Posted on 12/29/2009 3:55:35 PM PST by SmithL
BB guns and other nonpowder guns are often thought of as toys, but they injure as many as 21,000 Americans each year, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. On Christmas day, a Florida boy was among those who got injured this year.
It's a scene right out of Humorist Jean Shepherd's A Christmas Story, only this story takes place in Palm Beach, Florida, so the cast of charters is a little different.
A boy gets a pellet gun for Christmas, and tries out his new toy by shooting his autistic cousin in the buttocks, according to the Treasure Coast and Palm Beaches news site. The boy's stepfather, Christopher Fred Cady, a registered sex offender, decides he needs to teach his stepson a lesson, so he grabs the gun and shoots the boy in the chest. Pow!
The boy ends up at grandma's house with a huge welt, and Cady ends up in jail with a child abuse charge, and he's being held without bail for failing to report a change in address or his name as a sex offender.
"Maybe Cady would have been better served to force the boy to watch the 24-hour marathon of A Christmas Story to show him what happens when you get a BB gun for Christmas. Everybody knows you'll shoot your eye out - or get popped in the chest," writes Todd Wright in NBC Miami's Weird News column.
This story brings up a good question: Should young kids -- say, under age 16 -- have BB guns?
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Play .... is the wrong word.
As long as they act responsibly and only shoot democrats.
NO. Kids should NOT be allowed to play with BB guns.
Kids playing with a loaded AR15 near a mosque I think would be okay.
IMO, having grown up with and around guns, we had BB guns at a pretty young age and definitely knew not to point (much less shoot at) anyone with ANY kind of gun. Of course, we knew what a gun could do and knew not to fool around with them.
I'd say the gun is the least of the issues in this household..
sounds like this whole family is too stupid to have anything but puzzles to play with
Should they HAVE BB guns? YES, as soon as they are able to safely carry and operate them hands off.
Should they be allowed to PLAY with BB guns? Hell no. BB guns ARE NOT TOYS, contrary to The Christmas Story.
Sometime between 8 and 16 (ymmv) you’ll know if they are capable of enough responsibility to shoot under partial or minimal supervision, but until then no.
Parent's hands off that is for you jokers out there (heh)
The question should be: "Should kids be allowed to play with BB guns?"
and not: Should the mother be thrown in prison and lose custody of her kids for allowing a violent sex offender to abuse her children?
The boy's stepfather, Christopher Fred Cady, a registered sex offender, decides he needs to teach his stepson a lesson, so he grabs the gun and shoots the boy in the chest. Pow!
I mean, really?
“The boy’s stepfather, Christopher Fred Cady, a registered sex offender, decides he needs to teach his stepson a lesson, so he grabs the gun and shoots the boy in the chest. Pow!”
Yep - definitly need to get rid of BB guns.
BTW - a BB gun is NOT a toy.
It depends on the child.
If the child is dependably responsible and the gun is treated not as a toy but as a training for future gun ownership, then yes. The pellet gun should be secured like a firearm, and the child should be supervised until the parent is certain that he can be trusted to use it responsibly.
Future gun ownership should proceed with a single shot .22 rifle, perhaps with a clip to be added later.
“too stupid to have anything but puzzles to play with”
That makes an interesting mental image.
Sure they can play with them safely if the kid isn’t a total ahole.
If the kid is always doing stupid stuff causing problem don’t let him have it.
If he just shoots a bird here or there no biggie. If he shoots the dog’s eye out he/she needs his butt kicked. As long as he knows it is a priviledge, he may feel a sense of power.
This is a good time to find out if he can handle a little power. Better than waiting until he’s in the White house screwing up the world.
A BB gun isn’t going to kill anyone, if he/she totally screws it up slam it on the concrete to bend it up and chalk it up to lesson’s learned by you and him.
A little common sense is in order.
And 320,000 children are injured by bikes with 225 of those injuries being fatal.
What's your point?
Well, the parents maybe, but the kid is probably learning fast.
I didn’t watch “A Christmas Story” this year, but I don’t seem to remember any autistic cousins, perverted uncles, or jail anywhere in the storyline.
Maybe their parents should have gotten them BB guns which are 3 times as safe as soccer balls.
With the proper training by an involved parent—yes. My brother and I both played with BB guns as young children. We never shot anybody, nor harmed ourselves.
Of course not....they may shoot their eye out.
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