Correct you are. And THAT is the REAL crux of the problem. If the kid's parents or the kid's school had actually taught the rudiments of GUN SAFETY, then there would more than likely have been no problem, and the kid would be alive today.
Why should gun owners be responsible for the failures of others???
Indeed. All kids need to go through the Eddie Eagle program.
Down here in Alabama last spring, we had a middle school boy who was shot and killed with a pellet rifle; he and some friends found his father's pellet rifle in the garage and were fooling around with it. He was shot in the chest at close range. Very sad.