Of All The Things I Hate...

It's stories like these I hate the most:

Police: 9-year-old boy accidentally kills 2-year-old brother as he plays with gun in LA home

Los Angeles police say a 9-year-old boy playing with a loaded gun accidentally shot and killed his 2-year-old brother.

Police said in a statement Saturday that officers and paramedics found the toddler with a bullet wound to the torso after they were called to the boys' home in the San Fernando Valley.

I don't care who you are, what your motivations may be for owning a firearm, or whatever. If you have kids in the home, you have a moral obligation to keep them safe. If you have firearms in your home, this means a multi-level approach:

• Your kids must know the Four Rules as soon as possible
• They must also know the Eddie Eagle program's "What to do if you find a gun"
• All unattended firearms should be stored under lock and key.
  
• Most importantly of all, kids should know that guns are not toys, that they are tools that can cause injury or worse if misused, and must be treated with respect.

My heart breaks for stories like these. A child is dead; a young boy has to live with a tragic accident on his conscience for the rest of his life; all because some nitwit didn't have the common sense that G-d gave gravel and left a loaded firearm where an uninformed child could find it. Now, granted. The story is woefully short on facts - it would not surprise me to find out that the parents in question are, to borrow and turn a phrase from the mainstream media, undocumented pharmacists and as such ineligible to actually own firearms (in other words, all the gun laws in the world couldn't have prevented this).

But this sort of thing happens outside the realm of freelance pharmaceutical salesmen - we had a case here in MA where a cop's son got a hold of dad's service weapon and nearly shot a neighboring child (fortunately, the gun was unloaded). One would hope that someone tasked with enforcing the law would obey it themselves - end sermon - but at the very least he should have taught his kid the basics of gun safety. It's simple math: Uneducated child + unsecured loaded firearm = tragedy in the making.

For the parents out there, go over the four rules with your kids. Make sure they know the steps to take if they find a gun. Heck, do a little experiment - take a blue gun and leave it somewhere in the house where the kids will find it. See how long it takes someone to bring it to your attention (make sure your partner is on board with this first and is aware where and when you're going to do it). You'd be surprised how often the kids will pick up the gun and play with it rather than find an adult. Make sure they know what to do - and also that they do it - and the odds of having an accident with a firearm become practically zero.

This even extends to those that don't own guns. One of the most frightening things I hear from anti-gun parents is "I would never let my child play with a toy gun" - because more often than not, that means their kid is going to have all evidence of firearms hidden away, guaranteeing that if they ever come across a real gun, they will have no idea what to do with it and will most likely not act appropriately. Even if you hate guns, even if you won't allow even a Nerf gun in your home, you owe it to your kids to teach them what to do if they come across a firearm.

The bright light of knowledge is a powerful weapon indeed for thwarting tragedy begot of ignorance...

That is all.

Story sent by Dennis - thanks for the blogfodder!