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Police kill armed eighth-grader in Texas school

Top Cat said:
Actually the poster was correct. The lenient nature of the gun laws in Texas is absurd. And that isn't preconceived.
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Again, preconceived notion based on ignorance. Texas currently ranks 32nd for the most permissive gun laws in the Union.
 
Top Cat said:
Actually the poster was correct. The lenient nature of the gun laws in Texas is absurd. And that isn't preconceived.
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The school is already a gun free zone. Whatelse do you want?
 
I was just over on FaceBook watching kids from that middle school talking to each other. The gist of what they are saying is the deceased student was involved in an altercation with another student recently and a teacher shoved the deceased student out in a hallway / barricaded the door when he flashed a weapon in his homeroom class and alerted the school office via cellphone.
 
Top Cat said:
Actually the poster was correct. The lenient nature of the gun laws in Texas is absurd. And that isn't preconceived.
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I know what you mean.

Tighter gun laws did wonders for lowering the murder rate in D.C. and Chicago.
 
Bob Blaylock said:
12, 12, 14, isn't exactly a child. Someone of that age is old enough to understand what the likely consequences are of getting into confrontation with armed police officers, while brandishing a deadly weapon. It's tragic, but there is no one to blame but the idiot who has at least done a great service to Mankind by having himself removed from the gene pool before he had a chance to procreate.

My wife, by the way, has owned a gun since she was eight years old. At that age, she knew better than to get herself into this sort of situation.
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Right, so you don't think that maybe this was the fact that he was encouraged by other kids, that maybe his parents were morons? No, the kid was just an idiot who woke up one morning and decided it would be a great idea to take a gun to school...:roll:

Also, I will add here, if you let your child (Under the age of 18 for shotguns/rifles and under the age of 21 for pistols) have 24/7 access to a gun, you are just asking for trouble and should be held responsible if anything happens to them or someone else because of you failed logic.
 
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iguanaman said:
Ok, an 12 year old boy is shot dead and everyone in Texas cheers. Happy now?
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Who the hell is cheering, dude? I live in Texas and I've discussed this article with several of my Texans friends and family members. The reaction I'm getting? "This is terrible, I hope we find out why the boy had a gun and why the police shot him".

Don't be so quick to judge based on ignorant stereotypes.
 
To be honest, this kid probably knew what he was doing just didn't realize the gravity of the situation like most kids his age. It's one thing to shoot at cops, it takes another complete thought to realize that the cops will shoot back.
 
Feel bad for the kids parents
Feel bad for the cops that had to take him down
Feel bad for any witnesses

that being said I want this normally investigated and does nothing to impact my view on gun ownership.

Its a shame he got his hands on a gun and this happened but thats about it unless I have more info.
 
How many here who are calling a 12 to 14 yo boy able to understand the gravity of this situation have actually raised one? Boys that age are mercurial and irrational when upset or angry. Young teens are still very much children in that they often act before they think. A loaded weapon in the hands of 12 to 14 yo who is upset or angry is more likely to be fired than one held by a younger child. I'm sure the police who shot the boy were well aware of that.

The best way to protect children from gun violence is for parents to lock up your weapons so they cannot get to them. I will never forget one of my co-workers getting a call that her 14 yo son was mortally wounded. The boy had a sore throat and was home from school. Her husband had insisted that a loaded weapon be kept unlocked in their bedside table for home protection.
 
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Frolicking Dinosaurs said:
How many here who are calling a 12 to 14 yo boy able to understand the gravity of this situation have actually raised one? Boys that age a mercurial and irrational when upset or angry. Young teens are still very much children in that they often act before they think. A loaded weapon in the hands of 12 to 14 yo who is upset or angry is more likely to be fired than one held by a younger child. I'm sure the police who shot the boy were well aware of that.

The best way to protect children from gun violence is for parents to lock up your weapons so they cannot get to them. I will never forget one of my co-workers getting a call that her 14 yo son was mortally wounded. The boy had a sore throat and was home from school. Her husband had insisted that a loaded weapon be kept unlocked in their bedside table for home protection.
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I really think it depends on the child/situation. I was raised around guns. My father was an avid hunter from a military family. We had hunting rifles, shotguns, and handguns of all calibers...and I knew what each was, what kind of damage it did, and that I shouldn't touch them under any circumstances until such time as I wanted to be trained in gun safety and accuracy. I didn't take the interest, I didn't touch the guns.

My boyfriend was raised similarly, except he DID take an interest and learned about them and handled them often. To this day I can tell you where the guns are in my father's house, how to load them, and how to disarm the safety. Now, I can also shoot most of them with decent accuracy, too.

But the point is, the mystery was taken away from guns because my dad explained them to me...and he did it in a manner that made me both respect and fear them enough to leave them alone. I never once showed a friend one of the guns, played with one, moved one, etc. without my parents in the room guiding me.

I don't think we have to hide everything from children...I think every child needs to be handled on the basis of their capabilities and mental state. Sure, that will require a bit more effort from parents, but it's about damn time they started making it again. Many in my generation and those about 6-7 years older than me are doing a amazingly poor job.
 
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Frolicking Dinosaurs said:
How many here who are calling a 12 to 14 yo boy able to understand the gravity of this situation have actually raised one?
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Since I was a kid, I was taught that. No, I did not have guns around the home, but I knew very well guns and other weapons were dangerous and when aimed at another human being, had the capability of killing that person. I also knew that if I ever did that, I would be heavily punished. There was no mystery to me, and yes, I was bullied heavily when I was in middle school, during the era of Columbine. No mystery.
 
Frolicking Dinosaurs said:
How many here who are calling a 12 to 14 yo boy able to understand the gravity of this situation have actually raised one? Boys that age are mercurial and irrational when upset or angry. Young teens are still very much children in that they often act before they think. A loaded weapon in the hands of 12 to 14 yo who is upset or angry is more likely to be fired than one held by a younger child. I'm sure the police who shot the boy were well aware of that.

The best way to protect children from gun violence is for parents to lock up your weapons so they cannot get to them. I will never forget one of my co-workers getting a call that her 14 yo son was mortally wounded. The boy had a sore throat and was home from school. Her husband had insisted that a loaded weapon be kept unlocked in their bedside table for home protection.
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While I agree with this everything is circumstantial, they should at least be locked up if no one is home or if its a weapon that shoots a little easier like a glock or a weapon with no manual safety like my P99.

Anyway, and I dont recommend you do this but, my dad kept TWO guns loaded and ready to go. One under the bed in a shoe box and one in the drawer next to the bed.

Now at an age when I might even fathom going into my parents room, 6 I think, looking around he took me out showed me a gun explained how dangerous it was and then he let me shoot it while in his hands also.

This along with the very clear message that id get my ass beat if i even thought about touching the gun made me decide very quickly i would never touch that gun lol

I even remember the PANIC that came over me one time when I was doing my chores and I was running the sweeper in my parents room. Well of course you have to sweep under the bed and I hit that box and moved it. I IMMEDIATELY ran and found my dad and told on myself LOL panicked I said dad I moved that box under the bed BUT I wasnt messing with it the sweeper hit it and it moved!!!!! LOL

too funny, anyway, again I wouldnt recommend this for anyone Im just saying with guns there always has to be some VERY FIRM instruction and explanation.
 
Top Cat said:
Actually the poster was correct. The lenient nature of the gun laws in Texas is absurd. And that isn't preconceived.
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According to the anti-2nd amendment website bradycampaign.org seven states have the least anti-2nd amendment laws. Oklahoma,Kentucky,Montana,Idaho, Arizona, Utah,and Louisiana have the least anti-2nd amendment laws.

, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
 
Has gun violence in schools always been this common, or is the media just reporting it more? It seems like once a month we are reading about this stuff now.
 
Temporal said:
Has gun violence in schools always been this common, or is the media just reporting it more? It seems like once a month we are reading about this stuff now.
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That. Violence in US schools has been on a steady decline since the early 90s. However you can't pretend to be tough on crime unless you blow every incident out of proportion. Also, how are people going to complain and moan about the fatherless welfare class if they don't make them out to be little monsters ready to shoot the good hearted children of conservatives parents?

Youth Violence Project - National Statistics

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Contrary to public perception, violent crime in schools has declined dramatically since 1994. The annual rate of serious violent crime in 2007 (40 per 1,000 students)was less than half of the rate in 1994. These data are victim reports collected as part of the National Crime Victimization Survey and are not derived from school records.
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iguanaman said:
Right you are...an 8 year old is shot dead. 3 cheers for Texas, the most gun happy State in the Union. Can you imagine if that boy had lived...the horror.
THe NRA should give that kids Dad a medal for teaching his youngsters about guns at an early age.
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Do you have any information that we arent privy to regarding the 15 year old, where he got the weapon, or what the circumstances might actually be?
 
iguanaman said:
Ok, an 12 year old boy is shot dead and everyone in Texas cheers. Happy now?
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He was 15 and I dont see anyone cheering. In fact I have seen pretty much everyone expressing sorrow and sympathy for both the boy and the police who were placed in that situation. Everyone that is except the occasional cockwad that feels the need to use a tragedy to promote their own personal political bias.
 
Just updated the story, it was a pellet gun. Just stupid.
 
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A fourteen-year-old is a grown man and you don't need to be a grown man to kill someone with a firearm. The police did the right thing.

This is a terrible tragedy for the family, but I don't see how anyone did anything wrong except for the dead man himself.
 
theangryamerican said:
Yep, was just about to post this.

Police: Student Killed By Officers Had Pellet Gun

I still support the actions of the officers. They shouldn't have to wait until an officer is shot before determining whether the object pointed at them is a deadly threat or not.
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Especially when modern pellet guns are quite realistic. There shouldn't be an expectation that a cop takes round to determine whether its a real gun or not. Sound like he followed Use of Force protocols.

Still gotta suck for him. Shooting a kid with a pellet gun has gotta hurt something fierce.
 
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