Boy sentenced for killing father's girlfriend with his Christmas present --

[pnwmom]

a shotgun. The boy was 10 when he killed the woman.

Why is it legal for anyone to give a child a gun?

The boy pleaded guilty to possession, so he wasn't allowed to own it. Why wasn't someone charged for giving it to him?

http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/crime-courts/2012-07-26/11-year-old-guilty-burke-county-slaying

A trial was scheduled for Thurs­day morning, but it became a sentencing hearing when Archer pleaded guilty to felony murder and possession of a gun during the commission of a crime in the Dec. 30 slaying of 31-year-old Albright at her Midville, Ga., home. Archer received the maximum sentence from Juvenile Court Judge Willie Saunders of being held in custody until he turns 21. Saunders said he would have the option to appeal for a shorter sentence annually.

SNIP

According to Morris, Archer grabbed a 12-gauge shotgun he received as a Christmas present and shot Albright in the back while she was changing her daughter.

“He said, ‘That’s what you get,’ ” Morris said.

SNIP

Theodocion said he thought the boy’s circumstances had partially led to the murder.
“Probably the worst thing possible is to take a young man who is showing problem signs and allowing him unsupervised access to guns,” Theodocion said.

[rfranklin]

1. A boy always remembers the first gun his father gives him...

It's a great tradition.

[awoke_in_2003]

3. Especially when he then...

kills his dad's girlfiend with.

[xchrom]

6. +2

[belcffub]

9. got mine first gun from my dad when I was 7

Remington 22... still have it...

got my first shotgun from him when I was 12... mossberg 16ga 3 shot... got rid of it for a 12ga Ithaca a couple of years later... I still have that one...

still haven't shot anyone with either... that I know of...

[Tikki]

2. Every day I thank the powers that be who keep my grandson in...

this loving and safe home with grandpa and grandma.
Sometimes the Courts get it correct.
Many times it comes down to who has the most money
to keep fighting.



The Tikkis

[RevStPatrick]

4. If the daughter who was being changed at the time...

...had been packing a gun, this might have turned out very differently!

[Tom Ripley]

5. So the kid could learn how to hunt potato chips and fast food?

putting food on the table and all

[Poll_Blind]

11. I'm a gun owner and I believe in 2nd amendment rights but your comment is SO fucking true.

"So the kid could learn how to hunt potato chips and fast food?"

This country is fucking obsessed with guns, has an incredible aversion to actually seeing the damage that guns to do other human beings (i.e. outside of a video game), is intellectually and emotionally shallow and, in some cases, as walled-off from reality as a member of the Taliban who was schooled in an Islamist madrassa...

And you roll all those things together and then you have this unalienable right to keep and bear arms, and you have incidents like this. It's so fucking scary. I'm not even touching on the point that this was given to a child, which is lunacy. There are many children who grow up with firearms in rural settings and who are very responsible. I'm not trying to make some bigger point with that, but it's true. I grew up in rural Louisiana and have been firing longarms since I was about 6 or 7, under adult supervision, and then later when I was 9 or 10 on hunting trips with my own rifle.

PB

[Turbineguy]

7. This is fucked up.

Let's see. Adults design, build and sell the gun to an other adult. So far, so good.

An adult gives the gun to a child who then uses the gun for its intended purpose. The child gets punished.

[Chorophyll]

8. Fathers, sons, and guns.

What are you telling a kid that young when you give him a gun? You're basically telling him that the world is dangerous, being armed is good, and that you solve your problems by shooting at them. I mean, why would you give a kid a present that you don't expect him to use?

[hack89]

12. That hunting or competive target shooting is fun?

Both my kids shoot - fear, self defense and killing people never enter into the conversation.

[Chorophyll]

13. So you gave your kids guns at that age?

Or do you have guns that only come out for those occasions? Because there is a difference.

I come from a long line of people with absolutely no interest in guns. Never wanted to shoot a target or anything else. I live in a crowded place and as far as I'm concerned, the fewer guns the better.

[hack89]

14. Of course my guns are locked up.

my point is that there is nothing wrong with introducing young kids to shooting - mine were both 8 when they started.

You are certainly welcome to have your opinions about guns. It is when you start making broad brushed smears against gun owners to justifies restricting their civil rights that I feel compelled to comment.

[Chorophyll]

15. I know this argument has been made ad infinitum recently, but...

I feel like my civil right to not get blown away by some random freak with a legal arsenal is important too.

But the story we're commenting on is just awful, and I still can't see giving a child a gun.

[hack89]

16. You have never been safer

don't loose sight of that basic fact - gun violence has been steadily declining for 30 years and is at historic lows.

Drunk drivers are a much bigger threat to you and your family.

[berni_mccoy]

10. Georgia is as fucked up as Texas w.r.t. their legal system.

The boy is 10 years old. The Father was responsible and should face manslaughter.

[4th law of robotics]

17. The father was an idiot

[ileus]

18. my son received firearms for his 6th and 7th BD

Single shot 22/410 for his sixth, and 7mm-08 last year.

Of course they stay in the safe not his room...