Trick-or-treater pulls gun

[KaosDad]

Don't mess with Trick-or-Treaters in Aiken, SC!!!!!

http://bit.ly/sCv0B7

Best part of the story: the litter nipper was turned over to his parents.

[allingeneral]

Hopefully this will be a lesson learned for this kid by way of his parents and/or grandparents teaching him that what he did was wrong and why. Also, teaching the right way to handle a firearm would probably be a step in the right direction (i.e., never point at anything you don't intend to destroy; always handle a firearm as if it were loaded; etc...)

[SHMIV]

These two kids thought that it would be ok to steal from their grandfather. What they stole is less alarming, to me, than THAT they stole... from their grandfather. There is clearly a lack of education and discipline on the part of the parents.

These two children have a very skewed moral compass; and I blame the parents for that.

[mk4]

what about grandpa, who evidently didn't adequately secure, not one, but two handguns?

i'm not, in any way, excusing what these boys did, but they are 10 years old. if the guns had been locked in even a moderately stout pistol safe, they'd likely never have been able to get at them. i say "likely" as i suppose they might have guessed the combo, or found a poorly secured key, but it's doubtful they'd be strong enough to pry it open. if they were to manage either of the first two, then grandpa still failed to secure these firearms. the article doesn't elaborate much, but my money is on the guns not being secured.

[SHMIV]

He shouldn't have had to lock them up. My grandfather never locked his guns. Out of 15 grandchildren, and a couple of great-grandchildren, now, not one of us has ever stolen a gun from him. Or anything else, for that matter.

[mk4]

i guess we'll have to disagree on locking them up. i feel the responsibility is on me as the lawful firearms owner. would it help if i used 'secure' vs 'lock'?

i'm not sure about the legal code in sc regarding the securing of firearms and children, but there is va statute re: children under 14 years of age - 18.2-56.2 (A), iirc.

[SHMIV]

i guess we'll have to disagree on locking them up. i feel the responsibility is on me as the lawful firearms owner. would it help if i used 'secure' vs 'lock'?

i'm not sure about the legal code in sc regarding the securing of firearms and children, but there is va statute re: children under 14 years of age - 18.2-56.2 (A), iirc.

I suppose so. I've never seen much sense in locking guns away, but I believe it to be a personal choice. As it applies to this particular case, I still hold that the grandfather shouldn't have HAD to lock his guns up. I believe that there is some failure on the part of the parents of those children. At the same time, however, perhaps he should have recognized that his offspring was failing to raise their own offspring properly, and could have better secured his weapons, even if locking them up was the method used to secure them.