Question about Bremerton, WA elementary school shooting

[9MM92FS]

It's my understanding that the boy who fired the .45 H&K accidentally when he slammed his backpack down, used his mother's gun. She (and his father) have "extensive criminal backgrounds", apparently related to their status as meth heads. In fact, an uncle is the kid's legal guardian, not either of the divorced loser parents.

Questions: How come she wasn't charged as convicted felon owning a firearm? If she had the firearm before, wasn't she required to turn in owned firearms upon conviction? Do states vary in their laws concerning firearm ownership by convicted felons?

I have no experience with H&K 45s, but I know with my 1911, you'd have to have a round chambered, the safety off AND the second grip safety depressed. It would take a near miracle to have one discharge in a backpack. Probably the H&K doesn't have a grip safety, but with a chambered round and the safety off, something (pencil/pen?) must have been pressing on the trigger. Maybe H&K owners could comment.

[totes6]

I can't speak to the design of the HK. But in regards to the felon status, I am pretty sure it is the Federal Law that a Felon cannot possess a firearm. I am sure States have also passed this law as well, but even if you get your rights restored by the State Governor, my understanding is that you still cannot possess a firearm, because of the Federal Law.

[mk4]

criminals, especially convicted felons, have already shown their wanton disregard for laws. laws are only obeyed by the law-abiding, pre-facto. or, used to punish law-breakers, post-facto.

even if 'mom' had to, and did, turn in any possessed firearms after being convicted, what's to have stopped her from getting another, illegally?

[dorminWS]

Once more we have a demonstration that most gun laws are enforceable only by punishing someone after they have been caught violating them - usually either by accident or by misuse of the weapon. The laws are supposedly aimed at those who would misuse guns; but those who would misuse them will not comply with the law anyway. The reliance and assumption is that people will comply willingly; and only those who are law-abiding anyway will do so.

There may well be and in my opinion surely are people without enough sense and/or responsibility to own a gun and/or vote and/or bear offspring and/or own and operate a car, etc.; but our egalitarian society cannot countenance depriving them of their equality with other citizens (and quite rightly doesn't trust government to make the decisions about who will be so classified, I suspect); so the answer is to deprive ALL of society of the freedoms the very few cannot handle responsibly instead of just accepting that there will be some misfortune visited upon innocent people in the world because there are a few dumbasses in the herd. (The mamma in this instance is a good example. Sounds like SHE shouldn’t have been allowed to procreate; much less own a gun)

In short, gun laws are one of those classes of regulation that don't make a damn bit of sense, but the meddling do-gooders pass them anyway.

[Diomed]

How come she wasn't charged as convicted felon owning a firearm?

The legal system in most places is so overloaded that a lot of stuff never makes it to a disposition.

In a more tinfoily sense, once you're a felon, the system doesn't really care what you do; it's out to make felons, not serve justice. In a lot of places prosecutors go after people with no records like sharks on a wounded seal. They couldn't care less about career criminals, it's a rotating door for them. One usually sees that in the cities of the Northeast and California, but it's spreading.

[VBshooter]

Nothing says Junior can't lie and throw mOm under the bus by saying the gun is hers,,,,Wouldn't be the first time one of these punks does it

[grumpyMSG]

There may a simple explanation as to why mom still has the ability to legally own a firearm. she may not be a convicted felon. She may have been convicted of misdemeanors, like many folks who are caught with illegal substances but it was a small quantity because they were a user not a dealer.

I have no experience with H&K 45s, but I know with my 1911, you'd have to have a round chambered, the safety off AND the second grip safety depressed. It would take a near miracle to have one discharge in a backpack. Probably the H&K doesn't have a grip safety, but with a chambered round and the safety off, something (pencil/pen?) must have been pressing on the trigger. Maybe H&K owners could comment.

Actually a 1911 (except for a Colt series 80 type) can discharge when it is dropped. It is extremely rare for it to happen, but on a 1911 the firing pin is held away from the primer by a spring. If you were to drop the pistol muzzle down at a fast enough speed, when the muzzle hit the ground and inertia kept the firing pin moving, it could go off. Safety position wouldn't matter, nor would the grip safety position. To put in perspective though, during the 70 or so years it was in front-line service with the Army, there were two cases in which an investigation determined that was the cause for an accidental discharge. On the series 80 or Colt model 1991s they added 5 or 6 pieces, which was a firing pin block system, so the trigger has to be pulled for the firing pin to strike the primer. I don't know of any of the other manufacturers that include this feature on their 1911s.

There are so many pistols out there now, that the only safety on them is to keep your finger out of trigger guard, Glocks being the most popular. If it were a Glock, just thrown into the bag, all it would take is to have something get caught in the trigger and depress it when the bag was dropped.

[9MM92FS]

If it were a Glock, just thrown into the bag, all it would take is to have something get caught in the trigger and depress it when the bag was dropped.

Or, in Plaxico Burress's case, just jam your hand down your pants and BANG!!, your Glock goes off!

All this talk about how guns can go off accidentally makes my decision to never keep a round in the chamber unless I'm firing it seem wiser (at least to me...YMMV).

[wylde007]

All this talk about how guns can go off accidentally makes my decision to never keep a round in the chamber unless I'm firing it seem wiser (at least to me...YMMV).

Make sure you inform any assailants of that so they can give you time to cock one back.

[9MM92FS]

All this talk about how guns can go off accidentally makes my decision to never keep a round in the chamber unless I'm firing it seem wiser (at least to me...YMMV).

Make sure you inform any assailants of that so they can give you time to cock one back.

First off, I don't carry my handgun outside my home (other than at the range). It's in my nightstand. If someone breaks into my home and makes it past my over protective GSD into my bedroom, I figure that unless they're moving at the speed of light, I have more than enough time to chamber a round. I don't think the difference in time between chambering a round with the safety off vs already having a round chambered but having to flip the safety off is that great. If that short amount of time is important, chances are you're in very deep doo-doo already.

In the case of the meth head's 9 year old kid in Bremerton, odds are that she had the round chambered and safety off (or her boyfriend, who owned the gun, did) when her kid put the gun in his backpack.

Btw, re that shooting in Washington state, here's an item of interest:

In Olympia, the Seattle Democrat who chairs the state Senate Judiciary Committee said there is a lapse in state law. "We do not hold people very accountable in this state for leaving guns around the house with small children," Sen. Adam Kline said.

Leave it to a lib to spring into action after the fact (locking the barn door after the horse has been stolen) and try to take advantage of a situation in order to further restrict Second Amendment rights.