1 - Goose
- Cogito ergo sum
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The Smallest Fingers on the Trigger
I didn't know where else to place this.
Here's an alert.
Parents, for God's sake, lock up your damn guns!
The Smallest Fingers on the Trigger
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sha’Quille Kornegay, 2 years old, was buried in a pink coffin, her favorite doll by her side and a tiara strategically placed to hide the self-inflicted gunshot wound to her forehead.
She had been napping in bed with her father, Courtenay Block, late last month when she discovered the 9-millimeter handgun he often kept under his pillow in his Kansas City, Mo., home. It was equipped with a laser sight that lit up like the red lights on her cousins’ sneakers. Mr. Block told the police he woke to see Sha’Quille by his bed, bleeding and crying, the gun at her feet. A bullet had pierced her skull.
In a country with more than 30,000 annual gun deaths, the smallest fingers on the trigger belong to children like Sha’Quille.
During a single week in April, four toddlers — Holston, Kiyan, Za’veon and Sha’Quille — shot and killed themselves, and a mother driving through Milwaukee was killed after her 2-year-old apparently picked up a gun that had slid out from under the driver’s seat. It was a brutal stretch, even by the standards of researchers who track these shootings.
These are shooters who need help tying their shoelaces, too young sometimes to even say the word “gun,” killed by their own curiosity.
They accidentally fire a parent’s pistol while playing cops and robbers, while riding in a shopping cart, after finding it in the pocket of the coat their father forgot to wear to work. The gun that killed Sha’Quille last Thursday was pointing up, as if being inspected, when it fired.
Sha’Quille Kornegay shot herself with a 9-millimeter handgun she found while staying at her father’s house. Credit Montorre Kornegay
They are the most maddening gun deaths in America. Last year, at least 30 people were killed in accidental shootings in which the shooter was 5 or younger, according to Everytown For Gun Safety, a gun control advocacy group that tracks these shootings, largely through news reports.
With shootings by preschoolers happening at a pace of about two per week, some of the victims were the youngsters’ parents or siblings, but in many cases the children ended up taking their own lives.
“You can’t call this a tragic accident,” said Jean Peters Baker, the prosecutor of Jackson County, Mo., who is overseeing the criminal case in Sha’Quille’s death. Her office charged Mr. Block, 24, with second-degree murder and child endangerment. “These are really preventable, and we’re not willing to prevent them.”
Zai Deshields, 4, at her home in Stone Mountain, Ga., this week. Last week she pulled a handgun out of a backpack at her grandmother’s home in Arlington, Tex., and shot her uncle in the leg.
Last edited by Goose (5/05/2016 5:50 am)
We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists.
- Common Sense
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Re: The Smallest Fingers on the Trigger
My feeling is that anytime a small child gets hold of a weapon it's not an accident it's criminal negligence. Some adult is completely responsible for letting a child get access to the weapon.
If safety rules were followed the kids would not be shot!
99% of gun owners are very responsible and take proper care with their weapons but it only takes a few gun owners who are sloppy with their gun safety to cause great damage.
The fundamental NRA rules for safe gun handling are:
ALWAYS keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.
This is the primary rule of gun safety. A safe direction means that the gun is pointed so that even if it were to go off it would not cause injury or damage. The key to this rule is to control where the muzzle or front end of the barrel is pointed at all times. Common sense dictates the safest direction, depending on different circumstances.
ALWAYS keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.
When holding a gun, rest your finger on the trigger guard or along the side of the gun. Until you are actually ready to fire, do not touch the trigger.
ALWAYS keep the gun unloaded until ready to use.
Whenever you pick up a gun, immediately engage the safety device if possible, and, if the gun has a magazine, remove it before opening the action and looking into the chamber(s) which should be clear of ammunition. If you do not know how to open the action or inspect the chamber(s), leave the gun alone and get help from someone who does.When using or storing a gun, always follow these NRA rules:
- Know your target and what is beyond. Be absolutely sure you have identified your target beyond any doubt. Equally important, be aware of the area beyond your target. This means observing your prospective area of fire before you shoot. Never fire in a direction in which there are people or any other potential for mishap. Think first. Shoot second.
- Know how to use the gun safely. Before handling a gun, learn how it operates. Know its basic parts, how to safely open and close the action and remove any ammunition from the gun or magazine. Remember, a gun's mechanical safety device is never foolproof. Nothing can ever replace safe gun handling.
- Be sure the gun is safe to operate. Just like other tools, guns need regular maintenance to remain operable. Regular cleaning and proper storage are a part of the gun's general upkeep. If there is any question concerning a gun's ability to function, a knowledgeable gunsmith should look at it.
- Use only the correct ammunition for your gun. Only BBs, pellets, cartridges or shells designed for a particular gun can be fired safely in that gun. Most guns have the ammunition type stamped on the barrel. Ammunition can be identified by information printed on the box and sometimes stamped on the cartridge. Do not shoot the gun unless you know you have the proper ammunition.
- Wear eye and ear protection as appropriate. Guns are loud and the noise can cause hearing damage. They can also emit debris and hot gas that could cause eye injury. For these reasons, shooting glasses and hearing protectors should be worn by shooters and spectators.
- Never use alcohol or over-the-counter, prescription or other drugs before or while shooting. Alcohol, as well as any other substance likely to impair normal mental or physical bodily functions, must not be used before or while handling or shooting guns.
- Store guns so they are not accessible to unauthorized persons. Many factors must be considered when deciding where and how to store guns. A person's particular situation will be a major part of the consideration. Dozens of gun storage devices, as well as locking devices that attach directly to the gun, are available. However, mechanical locking devices, like the mechanical safeties built into guns, can fail and should not be used as a substitute for safe gun handling and the observance of all gun safety rules.
- Be aware that certain types of guns and many shooting activities require additional safety precautions.
- Cleaning Regular cleaning is important in order for your gun to operate correctly and safely. Taking proper care of it will also maintain its value and extend its life. Your gun should be cleaned every time that it is used.A gun brought out of prolonged storage should also be cleaned before shooting. Accumulated moisture and dirt, or solidified grease and oil, can prevent the gun from operating properly.Before cleaning your gun, make absolutely sure that it is unloaded. The gun's action should be open during the cleaning process. Also, be sure that no ammunition is present in the cleaning area.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident,” former vice president Biden said during a campaign event in Texas on Monday. "All men and women created by — you know, you know, the thing.”
- flowergirl
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Re: The Smallest Fingers on the Trigger
What a loss. Better late than never--hopefully the owners of the gun will take action to prevent this from happening to another child.
- tennyson
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Re: The Smallest Fingers on the Trigger
There is technology that could help with a lot of these tragedies, but there are too many people and groups that want to block that technology.
"Do not confuse motion and progress, A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress"
- Just Fred
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Re: The Smallest Fingers on the Trigger
There is technology that could help with a lot of these tragedies, but there are too many people and groups that want to block that technology.
Tennyson is right. The question is why?
- Common Sense
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Re: The Smallest Fingers on the Trigger
Just Fred wrote:
There is technology that could help with a lot of these tragedies, but there are too many people and groups that want to block that technology.
Tennyson is right. The question is why?
If the technology is so good let the Secret Service use it for a year and lets see how it works? 
Right now it's very costly and not reliable. Just another gimmick!
“We hold these truths to be self-evident,” former vice president Biden said during a campaign event in Texas on Monday. "All men and women created by — you know, you know, the thing.”
- tennyson
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- Registered: 2/06/2015
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Re: The Smallest Fingers on the Trigger
There is technology that could help with a lot of these tragedies, but there are too many people and groups that want to block that technology.
Tennyson is right. The question is why?
If the technology is so good let the Secret Service use it for a year and lets see how it works?
Right now it's very costly and not reliable. Just another gimmick!
Yeah, the current technology is much better in protecting people from themselves ! 
"Do not confuse motion and progress, A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress"
- Goose
- Cogito ergo sum
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Re: The Smallest Fingers on the Trigger
What does the secret service have to do with any of this?
Let's refrain from introducing a red herring, please.
People need to be realistic about the decision to own a gun.
Be honest with yourself and honestly weigh risk/benefit.
You are Joe Citizen, living in Kansas City, like the guy in the news story,,,,, not some sort of elite agent.
If you are the kind of person who is going to keep a loaded gun under your pillow in a house with young children,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, you must face the fact that the risk of a fatal accident may be higher that the potential benefit of having it to confront an intruder.
Lock the thing up. Think about the risks.
This really isn't hard.
Last edited by Goose (5/06/2016 5:19 am)
We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists.
- •
Thread Starter- Common Sense
- Exchanger
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Re: The Smallest Fingers on the Trigger
Guess you did not read my post # 2?
"My feeling is that anytime a small child gets hold of a weapon it's not an accident it's criminal negligence. Some adult is completely responsible for letting a child get access to the weapon.
If safety rules were followed the kids would not be shot!
99% of gun owners are very responsible and take proper care with their weapons but it only takes a few gun owners who are sloppy with their gun safety to cause great damage."
Again 99% of gun owners are responsible. But there is the small number who aren't!
They need to be held accountable for their reckless actions.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident,” former vice president Biden said during a campaign event in Texas on Monday. "All men and women created by — you know, you know, the thing.”
- Goose
- Cogito ergo sum
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Re: The Smallest Fingers on the Trigger
I read it.
It doesn't make clear to me the secret service angle.
Last edited by Goose (5/06/2016 7:21 am)
We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists.
- •
Thread Starter