NSSF Gets Government Grant - CSGV Doesn't Like It

from ssgmarkcr

  I came across this and someone definitely isn't happy.

"NEWTOWN, Conn. — The National Shooting Sports Foundation® (NSSF®) announced today that it has been awarded a two-year, $2.4 million grant by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Funds will go toward providing firearm safety education messaging and free gun locks through NSSF’s Project ChildSafe program to communities throughout the country, to encourage responsible firearm storage and help reduce firearm accidents, theft and misuse."

http://www.nssfblog.com/doj-awards-2-4-million-grant-to-nssfs-project-childsafe/

This project has distributed over 36 million free gun locks to gun owners along with literature to educate owners on safe storage of firearms.  However, as I said, someone isn't happy about government money going to this project,

"Newtown, CT−Two gun violence prevention groups, the Newtown Action Alliance and Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, have launched a petition campaign calling on the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to cancel a planned $2.4 million grant to the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) and find a more suitable partner for their gun violence prevention efforts.

On September 10, 2015, the Newtown-headquartered NSSF announced that it had received a two-year grant from DOJ to produce Project ChildSafe Safety Kits, which the organization distributes to law enforcement agencies around the country. The kits include a cable-style gun lock and a brochure detailing gun safety procedures."

http://csgv.org/releases/2015/petition-campaign-calls-department-justice-stop-funding-corporate-gun-lobby/

    Now if the CSGV had some evidence that funds that were supposed to go to go for gun locks was being spent to lobby congress,then they might have a justifiable beef.  But all I'm seeing is that someone they don't approve of is getting some good PR for the very beneficial program that provides real world and real time improvement in guns being safely stored.  

    What does everyone here think of what seems to me to be a bad case of sour grapes?

One thing I think is this: the NSSF says child locks "help reduce firearm accidents, theft and misuse." I'd like to know how "a cable-style gun lock" would reduce theft.

Alaska Boy Dead by Gunshot - "No Foul Play"

Local news

An Ambler boy has died following what troopers said was an accidental shooting Saturday night in the village.

At about 11 p.m., troopers in Kotzebue received the report of the shooting and chartered a commercial flight to Ambler in the early hours of Sunday morning. 

The investigation showed that a boy, 8, identified as C.G. in the trooper report, was playing with his cousins in the yard. The kids went into a nearby shed where they obtained a loaded firearm from the rafters, according to the trooper dispatch.

"One of the children then shot C.G. with the firearm, not realizing that the firearm was real or loaded," troopers said. 

The boy died from injuries sustained by the gunshot wound. No foul play is suspected.

Michigan 4-Year-old Injured in Accidental Shooting - Police Baffled

Local news

Police say a 4-year-old boy was wounded when a gun apparently accidentally discharged and his head was grazed by a bullet in Ann Arbor.

Ann Arbor police Detective Sgt. Pat Hughes says the boy had non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to an area hospital in stable condition. He says three other children — two boys and a girl all under the age of 10 — were at the home at the time.

Hughes says police were trying to determine whether an adult also was at home, who owned the gun and how exactly the gun was discharged.

Southern Beale's Tennessee Gun Report

Southern Beale

March 7, 2015:
 
An 11-year-old Nashville boy was charged with murder in the accidental shooting death of his 15-year-old friend:

An 11-year-old has been charged with his death. Detectives said the 11-year-old told them he was playing with a gun he had found when it went off and hit Ziegler.
Saturday, those in the neighborhood said this tragedy was a wakeup call for the community.

The incident happened on a day when Nashville’s gun-free schools were closed because of the snow. Remind me again how unsafe these gun-free zones are. I’m all ears.

And let me just say: we’re charging the 11-year-old? The 11-year-old? Not the adult who owned the gun? Is this coming from our new District Attorney, the guy who campaigned on the slogan that he “knows the difference between a bad person and a good kid in trouble”?

Missouri Woman Charged in Grandson's Accidental Shooting

Cheryle J. Spaeth

from ssgmarkcr

    I came upon this and it caught my eye.  Its a pretty good example of prosecuting improperly stored firearms in states that don't have a real solid child access law.  Missouri's law isn't very clearly written IMHO,

"Missouri prohibits any person from recklessly selling, leasing, loaning, giving away or delivering a firearm to a person underage 18 without the consent of the child’s custodial parent or guardian.¹

State administrative regulations may govern the safe storage of firearms in other locations."

http://smartgunlaws.org/child-access-prevention-in-missouri/

    But other avenues are available. 

WILDWOOD • Police say Cheryle J. Spaeth went to take a shower while her three grandchildren played in her bedroom last August. Soon, she heard a gunshot.

Her 6-year-old grandson had been shot in the leg after one of the children apparently got a handgun from atop a high dresser.

The boy's injury Aug. 22 wasn't life-threatening, police say. He was treated at a hospital and released.

Spaeth was charged Friday with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child, a felony. Spaeth, 60, has not yet been arrested so no mugshot was available Tuesday. She could not be reached for comment. Bail is set at $25,000.

The shooting happened in the 18300 block of Rathbun Hills Road in Wildwood, in a home Spaeth shares with her adult son and grandchildren.

The gun had not been in a holster or locked up. 

"The kids were playing," County Police Officer Shawn McGuire said. "I'm guessing she thought (the gun) was high enough that they couldn't get to it."

According to a county detective's probable cause statement, police say the boy shot himself. Yet officers say the children in the room were scared when police arrived and details were difficult to sort out.

The children's father, who was in another room of the house at the time, heard the shot too and rushed into the room to find his bleeding son. The father owns several guns, but it wasn't immediately clear who owned the gun on the dresser in the grandmother's room.

Endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree is punishable in Missouri by up to seven years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The crime is defined, in part, as "knowingly (acting) in a manner that creates a substantial risk to the life, body, or health of a child less than seventeen years of age."

Police say the four-month-old case ended up at the prosecutor's office only in the last few days because the Ferguson unrest and police detail following the Aug. 9 killing of Michael Brown had taken so much of the police department's time.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/grandma-of--year-old-boy-who-shot-himself-in/article_f165b64f-7117-59fd-b65e-bec63b9eed52.html

Kids and Guns

.@NRA Child of "open carrier" below. I was raised in gun-owning family. This would be anathema to us. #MomsDemand pic.twitter.com/uCYY3Y8rLJ

— Cornelia (@PaladinCornelia) December 29, 2014

Machine Gun America

The Daily Mail

A new attraction where children as young as 13 fire military-grade weapons in zombie, gangster and cowboy-themed simulators has been slammed by gun control campaigners.

Although management claim their Orlando, Florida, attraction provides a safe place for the use of firearms, critics claim it is unsuitable for an area known for its child-friendly attractions.

The website for the business - named Machine Gun America - states it is Orlando's 'first automatic adrenaline attraction'.

New Jersey 10-Year-old Shooting Star

The Blaze


More ABC US news | ABC World News

Pennsylvania 10-Year-old Shoots Himself in the Face with Dad's Unsecured Gun - No Charges (Yet?)

Local news reports

A 10-year-old boy continues to recover after authorities say he shot himself in the face with his father's gun while sitting inside an SUV in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

The shooting took place in a black SUV parked in an industrial park along the 1400 block of Calcon Hook Road in Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania, around 10:20 p.m. Saturday, police said.

The boy was waiting with his sister in the vehicle, outside an auto repair shop, when he found his father's .357 caliber revolver and it went off, police told NBC10. The father was inside the shop. The mother had just dropped the children off.

Prosecutors are currently deciding whether the boy's father should be charged.

The investigation is ongoing.

Kids with Guns in Florida - 8-Year-old Shot in the Head

Local news reports

When a bullet hit an 8-year-old boy in the head, the children left alone inside the Deland house turned to their neighbor two doors down, Eddie Nealy, for help.

"I have a young boy here and his sister said she accidentally shot him with a pistol," Nealy is heard telling the 911 operator Wednesday evening.

In the background, the boy's 9-year-old sister is heard sobbing in the background, apologizing to her younger brother.

Police said the little girl found a gun inside their house on South Parsons Avenue and shot her brother, Bloved Guinn.

Despite a bullet to the head, Nealy said the boy was able to walk himself over to his house and he was talking and crying.

"Was it accidental, baby?" Nealy asked the sister.

"Yes," she said.

"Yes, it was accidental," Nealy told the dispatcher.

"Because I love him," she said.

Deland police said the young children were home alone and two older siblings were supposed to be watching the kids, but the teens were gone to the store when the shooting happened.

Police have not charged anyone in the shooting and said they still need to talk to the mother to determine if any crime happened.

"To determine if any crime happened?"  Whhaaat?

Does this picture bother you?

Are you happy to see these kids waving guns around (despite their fingers being on the trigger)?

Do you see a difference between the picture above and this one?

How about this one?

Is this what you want us to see as normal?

BTW, the kids at the top are a Palestinians in Gaza.

8-Year-Old Texas Boy Shot By 7-Year-Old Relative

TPM

An 8-year-old boy was shot by his 7-year-old relative on Thursday while they were left alone with a gun in an apartment in Texas City, Texas.

Texas City police told the Galveston newspaper that three children, including a 9-year-old, were alone at the apartment when they “found the handgun inside the residence.” The 7-year-old pulled the trigger and wounded his relative, according to the Daily News.


Police told the Daily News that the 7-year-old would not face charges due to his age.

However, police did note that the adult who was supposed to be supervising the children could face criminal charges, according to the Daily News.

Another Witchita Kid Dead - No Arrests - Police Offer the Usual Advice

Local news reports

A 3-year-old boy has died after what apparently was an accidental shooting in a home in the 500 block of East Lincoln on Tuesday afternoon, Wichita police said.

Police said they believe the mother and her boyfriend were sleeping in the house when the 3-year-old located a handgun and accidentally shot himself in the chest, Lt. Dennis Wilson said.

It was the second time in three months that a Wichita child was shot to death at home. On April 30, a 19-month old boy died shortly after being shot in the chest after three young children found a gun.
On Tuesday, the mother and boyfriend woke up when the shot was fired around 5 p.m. and called 911. 

Four children – ages 3, 6, 7 and 8 – were in the house at the time, Wilson said. 

The boy was taken to Via Christi Hospital St. Francis, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 6 p.m., Wilson said. The boy’s mother was with him when he died.

No arrests have been made, police said. The boyfriend was still in custody answering police questions nearly two hours after the shooting

“My advice to parents is to lock up any type of firearm,” Wilson said.

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2014/07/29/3573263/shooting-reported-near-lincoln.html#storylink=cpy

Kids and Guns - The Never Ending Story

Unintentional but Preventable Child Deaths

A year of unintentional child gun deaths. Laws make a difference. Learn more: http://t.co/7fxoAybp0q pic.twitter.com/BXYsM3rV1C
— Everytown (@Everytown) June 25, 2014 

Crickett - My First Rifle

5-year-old fatally shoots 2-year-old sister http://t.co/qNZ9fKJuQt #GunSense #NotOneMore pic.twitter.com/KSHvEYLNhC

— KHARY PENEBAKER (@kharyp) June 25, 2014

No Charges for Washington Boy, 13, in Accidental Shooting

SF Gate

The Pierce County Prosecutor's office says no criminal charges will be filed against a 13-year-old boy who accidentally shot his friend earlier this year.

Prosecutor Mark Lindquist says there wasn't enough evidence to support a criminal recklessness or negligence. He says the shooting was a "heartbreaking tragedy that illustrates the importance of handling guns responsibly."

Authorities say that on Feb. 6, several boys ranging in age from 12 to 14 were at a home after school when the boy who lived there pulled out a shotgun to show to the others, all of whom were friends. That boy gave the gun to another boy. The 13-year-old victim —Eddie Holmes — was shot a short time later in the chest.

Kids and Guns in the USA

Abby, aged 8, from Louisiana, in a detail from a photograph by An-Sofie Kesteleyn, from the series My Little Rifle.

The Guardian

In May last year, a two-year-old girl was shot dead by her five-year-old brother with a small rifle made specifically for children. The accidental shooting happened in Cumberland County, Kentucky, when the boy was playing with a gun purchased from a company in Pennsylvania calledKeystone Sporting Arms, which, in 2008, produced around 80,000 rifles for children. The guns, which sell under the model names Cricket andChipmunk, were originally advertised on a "Kid's Corner" on the company's website (it has since been removed), which showed children firing them at rifle ranges and on hunting trips. The guns are produced in bright blue, pink and rainbow colours and marketed like toys, under the tag line "My First Rifle".

When the photographer An-Sofie Kesteleyn read about the story in De Volkskrant, the Dutch newspaper she works for, she began making plans for a trip to the American south. "I wanted to go and search for these families who bought guns as presents for their young children," she says. "I began by visiting a rifle range in Ohio, where children are taught to shoot, then travelled down through Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Texas and Louisiana. What I found was that there are loads of children out there in America with their own guns, but not that many parents who are happy to have their kids' portraits taken with those guns."

Kesteleyn's series, My Little Rifle, consists of only 15 portraits, but they provide a powerful and disturbing glimpse of a much bigger gun culture. Last year, the series was chosen for the World Press Photo's prestigious Joop Swart Masterclass.

Indiana 7-Year-old Dead in Accidental Shooting - No Charges

Local news reports

Noble County Sheriff's Department officers responding to a report of a shooting about 12:30 p.m. Saturday on CR 1100 N. in Ligonier found 7-year-old Jaylin Miller dead of a gunshot wound, according to a statement from the sheriff's department.

An investigation revealed that Jaylin and his brother had gone outside to shoot ground moles when the gun was discharged by Jaylin's brother, striking and killing him, police said.

The Noble County Coroner said the shooting was accidental, and the boys' parents were on the scene when it happened.

Oh, the parents were on the scene and it was just an accident, no problem then.

Virginia 7-Year-old Dead - Advice to Gun Owners Follows

Local news reports

Franklin County Sheriff’s Office officials said Tuesday that the death of the 7-year-old boy in Burnt Chimney is being treated as an accidental shooting. The investigation, according to Capt. Mark Torbert, is focused on determining how the boys got their hands on the weapons.

Torbert said the brothers had gone to visit a neighbor. As the investigation stands, it appears the boys obtained guns, and both were handling them inside the neighbor’s home when the 12-year-old fired a .45-caliber handgun. The bullet struck the 7-year-old, and the neighbor, the only adult in the house, called 911.

Deputies arrived at 11:47 a.m., the sheriff’s office has said, and found the boy dead. Lt. Phillip Young said the boy was killed instantly.

No charges have been filed in the incident as of yet, and a search warrant related to the shooting is sealed, but Torbert said investigators have zeroed in on the “circumstances leading up to the children having access to firearms.”

The shooting, Torbert said, is a wake-up call to anyone storing guns near children.

“We need to begin the conversation in our community about gun safety,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with guns. Adults just need to ensure that children don’t have access to firearms.”

At the most basic level, he said, gun locks should be obtained for any weapon. They are readily available, and several groups — including the sheriff’s office — will supply them for free.

Other precautions are also advisable, Torbert said, like storing guns in a location children cannot reach.

And at an appropriate age, he said, parents should talk to children about gun safety and what to do if they encounter a gun or are handling one.