What an incredible and intensely sad waste.

don't know what to say..........

You have GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!

I am sure these people are grieving, but my god, the sheer idiocy of what they did. How many people with toddlers and kids in their homes leave loaded guns lying around?

Just heartbreaking. And such a waste.

arrested for negligent homicide. The incident was preventable had they been responsible gun owners. I am sick and tired of children shooting themselves or others because of loaded guns left where they can reach them.

This is a terrible terrible tragedy, but I agree with you that they should be held responsible. The irresponsibility boggles the mind.

What kind of moron keeps a loaded gun within arms reach of unsupervised 2 year old
Geez!!!

Melinda and Owen Leatham evidently.

Callous of me? Probably but its also true.

the truth hurts. Stupid hurts too when it kills your own child.

If it had happened to me, I would find it hard to survive with the shame of it. I'm feel sorry for the parents because the nightmares haven't even begun.

They need to find a way to get through this. I suggest getting rid of the guns if for nothing else than respect for their lost child.

He of all people should know better.
In fact, he should be all the MORE accountable.

I think you are right someone is lying. How is a two year old strong enough to pull the trigger towards himself?

using a philips screw driver.
but he was precocious.
Best part of the memory is daddy's frantic voice upon discovery of his cherished son's talent:
"where are the rest of the screws??? ..... HOW MANY DID YOU EAT????"

How many did he eat?

I am in fact trying to imagine how a 2 year old could HOLD/Pick up a handgun AND fire it....


As for the screws, all were eventually accounted for in the garage, but we had an anxious couple of bathroom check days.

It isn't about taking people's guns away, it's about preventing tragedies like this from happening.

Wish we could really work WITH the NRA to stop this kind of thing from ever happening again.

You can't cure stupid.

You either make it harder for stupid people to get guns or you accept the occasional dead two year old as a price worth paying for the right to own guns.

And yes, I know that two year olds with negligent parents can die a million other ways too. But the only way to stop two year olds shooting themselves is to decrease the number of houses with guns and two years olds at the same time. And there's no way to do that without taking peoples' guns away.

I think the gun thing is about "swagger" and the NRA et al are trying to prove how they have the right to take their guns with them everywhere, teach their kids to shoot semi-automatics as soon as they can hold them etc...

There are responsible gun owners out there. My dad was one. We would never have considered touching his gun. It's called parenting. Other gun owners have gun safes and lock them up.

and that they are the majority.

But the fact remains that you will always have tragedies like this as long as you allow private citizens to own guns. You can reduce them with public education campaigns but you will never "prevent" them as long as stupid, irresponsible people have access to lethal weapons.

THEY would have more ways to persuade gun owners to ALWAYS lock up their guns when kids are involved. BUT they want it to be perceived as if guns are "safe as can be" so this "swagger" attitude prevents common sense cooperation between our side and theirs.

Total prevention of these kind of tragedies, yes impossible. Stuff happens. Kids find the keys, and the ammo even if guns aren't loaded and stored separately.

You can't legislate against stupid, but you can get at people's hearts. People love their kids and need to be pushed HARD to make these kind of decisions in the harsh light of tragedy, not the warm glow of "baby's asleep, what harm is there in leaving it out?"

because it is stupid to smoke, to use illegal drugs, to drive drunk, to eat unhealthy food, to drive without a seat belt.

but public education campaigns have not "prevented" smoking, taking drugs, drunk driving, bad eating habits or driving without seatbelts. They have only (debatably) reduced their frequency and the damage they cause. As I said before, the only way to prevent two year olds shooting themselves is to ensure that no two year olds have access to guns. And the only way to 100% do that is to make sure that no adults keep guns around two year olds. Some people are immune to reasonable persuasive argument and education. So the debate comes back to either we take the guns or we accept the dead two year old.

why don't we "take" the alcohol? It kills more 2 years olds than gun accidents. (And here I am talking about the impact of achohol on society in total - drunk drivers, domestic abuse, child abuse, etc)

Why don't you support Prohibition II - because you like a beer or two perhaps?

We accept a lot of risky behavior in our society, sometimes because the benefits outweight the harm (driving automobiles) and sometimes because prohibition is impossible to enforce (alcohol).

I don't drink but I don't support prohibition either because anyone can brew or distill alcohol in their bathtub or under their beds and then sell it for pennies. Not everyone can assemble a TEC-9 using spare parts from their VCR. It is actually feasible to drastically reduce the number of guns in private hands and to drive up blackmarket prices beyond what most people could afford.

Also, we do still prohibit sales of certain kinds of alcohol (beyond a certain proof), restrict what hours, where and by whom they can be bought, etc. Tighter restrictions on certain kinds of guns and where people can access them would also help to reduce the carnage.

We have reduced murder and manslaughter deaths by nearly 50% since 1992 and the rates keep declining year after year. Gun accidents are down too.

You have never been safer.

so I don't think it is so clear.

the bad -- that's kind of crazy I think in a modern society.

fix the real problem?

most violence is criminals shooting other criminals.

are you saying that we should implement laws and regulations on every object that kill 2 year olds with the stated goal of zero deaths?

This is what kills young kids - guns are barely on the radar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Causes_of_accidental_death_by_age_group_%28percent%29.png

Fire prevention, pool safety and better car seat laws will save many more lives.

And the NRA really has shown no interest in finding out.

If you want a gun in your house, keep it locked up in a safe away from your children!!!

What a senseless tragedy

There are no words.

Now, what is it again that kills people?

So sad. Cops should be chipped to match their guns so nobody else can fire them, anyway. We have RFID tech.

...but probably not much they won't be thinking themselves for the rest of their lives. They will NEVER get over that. Poor little boy... :_(

He surely died instantly, while they have a lifetime to suffer--what must have happened to a toddler's head if it was shot at close range is one of those things that would scar the most hardened person.... You're right. They will never, ever, ever, ever get over that even after one or both of them get out of prison. Neither will the first responders.

but dad was a police officer???

the gun was left at "eye level" for the toddler???

LIHOP?

I mean, come on, dad had to know that this was dangerous. All responsible gun owners not to leave loaded weapons within the reach of toddlers.

His father is a COP, for crying out loud!!! I don't care if gun wasn't his service revolver!! What kind of idiot leaves a gun at a two year old's eye level? I can't even begin to understand the grief these folks must be feeling now, and their guilt must be horrific, but come on! Keeping your gun out of sight, and preferably locked up, when children are around, is gun ownership 101.

left where a toddler could easily grab it.



mikey_the_rat

Lock them up at the station when their shift's over. Is there a reason why they don't?

A gun is a work tool just as much as any other piece of equipment is for any other worker. When your day is done, you leave your tools at work.

Criminal negligence in the extreme, because I imagine the guy is so used to having his revolver with him all the time that he obviously doesn't think about where he leaves the damn thing.

My heart breaks for that child. The parents will have to live with this for the rest of their lives, which may be punishment enough, knowing that the whole tragedy was easily preventable.

Or any dumber.

Father is a cop. I hope his boss reviews his employment with the department. And they didn't see it happen? Were they not in the same room with their toddler? The only room my toddlers were allowed to be alone in was their rooms and no guns were allowed in there. None were allowed in the house actually. Anyway, I don't get this why was this toddler even alone? Why was a gun at eye level? And worse, was this how it really happened?

My grandson used to wake up 5am, 4am, 3am to get into the kitchen and climb up into the cupboard to the tip top shelf to find the candy.

My son had to resort to sleeping on the couch so he could hear the french door open from hallway to living room where kid had to pass in order to get to the kitchen.

My son at two used to climb out of his crib in the middle of the night and I put a mattress on the floor to keep him from cracking his head open. I'm a light sleeper and I didn't get a lot of sleep for years, but kids at that age are full of vim and vigor. Keeping them safe is a full time job.

Still, guns, knives, poisons, medicines, candy... all kinds of things locked up or not in the house at all during that age to play it safe.

raises some issues. i'd be curious to know what the prognosis was in terms of necessary ongoing treatment as well as quality of life.

terribly tragic regardless

Just some collateral damage of the NRA. Move along, nothing to see.

People need to be charged for this kind of shit. Noooo excuse for such blatant negligence.

eye?

I have a two-year-old grandson. I have difficulty picturing him having that kind of dexterity and strength although he is unusually well coordinated and strong. That is quite an "accident." Could really be an accident, but that is a strange story. It deserves some serious investigation.

A child of two can turn pages in a book, build with large legos, put a few blocks of shapes through a shape form, but he can barely, just barely hold a pencil to draw, paste things on paper. He can open doors and even some buckles but takes a bit of focus to do it. Can't put his own shoes on quite yet although he can take them off very well and is getting pretty close to putting them on.

I don't know how much strength and dexterity it takes to pull the trigger on a gun, but this just seems strange to me. Had he played with the gun before? Did someone think it was cute to show this child how to use the gun? Was someone fooling around with it in the child's view?

Why was a loaded gun left where this child could get hold of it? The gun had to have been loaded. I thought safe gun practices required guns to be unloaded when not in use. Could someone please explain this to me.

Maybe the boy was close to three. I don't know, but . . . .

Place the gun on a flat surface (floor, table) pointed at the ceiling. Hook both thumbs over the trigger. Lean your body weight onto the hands, which puts the child's head over the barrel. 10-14 pounds later, bang.

A cop letting this happen is inexcusable. But people tote around here everywhere and thankfully, I have only been threatened once.. in a grocery store for being in someone's way in the line.

None.. at all.

interesting to see when they do.

but this thread may bring out the few I missed.

poor kid.

Rightists are for ignoring.

with a toddler running around, right?

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=22175824&nid=148

Every parent should know that you can't leave an unsecured firearm lying around, especially when children are present.

then there's not much else to say about him...

I know it doesn't really matter, since the kid is dead either way, but I'm not convinced the kid wasn't accidentally shot by the mother or father...The whole "Me and my wife were in one room, and the gun and our son were in another room, when all of a sudden..." -story seems a little too neat...

Unless he was one of those weirdos who has loaded guns on every tabletop and unsecured cabinet..

They are all like this with their guns, as are their LEO buddies. They leave them laying around, they are terrible shots, they don't even know how to properly maintain their weapons. It really appalls me to see how act like their guns are fishing rods or something instead of weapons.

This death is such a tragedy.

Nugent, gun manufacturers, and worse?

Some day we will quit glamorizing guns in our society.

There are plenty of good people out there, Hoyt.

Some day we will quit glamorizing guns in our society.

If you think that teaching young people how to avoid getting injured or killed is glamorizing something, I submit that you have a very badly distorted view of life.

As to my, or your, view of society -- how about those who carry guns in public parks, restaurants, bars, etc. How does that improve our society?

Does teaching them how to drive safely and not get into horrific car crashes promote driving?

...how about those who carry guns in public parks, restaurants, bars, etc. How does that improve our society?

Improvement of society is not the issue. People carry guns for self-defense. As long as it doesn't harm society, it's not a problem and it's really none of your business.

People carry guns for a lot of reasons, most aren't good reasons.

Millions of people you haven't met.

Who are legally allowed to have guns in every state, and whom many think should be the only people to be allowed to have guns. I have LEOs in my family, and this just drives home what I have said IRL and on here: all the cops I know are not just terrible shots, but also know very little about either gun safety nor gun handling. They also, like this gentleman, are notorious for leaving their pistol all over the place, loaded and racked, even with kids around.

This is such a horrible death. That poor little boy.

Really? So every home that contains a gun leads to the death of one family member?

That is what your statement would mean if it were true.

/also he was a cop. So disarming civilians by removing the 2nd amendment entirely would have done precisely nothing to protect this kid. Some parents are idiots. Some idiot parents kill their kids. Some idiot parents kill their kids with a gun. Others use a bathtub. Or prescription medicine. The common ground here isn't the gun.

as far as I'm concerned.