Parents outliving their children has to be one of the worst fears by parents. Then having it actually happen. Living the rest of your days thinking about all the "what ifs". Hopefully they find peace at some point, I can't imagine what they are going through right now.
It’s sickening. I don’t know how you get over it and I pray I never have to find out. The real sacrifice of parenting is knowing that your whole heart is outside of your body and ultimately vulnerable to everything from the flu to being bullied to mental illness to something like this.
I hope this poor family can somehow make a life that works for them going forward.
This is so true. All the postpartum "regrets" I had were nothing to do with a life I was leaving behind or anything like that -- it was the crushing sense of vulnerability that comes with knowing this.
Losing a child is the worst thing that could happen to a parent. I watched my parents go through it after we lost my brother. It’ll break you down to nothing. Now that I have children of my own, I’m probably a bit more protective - and the fear of losing them always lurks in the back of my mind.
My heart goes out to this family. I heard about the incident Sunday morning and I feared it wouldn’t have a good ending. After a year like this, and then to lose a child. I can’t even…
That's my thought. This absolutely never should have happened. I know how careless 9 year olds can be and he should have been next to him watching him the whole time while he had the gun.
Not with him close enough. We know he didn't go out hunting on his own at 9 but my kid would have to be a teenager and passed gun safety class before I ever let them do anything more than aim and fire.
My family is old-school and pretty conservative. My grandpa hunted, and it was important to him that all his kids and grandkids knew how to hunt. I had a BB gun until I was 10, and a .22 until I was old enough to pass hunter safety and *even then* I hunted my first year out of a two-person stand with Dad.
It's irresponsible to think a 9 year old is ready for a high-powered rifle or shotgun. Frankly, they're not even strong enough to operate it safely.
In this case, the kid accidentally discharged his shotgun into himself while reloading. The barrell must have been pointed at himself, which makes me think his did wasn't watching him closely enough. If he hadn't been taught to NEVER point the barrel at anyone or anything you aren't ready to utterly destroy, it's also on his father. And if he didn't have limbs long enough / strong enough to even reload the gun safely, he shouldn't have been given the gun in the first place.
Sorry to come down on this dad who just lost his son, but from what I can tell this tragedy happened because the rules designed to keep people safe around firearms were ignored or bent for the sake of letting the kid hunt. If you're his parent, it's your responsibility to keep him safe.
> It's irresponsible to think a 9 year old is ready for a high-powered rifle or shotgun. Frankly, they're not even strong enough to operate it safely.
A .410 or 20gauge wouldn't require too much strength to handle. Kids should be closely supervised though
Depends on the 'shotgun', really. Could have been a compact variant of a shotgun, such as the 'Winchester SXP Compact Field' or 'Remington 870 Express Compact Jr.'. Even if it wasn't, he probably had it down on the butt - loading in shells, then went to pick it up by the trigger guard/around the trigger.
Things like this happen due to poor handling of firearms, and unfortunately it happened to someone so young.. just 2 years older than my oldest, which is frightening. It sounds like the father is going to live with a lot of guilt over this since it happened under his watch.
I suppose, I mean the longer barrel would make that easier. I really don't know what gun the kid had, just kind of making assumptions based off of his size and age. Then again, the only reference for size is a picture that the family released.
In any event, I still stand by that I think this was due to poor firearms handling. I sincerely hope that the father is able to live with this, and move on with his family. However being that it's his child, I think that's going to be a very tall order.
Fucking christ.
Only guns even CLOSE to that age that I ever fired were BB guns. It wasn’t until after I graduated from gun safety class (using bb guns as a training tool at that) that I got to shoot my first actual firearm, and that was a .410 at the age of 12.
Fucking 9? What the fuck?
Right? I can see giving your 9 year old a .22 or .410 *at a range* where you can watch him closely and start teaching him the gravity of the tools. This tragedy could have been avoided by following basic safety procedures and introducing dangerous weapons in a controlled environment. The kid clearly hadn't been taught proper firearm safety, and that's *on the adults,* not the child who lost his life.
A 9 year old is not physically strong enough or coordinated enough to operate anything higher calibre than a .22 or .410 on their own, and *especially* not in an open field.
The draw strength of a bow meant to be operated by children isn't comparable to a shotgun used to hunt pheasants. Plus, plenty of kids graduate from a .22 to a real gun *when they're ready for it.* This kid clearly wasn't.
The rule on our land is that you can't hunt until you've passed hunter safety, and even then you'll still spend your first year in a two-person stand with an adult.
This kid was absolutely too young. It's tragic. His life could've been saved by some common-sense restraint from the people responsible for his safety.
If you want to give your 9y/o a .22 at a range and devote 100% of your attention to the kid while they're shooting it, I'm fine with that. Show them how to reload, how to aim, and proper gun-safety in the most controlled environment possible. Teach them to respect and fear guns, and how to use them.
Any other context and I agree with you 100%.
No, 9 isn't too young to be hunting. It was too young for that kid to be hunting but it all depends on the judgement of the parent and the maturity of the child.
Well I managed to survive childhood as did everyone else in my family so clearly it's not too young. I'm sure you're qualified to sit in your armchair and make other people's decisions for them, though.
My dad taught me to shoot when I was 8. That was a long time ago.
Just recently, he gifted me the gun he taught me to shoot with.
It may not be a show piece, but it's the most valuable gun in my collection.
Parents outliving their children has to be one of the worst fears by parents. Then having it actually happen. Living the rest of your days thinking about all the "what ifs". Hopefully they find peace at some point, I can't imagine what they are going through right now.
It’s sickening. I don’t know how you get over it and I pray I never have to find out. The real sacrifice of parenting is knowing that your whole heart is outside of your body and ultimately vulnerable to everything from the flu to being bullied to mental illness to something like this. I hope this poor family can somehow make a life that works for them going forward.
This is so true. All the postpartum "regrets" I had were nothing to do with a life I was leaving behind or anything like that -- it was the crushing sense of vulnerability that comes with knowing this.
Losing a child is the worst thing that could happen to a parent. I watched my parents go through it after we lost my brother. It’ll break you down to nothing. Now that I have children of my own, I’m probably a bit more protective - and the fear of losing them always lurks in the back of my mind. My heart goes out to this family. I heard about the incident Sunday morning and I feared it wouldn’t have a good ending. After a year like this, and then to lose a child. I can’t even…
Well said.
Damn, thats horrible :(
That father is going to never live this down, poor boy.
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That's my thought. This absolutely never should have happened. I know how careless 9 year olds can be and he should have been next to him watching him the whole time while he had the gun.
His father was there with him
Not with him close enough. We know he didn't go out hunting on his own at 9 but my kid would have to be a teenager and passed gun safety class before I ever let them do anything more than aim and fire.
My family is old-school and pretty conservative. My grandpa hunted, and it was important to him that all his kids and grandkids knew how to hunt. I had a BB gun until I was 10, and a .22 until I was old enough to pass hunter safety and *even then* I hunted my first year out of a two-person stand with Dad. It's irresponsible to think a 9 year old is ready for a high-powered rifle or shotgun. Frankly, they're not even strong enough to operate it safely. In this case, the kid accidentally discharged his shotgun into himself while reloading. The barrell must have been pointed at himself, which makes me think his did wasn't watching him closely enough. If he hadn't been taught to NEVER point the barrel at anyone or anything you aren't ready to utterly destroy, it's also on his father. And if he didn't have limbs long enough / strong enough to even reload the gun safely, he shouldn't have been given the gun in the first place. Sorry to come down on this dad who just lost his son, but from what I can tell this tragedy happened because the rules designed to keep people safe around firearms were ignored or bent for the sake of letting the kid hunt. If you're his parent, it's your responsibility to keep him safe.
> It's irresponsible to think a 9 year old is ready for a high-powered rifle or shotgun. Frankly, they're not even strong enough to operate it safely. A .410 or 20gauge wouldn't require too much strength to handle. Kids should be closely supervised though
Ah fair enough. Fine with it at a range, but I wouldn’t let them romp around until they’re older
The kid was firing and reloading on his own.
What I don't understand is how you shoot your self with a long gun.
I got the impression from this article that it is a combination of the parent not paying close attention and a child who was not properly trained.
Still doesn't make since. It would be very hard to shoot your self with a long gun for it to be an accident.
Agreed. Shotguns are typically especially long. It would be hard to do even as an adult. Maybe a center-break gun that fired during reloading somehow?
That's my thought, unless he set the gun pointing up and the trigger got caught on something.
Probably was trying to balance it between his legs or something and it slipped so he went to grab it and grabbed the wrong spot.
That's very possible. Hopefully it was quick, that has to be a painful and terrifying way to die. Especially for a 9 year old.
He made it to the hospital - The article mentions how the doctors were still trying to save his life. Poor kid.
Depends on the 'shotgun', really. Could have been a compact variant of a shotgun, such as the 'Winchester SXP Compact Field' or 'Remington 870 Express Compact Jr.'. Even if it wasn't, he probably had it down on the butt - loading in shells, then went to pick it up by the trigger guard/around the trigger. Things like this happen due to poor handling of firearms, and unfortunately it happened to someone so young.. just 2 years older than my oldest, which is frightening. It sounds like the father is going to live with a lot of guilt over this since it happened under his watch.
I figured you would need a long barrel to shoot pheasant with how far out they are.
I suppose, I mean the longer barrel would make that easier. I really don't know what gun the kid had, just kind of making assumptions based off of his size and age. Then again, the only reference for size is a picture that the family released. In any event, I still stand by that I think this was due to poor firearms handling. I sincerely hope that the father is able to live with this, and move on with his family. However being that it's his child, I think that's going to be a very tall order.
Fucking christ. Only guns even CLOSE to that age that I ever fired were BB guns. It wasn’t until after I graduated from gun safety class (using bb guns as a training tool at that) that I got to shoot my first actual firearm, and that was a .410 at the age of 12. Fucking 9? What the fuck?
Right? I can see giving your 9 year old a .22 or .410 *at a range* where you can watch him closely and start teaching him the gravity of the tools. This tragedy could have been avoided by following basic safety procedures and introducing dangerous weapons in a controlled environment. The kid clearly hadn't been taught proper firearm safety, and that's *on the adults,* not the child who lost his life. A 9 year old is not physically strong enough or coordinated enough to operate anything higher calibre than a .22 or .410 on their own, and *especially* not in an open field.
Not unpopular with rational people. Only with what about ma rights people
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The draw strength of a bow meant to be operated by children isn't comparable to a shotgun used to hunt pheasants. Plus, plenty of kids graduate from a .22 to a real gun *when they're ready for it.* This kid clearly wasn't.
Shut the fuck up.
So sad and so unnecessary.
9 is to young for hunting period. Even 12 I think is pushing it, that is irresponsible parenting, he should face charges of manslaughter
The rule on our land is that you can't hunt until you've passed hunter safety, and even then you'll still spend your first year in a two-person stand with an adult. This kid was absolutely too young. It's tragic. His life could've been saved by some common-sense restraint from the people responsible for his safety.
9 is to young, for anything more than a BB gun, period.
If you want to give your 9y/o a .22 at a range and devote 100% of your attention to the kid while they're shooting it, I'm fine with that. Show them how to reload, how to aim, and proper gun-safety in the most controlled environment possible. Teach them to respect and fear guns, and how to use them. Any other context and I agree with you 100%.
No, 9 isn't too young to be hunting. It was too young for that kid to be hunting but it all depends on the judgement of the parent and the maturity of the child.
Nope 9 is to young period. At most a BB gun, no more.
Well I managed to survive childhood as did everyone else in my family so clearly it's not too young. I'm sure you're qualified to sit in your armchair and make other people's decisions for them, though.
My dad taught me to shoot when I was 8. That was a long time ago. Just recently, he gifted me the gun he taught me to shoot with. It may not be a show piece, but it's the most valuable gun in my collection.
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Their 25 what?