“In southern Kentucky, where some children get their first guns even before they start first grade, Stephanie Sparks was cleaning the kitchen as her 5-year-old son played with the small rifle he was given last year. Then, as she stepped onto the front porch, "she heard the gun go off"
Ok, lets back WAAAAYYYY the fuck up. A 5yr old was “playing” with a rifle. How the fuck do you play with a rifle? What kind of idiot parent do you have to be to let your kid play with a rifle? The family said they didn't realize a bullet had been left in it. So not only are they idiotic, but now they are careless. Isn’t it part of the end of the hunting day ritual to make sure your gun is not loaded?
Coroner Gary White said:
"Down in Kentucky where we're from, you know, guns are passed down from generation to generation," White said. "You start at a young age with guns for hunting and everything."
What is more unusual than a child having a gun, he said, is "that a kid would get shot with it."
I can’t recall EVER hearing anything so stupid in all my life. How does a 5yr old have the mental ability to understand what could happen while playing with a gun? Especially since the parents have little to no intelligence.
What makes this even worse, is these .22 caliber rifles are specifically designed for children. Now I understand that as a Canadian, I have a higher level of sensibility, but come on! How is guns for kids good ANYWHERE?
To make this even worse, the lawmakers in the town are just as moronic. Cumberland County Judge Executive John Phelps said:
It's a normal way of life, and it's not just rural Kentucky, it's rural America — hunting and shooting and sport fishing. It starts at an early age. There's probably not a household in this county that doesn't have a gun."
Tell that to Caroline Sparks. Oh wait…..she’s dead.
Articles say the town was heartbroken and didn’t see it coming. Really? In a town that arms its 5 year olds with rifles, you didn’t see this coming? I’d suggest making an eye appointment, because even the blind could see that coming.
The company that makes the rifle is Milton, Pa.-based Keystone Sporting Arms. Their slogan being “My First Rifle”, has products in colors ranging from plain brown to hot pink to orange to royal blue to multi-color swirls, had this to say on their website:
"The goal of KSA is to instill gun safety in the minds of youth shooters and encourage them to gain the knowledge and respect that hunting and shooting activities require and deserve”
Two words for you here.
EPIC FAIL
It appears not all is lost in the backwoods of Kentucky however.
Sharon Rengers, a longtime child advocate at Kosair Children's Hospital in Louisville, said making and marketing weapons specifically for children was "mind-boggling."
"It's like, oh, my God," she said, "we're having a big national debate whether we want to check somebody's background, but we're going to offer a 4-year-old a gun and expect something good from that?"
Well there is a fantastic after thought. It might be easy to blame the boy, and I imagine some will, but the parents are to blame here. Anyone who thinks a 5yr old is capable of responsibly using a firearm, is less intelligent than the 5yr old, and has no place making decisions.
A family is now left without their little girl because they could not see the obvious safety issue arming a 5yr old boy brings. Not to mention letting him play with it in the house. What was he hunting, invisible squirrels?
I want to be sad for these people, but It’s hard. We make decisions, and need to suffer the consequences. I wonder if there are still guns in their house now? Based on the community’s obvious lack of sensibility I sincerely doubt it.
I guess I feel sorry for them after all.
Ok, lets back WAAAAYYYY the fuck up. A 5yr old was “playing” with a rifle. How the fuck do you play with a rifle? What kind of idiot parent do you have to be to let your kid play with a rifle? The family said they didn't realize a bullet had been left in it. So not only are they idiotic, but now they are careless. Isn’t it part of the end of the hunting day ritual to make sure your gun is not loaded?
Coroner Gary White said:
"Down in Kentucky where we're from, you know, guns are passed down from generation to generation," White said. "You start at a young age with guns for hunting and everything."
What is more unusual than a child having a gun, he said, is "that a kid would get shot with it."
I can’t recall EVER hearing anything so stupid in all my life. How does a 5yr old have the mental ability to understand what could happen while playing with a gun? Especially since the parents have little to no intelligence.
What makes this even worse, is these .22 caliber rifles are specifically designed for children. Now I understand that as a Canadian, I have a higher level of sensibility, but come on! How is guns for kids good ANYWHERE?
To make this even worse, the lawmakers in the town are just as moronic. Cumberland County Judge Executive John Phelps said:
It's a normal way of life, and it's not just rural Kentucky, it's rural America — hunting and shooting and sport fishing. It starts at an early age. There's probably not a household in this county that doesn't have a gun."
Tell that to Caroline Sparks. Oh wait…..she’s dead.
Articles say the town was heartbroken and didn’t see it coming. Really? In a town that arms its 5 year olds with rifles, you didn’t see this coming? I’d suggest making an eye appointment, because even the blind could see that coming.
The company that makes the rifle is Milton, Pa.-based Keystone Sporting Arms. Their slogan being “My First Rifle”, has products in colors ranging from plain brown to hot pink to orange to royal blue to multi-color swirls, had this to say on their website:
"The goal of KSA is to instill gun safety in the minds of youth shooters and encourage them to gain the knowledge and respect that hunting and shooting activities require and deserve”
Two words for you here.
EPIC FAIL
It appears not all is lost in the backwoods of Kentucky however.
Sharon Rengers, a longtime child advocate at Kosair Children's Hospital in Louisville, said making and marketing weapons specifically for children was "mind-boggling."
"It's like, oh, my God," she said, "we're having a big national debate whether we want to check somebody's background, but we're going to offer a 4-year-old a gun and expect something good from that?"
Well there is a fantastic after thought. It might be easy to blame the boy, and I imagine some will, but the parents are to blame here. Anyone who thinks a 5yr old is capable of responsibly using a firearm, is less intelligent than the 5yr old, and has no place making decisions.
A family is now left without their little girl because they could not see the obvious safety issue arming a 5yr old boy brings. Not to mention letting him play with it in the house. What was he hunting, invisible squirrels?
I want to be sad for these people, but It’s hard. We make decisions, and need to suffer the consequences. I wonder if there are still guns in their house now? Based on the community’s obvious lack of sensibility I sincerely doubt it.
I guess I feel sorry for them after all.
