Ever wonder why law makers are trying to make new gun laws?

[Fowl Play WA]

The neighbor across the street has an angry black lab that gets out of their yard often. When he's out, he chases people down and charges at anyone walking in the area. Today he pinned our 8 year old neighbor against the car and was snapping at him. Brad hollared at the dog, and he ran across the street. So, the little kid goes in for a minute, and comes back out with a pistol. He walked up to Brad and said "I'm going to protect myself from that damn dog." Yes, he's 8 saying this. Then the kid went on, telling Brad that it was a .22 (although Brad suspects it was a bb or pellet gun), and went about telling Brad where it's kept in the house and that his dad told him to use it if he's ever in danger.

Probably should have called the cops, but am just now getting to the point where they're civil towards us after we had to call on the last year for leaving the 6 & 7 year old kids alone while mom and dad went into town. When Gunner scaled the kennel wall, she called me and threatened to turn him in as a dangerous dog if she saw him out again. They're great neighbors. If the market was good and the credit card paid off, this house would be up for sale, but as neither of those are the case, we're stuck here.

[Leddyman]

Every thing about what you said is already against the law. Was the 8 yo home alone? #1. An 8 yo with access to a gun? #2. 8yo brings said gun in the yard without adult ? #3

I saw the local news today do a story about the increase in gun sales this year. The guy who owns Eagle Gun Range is a friend of mine and they interviewed him. They couldn't get him to say that it was fear of what the Obama administration was going to do on camera, so the reporter said that he also said that. All he said on camera was that the crime rate was up and people wanted to protect themselves. I thought it was funny that they couldn't get him ro say it so they had to put it in in the narrated part that the reporter does. They were asking people on the street if they thought we needed stricter gun laws. The only person they could get to say yes was one black guy who said that yes we need stricter gun laws because mostly convicted felons had guns. Wonder where he got that scientific study? And in case no one was looking...ITS ALREADY AGAINST THE LAW FOR FELONS TO HAVE GUNS!!!!! Why can't people realize that we already have all the laws we need. What we have that we don't need is selective enforcement. The ultimate goal of all of these laws is to make all guns illegal, fortunately for us tha framers of the constitution made this as hard as possible.

BTW Joni this is not a slam against you. The news story got my dander up.

[copterdoc]

I am confused. What new gun law, not already in effect, is going to stop an 8 yr old kid from threatening to shoot an aggressive dog?

How about keeping the same old laws we have always had and simply hold people accountable for their own irresponsible actions? Like letting a mean dog run at large, or not realizing your 8 yr old kid, isn't as mature as you hoped he was.

I wouldn't call the cops, I would disarm the stupid kid and have a non accusational talk about firearm safety, with the parents immediatly.

[Jake Lunsford]

Someone should slap that kid's father across the mouth for not teaching the kid how to properly use a gun, take the gun away from the kid and whup his butt, then shoot the dog with the gun.

Swift, just, and violent. Too many cokes today for me...

[Fowl Play WA]

I realize that everything about this situation is against the law, but people still think that making new laws that are tougher are going to stop stuff like this. The problem is, crimes are usually do not happen with legally owned guns, handled by intelligent people. Obviously this family is lacking something in the intelligence area. His mom was home this time, but she sees nothing wrong with leaving the kids to run into town for something.

Needless to say it led to some excellent conversation with Harleigh. And as far as the dog goes, he is owned by a cop's ex-wife and whenever the dogs are reported out, an officer kindly comes over and secures them in the yard. The fact that we have a leash law and dogs get "1 free trip home" before being taken does not apply here.

Obviously Harleigh will not be having much friendly neighborhood play time with the kids next door. I wouldn't put it past him to pack that thing around all the time now. Chances are his "attentive" mom didn't even know he handled the gun.

[BrianW]

I'm confused here;
Are you saying the kid has no right to defend himself from an out-of-control animal whose owner has no regard for the law, just because he's "only" 8 years old ? Read the 1st post "an angry black lab that gets out of their yard often. When he's out, he chases people down and charges at anyone walking in the area." This is most likely NOT the first time ths has happened to the boy! What if the boy had gotten the gun and defended an elderly lady that was being threatened by the dog? Wouldn't you be calling him a "hero" instead of 'stupid"?


Consider this
Shotgun preteen vs. illegal alien Home Invaders :

Butte, Montana November 5, 2008

Two illegal aliens, Raphael Resindez, 23, and Enrico Garza, 26, probably
believed they would easily overpower home-alone 11 year old Patricia
Harrington after her father had left their two-story home.

It seems the two crooks never learned two things: they were in Montana and
Patricia had been a clay shooting champion since she was nine.

Patricia was in her upstairs room when the two men broke through the front
door of the house. She quickly ran to her father's room and grabbed his 12
gauge Mossberg 500 shotgun.

Resindez was the first to get up to the second floor only to be the first
to catch a near point blank blast of buckshot from the 11-year-old's knee
crouch aim. He suffered fatal wounds to his abdomen and genitals.

When Garza ran to the foot of the stairs, he took a blast to the left
shoulder and staggered out into the street where he bled to death before
medical help could arrive.

It was found out later that Resindez was armed with a stolen 45 caliber
handgun he took from another home invasion robbery. That victim, 50-year-old
David Burien, was not so lucky. He died from stab wounds to the chest.

Ever wonder why good stuff never makes NBC, CBS, PBS, & MSNBC, CNN, or ABC
news........an 11 year old girl, properly trained, defended her home and
herself......against two murderous, illegal aliens .......and she wins, she
is still alive.

Now that is Gun Control!

[marshmonster]

and what new gun law would have prevented that?



your title sounds as if you think lawmakers are justified in making laws to prevent such behavior.

enforcing the laws on the books, and actually punishing people for the crimes they commit are great deterrents. We don't need more laws, we need the old ones enforced.

at the very least the child is committing a crime by carrying a pistol in public. He has to be 21 to legally possess a handgun in public. By threatening to use it he is "menacing"

and let's not forget that a citation for a loose dog, or a possibly dangerous dog being allowed to pin a child against a car? Why aren't the dog owners in trouble. Sounds like the dog is out regularly?

[Rainmaker]

Contact a superior officer, mayor, city counsel if you have to. Have a chat about what appears to be preferential treatment for a policeman's ex-wife's dog and that the dog is aggressive. If you have a leash law, you have a basis for complaints to law enforcement and back it up with letters to the editor, or promises thereof if you don't get a satisfactory response. Get photos/video of said dog and of the officers putting the dog away if anyone can.

Much more concerning, the kid's mom needs to be made aware her son brought a pistol out of the house with the intent to defend himself, however politely you can manage it. You aren't doing her any favors by not telling her, even if she doesn't like it. The kid was afraid of the dog and I don't blame him, use that in approaching mom, get her on board to help complain about the dog, come up with some proactive approaches together in the guise of helping your children deal appropriately with these situations instead of turning to firearms that they aren't mature enough to deal with yet. Next could be another child that sets him off if he isn't made aware of responsible gun handling. Or she could lose her child to a dog that goes over the edge.

Fear of retaliation by the neighbors isn't enough to warrant ignoring what the kid did with a gun or a loose, aggressive dog. Gun laws have little to do with this situation, personal accountability does and not sticking one's head in the sand for fearing bad feelings with the neighbors.

[badbullgator]

I'm confused here;
Are you saying the kid has no right to defend himself from an out-of-control animal whose owner has no regard for the law, just because he's "only" 8 years old ? Read the 1st post "an angry black lab that gets out of their yard often. When he's out, he chases people down and charges at anyone walking in the area." This is most likely NOT the first time ths has happened to the boy! What if the boy had gotten the gun and defended an elderly lady that was being threatened by the dog? Wouldn't you be calling him a "hero" instead of 'stupid"?

Yes and no. This dog situation seems to be well know and has happened before. The problem should be solved by the law and animal control, NOT by a 8 year old with a gun. While your examples are all well and good, this situation does not equate with any of them. If the kid went back into the house to get a gun (against the law in my state any way) he had removed himself from any danger and the proper thing to do would have been to call animal control or the local law.
Since you like what if's, what if that same 8 year old walked outside to shoot the dog and instead missed and shot another 8 year old near by or anyone including himself for that matter?
look I agree that there are already laws in place that should be enforced and there are times when circumstances dictate that someone like this may need to really defend himself or his family but this is not the case here.

[Fowl Play WA]

and what new gun law would have prevented that?



your title sounds as if you think lawmakers are justified in making laws to prevent such behavior.

Sorry. That was not my intentions. I think that people who don't own guns/are opposed to guns think that tougher laws would make things like this go away. Unfortunately, that is not the case. We don't need more laws, we just need people to use what little of their brain they haven't ruined yet. I am making a call to the police today, but more as a concern than to report.