Posted on 08/19/2008 9:00:18 AM PDT by WilliamReading
A 23-year-old man's attempt to show his girlfriend a pistol ended in tragedy Monday night when the gun fired, killing her, according to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office.
Averyell Davis, 23, was shot in the abdomen after the handgun her boyfriend was handling went off, said sheriff's spokesman Col. John Fortunato. Curtis C. Murray has been arrested and booked with one count of negligent homicide.
The couple were in the living room of their home in the 500 block of Behrman Highway in Gretna at about 10:15 p.m. when the gun discharged, Fortunato said. Authorities did not specify what caused the gun to fire.
Emergency responders arrived at the couple's home, where Davis' mother met them and told them that her daughter was shot inside the home.
In the living room, they found Davis lying on the floor with a wounded abdomen.
Responders transported her to Ochsner Medical Center, and on the way there, she told authorities that her boyfriend accidentally shot her, according to Fortunato.
Davis died shortly after arriving at the hospital.
Lt. Don English, the homicide detective handling the case, later booked Murray with the criminal charge at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center.
Even though the victim claimed it was an accident, "our investigation showed negligence on (Murray's) part, and that's why he was charged," Fortunato said.
Negligent homicide defendants can face up to 5 years in prison, a fine up to $5,000, or both, according to state law.
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
Those darn gun things have minds of their own.
That's not a coincidence.
I must have hit pretty close.
Fact is, accidents with firarms are more preventable than auto accidents, but stupid people still have them. Even TRAINED firearm instructors have them. Why? Because no matter what you are taught or have learned at your grandfathers knee, there is the human element of forgetfulness. In the case of firearms, it's irresponsible, but so is drinking and driving, but people still do that too.
“for chrissake.... isn’t any thing EVER JUST an accident anymore???????
the kid was stupid but even the dead girl said it was an accident.”
You are right. After all, he said he was sorry. That should be the end of it.
Require? No. Just no.
Thanks. That’s an oft, and mistakenly, used analogy for gun control. Leftist “education” has really set in in this country. Rights and privileges are confused by many.
Too, there are rarely accidents with firearms. The guy was negligent; he had a loaded firearm, had it pointed at someone and pulled the trigger. That’s no accident. He may have not meant to shoot his girlfriend, and is why he’s crying “accident” now, but it was pure negligence on his part.
I'm certainly no expert on forensics but if I had to guess I bet the cause was pulling the trigger.
>>Shouldn’t we require all gun owners to pass a gun safety class?>>
As a CCW holder for years, I want to agree with you, but idiots are careless with guns, with or without training. Alcohol disregards training in favor of idiocy.
The debate in government over such a requirement would wind up denying some legal citizens the right to keep and bear, so I will have to deny this requirement and side with the second amendment in its whole.
>for chrissake.... isn’t any thing EVER JUST an accident anymore???????<
NO! All accidental discharges, to use your term, are in fact negligent discharges because there was negligence on the part of at least one person.
“As a CCW holder for years, I want to agree with you, but idiots are careless with guns, with or without training.”
If that’s the case, isn’t it quite foolish for people to take gun training classes? What a waste of money!
Let me lay it out for you. Let's say....The government requires "safety training". The government then decides not just anyone can be a safety trainer.
In order to be a government approved safety trainer, you have to jump through an increasingly complex series of hoops, tests, and vacuous regulations which are changed on an irregular basis without notification.
Fail to catch one of the changes and you are not only no longer a safety trainer, but may be facing a Felony conviction (which would bar you from firearms ownership)and of course, there is the certification fee, which will ever increase.
The net effect is a dearth of trainers who are government approved, and the average schmuck could not afford the classes to get the piece of paper which says they are "safety trained".
Just like D.C.'s new registration scheme which initially required the firearm be purchased from a FFL holder in D.C. (and there were exactly zero FFL holders in business in D.C.). The oppotunities for setting up 'catch-22' situations are endless.
Behold the BATFE's 'war' on FFL holders, which dates back to the Clinton Era, and realize only about 1 dealer in 3 are still in business.
Aside from that, driving is a priveledge, the RKBA is a Right.
At least that is what quite a few people on this board seem to be saying.
As a NRA Certified Training Counselor, There are only two reasons for "Negligent Discharges": Ignorance and Carelessness. Ignorance is not knowing or having not been trained in gun safety. Carelessness is having been trained and disregarding gun safety. Most of us have someone teach us how to drive a car safely. Why is it that many, mostly men, can buy a gun and I recommend all to take an NRA Certified Basic Pistol Course.
I not only teach students
but I also train NRA Certified Instructors
in the Knowledge, Skill and Attitude in all firearms.. Knowing how to use the gun and handling it safely are two separate things.
genetically think they know how to use it safely.
If we have to pass a driving test to get a drivers license, why not one for owning a handgun or rifle?
To me it is only common sense. Of course others will use the “slippery slope” argument . . . “if they require us to take gun training, then they will take all of our guns away” . .. . That just doesn’t follow.
Why doesn’t the US Army just hand out M-16s to the soldiers and let them figure out for themselves how to shoot them? Why does the Army train and test the soldiers?
Given that one of the reasons for the right to bear arms is that it is a check on the power of the government you need to minimize the government's control on arms.
Further, the "slippery slope" can't be discounted as you have done here because it's not just academic. There is example after example after example of increased gun control leading to more gun control.
Consider this more effective and line of thinking: Criminal control rather then gun control.
As for accidents, while obviously tragic and heartbreaking there are exceedingly rare. And no amount of training is going to end someone doing a stupid thing.
Guns are simple to be safe with. Don't point them at anything you don't want to kill. Don't touch the trigger if you don't want it to "go off".
I hope you will research this important topic further and if you do I am sure you will understand why so many of us are so staunch in defense of our right to keep and bear arms without the government's approval.
There is a lot of fear concerning guns that make what you are arguing seem "reasonable". I beleive if you dive deeper you will see that the fear, as well as what you are suggesting we do, are anything but reasonable.
No person who cannot be trusted with a gun should be free in our society without supervision. And that's not just about guns, but everything. Freedom REQUIRES responsibility.
There you go with that broad brush again. Face it, you want to put all gun-owners in the same bag, don't you?(rhetorical)
This IS a tactic of the anti's, foam up enough outrage at one incident to further your agenda against the majority who are safe.
ALL citizens should be educated in firearm saftey from the time they enter school. Even if you hate firearms you never know when you’ll be exposed to them or in what circumstance.
NRA cetified pistol,home firearm safety, and personal protection instructor
Ahhhh, trying to tell people what to do with their own money. How... conservative... of you. Shouldn't you be reading up on how to properly fill out a butterfly ballot?
That makes it sound soooo innocent. I know the area where this happened - it's in Jefferson Parish just west of the New Orleans boundary. Picture several blocks of run-down, dilapidated townhouse apartment buildings, probably loaded with Section-8 tenants. It was a bad area fifteen years ago, when I worked a few miles away. Katrina made it much worse (flooded with displaced public housing residents, not water).
There was a shooting that I recall from those years. A carload of young urban thugs was cruising along when one of the riders was criticized by the others for some incident wherein he failed to measure-up to some gang-banger requirement. They dared him to prove that he "had heart", so he tried to prove that by pointing his empty pistol at his temple, and pulling the trigger.
Yep, he racked the slide, *then* he dropped the magazine, then *bang* - brains all over the car.
So yes, this shooting was probably accidental and negligent... but the general population of the 500 block of Behrman in Gretna, LA probably knows quite a lot about guns. They're just not terribly cautious.
It’s called “Muzzle Discipline” in the Marine Corps.
Ill read the rest now and see how hot ig gets...
LOLOLOL
LFOD...
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