No reason to carry a loaded gun
by digby
Apparently at least 60 kids under 18 have accidentally killed themselves and or other people already this year. It's a horror story. Here's the latest.
A 2-year-old Indiana boy fatally shot himself Wednesday evening after discovering a gun in his mother’s purse, authorities said.
The boy retrieved the gun when his mother “momentarily stepped away,” leaving her purse on the kitchen counter, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said in a news release.
“The grieving mother is cooperating with detectives and after detectives questioned her she was later released,” the release stated. “This incident is being investigated as a death investigation.”
Police who responded to the home Wednesday night found that the 2-year-old had suffered a single gunshot wound and was unresponsive. The boy was taken to a local hospital, but died from the shooting.
It was, police said, an “unfortunate tragedy.”
This is not just an unfortunate tragedy. It's negligent homicide:
Negligent homicide is a criminal charge brought against people who, through criminal negligence, allow others to die.
Negligent homicide is a lesser included offense to first and second degree murder, in the sense that someone guilty of this offense can expect a more lenient sentence, often with imprisonment time comparable to manslaughter. U.S. states all define negligent homicide by statute. In some, the offense includes the killing of another while driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Examples include the crash of Aeroperu Flight 603 near Lima, Peru. The accident was caused by a piece of duct tape that was accidentally left over the static ports (on the bottom side of the fuselage) after cleaning the aircraft, which led to the crash. Employee Eleuterio Chacaliaza left the tape on by accident and was charged with negligent homicide.
If leaving a piece of duct tape on an airplane that crashed is negligent homicide leaving a loaded gun around a 2 year old certainly is. There's just no excuse for it.
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