Let’s enjoy the movie.”Â
Locked gun cases, and ammunition stored in a different lockbox. On the shelf in a closet, preferably.
No charges being filed over the school incident? That ought to really help matters; no punishment for committing crimes.
It will not be long before the G.Q.P. starts advocating for children bringing firearms to school. And yes, I do sincerely believe they are that stupid. Every damned one of them.
Kid is seven years old. What kind of charges would you make for someone who doesn’t have a clue about the danger? There are far better ways to teach a lesson, and the first is to fine parents for their carelessness. They are, after all, supposed to be the adults.
When I was very, very young I too had a cowboy getup complete with a cap pistol. You know when I stopped playing with the cap pistol? When my dad first allowed me to handle a REAL gun. His shotgun as he was cleaning it. That, and subsequent times he drilled gun safety into me, but the stern tone in his voice about guns being dangerous and having the proper respect for that fact was a watershed moment. No more playing with even toy guns. Any gun can be dangerous. Or get you killed. Don’t possess one unless you know how to use it. And practice with it regularly and clean it each time so that it becomes a familiar item to you. As for kids, even air guns can be dangerous and when teaching them make it clear that while THEY might know it’s an air gun (bb/pellet) someone else might not realize that. NO gun is a toy. We live in a very different country than when I was a tyke back in the early 1960s.
My dad had a pistol he kept in a drawer. He showed all of us kids where it was and he swore if we EVER touched it, he would “beat you to death”. Literal quote. NONE of us EVER touched it until his death.
Today’s air guns are NOT toys, and all of the same rules of safety that apply to firearms also apply to air guns! As air guns, pellet guns especially have become more and more powerful, they have also become more and more dangerous if misused. Today’s pellet guns can severely injure or kill, especially at close range!
And outside the gun-obssessed USA, the rest of the world shakes their heads.
I grew up around guns and would never dream of touching any one of them. When I would visit my aunt, she would tell me that my uncle had a pistol under the recliner, don’t bother it. What did I do? I didn’t bother it. I shake my head at how the world has changed. Yes, I’m old.
My dad was a police officer way back in the 40s, and with all the safety measures, including showing his unloaded service weapon to my mom, after he reloaded it, she managed to get one off right into the wall of our house. She hadn’t seen him reload. My brother did the same thing when he was about 14. When we were alone one night, he looked around until he found the pistol and managed to fire one into another wall. Don’t know what the neighbors must have thought. But after that, he never touched that gun again. We were lucky that no one was hurt. I have fired weapons only when required to do so in the military and wouldn’t have one in the house.