Another Sad Addition...

Reader Robert sends in another addition that breaks my heart to see...

Birmingham Police: Masked 13-year-old armed with loaded gun shot to death 

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- A 13-year-old boy armed with a loaded gun and his face covered with a T-shirt was shot to death Friday night, Birmingham police said today.

The police officer interviewed made a point to say that the boy's firearm was loaded and ready to fire. I do not, in any way, shape, or form, fault the shooter - this was 110% a good shoot. He was carjacked by someone with a loaded firearm, someone who very well could have decided he wasn't moving fast enough or might be able to identify him and shot him anyway. The person who fired the fatal shot also had their passenger to think about - if they complied with the armed thug's demands, does their passenger then become a hostage?

But still... Thirteen years old is just far too young to wind up bleeding to death from a gunshot wound because of your life's bad choices. It's terrible that he saw robbing people at gunpoint as a viable career choice - wonder where he learned that particular lesson? It's hard to imagine that this mindset developed in a vacuum - was he in a gang? Did he come from a broken home? It's even harder to imagine that a middle schooler would decide on armed robbery for a lark; it's far more likely that his poor decision was shaped by a million factors in his life since he was old enough to walk.

Thirteen years old and another victim of the streets. Thirteen years old and his family will have to bury him, all because he decided that robbing people beats honest work. He gambled with his life - and lost - and someone else has to live the rest of their life knowing that they were forced to kill a young boy. That's a pretty lousy turn of events for everyone.

Well, everyone except for the ghouls at the Brady Campaign - they're just overjoyed that they get to add another "child killed by gunfire" to their list.

Dead Goblin Count: 283


That is all.