A few days after the tragic shooting of a mother in Wal-Mart by her two-year-old son in Idaho, we have two additional negligent shooting in California and Georgia. These cases present differences how such shooting cases are handled. In California, a man was arrested after his girlfriend was hit by a celebratory New Year’s shot while in Georgia a wife was hit by a round fired by a local police chief. [Update: Sheriff McCollum now says that he was moving the gun while in bed when it discharged twice].
Stephen Lucas, 24, was arrested after he fired a gun at midnight to celebrate the New Year and the round somehow hit his girlfriend. He now faces a charge of involuntary manslaughter, among other felony charges. She died 20 hours into 2015. They have a toddler together who is now without a mother or a father.
In Georgia, the Peachtree City Police Chief William McCollom called 911 to report that he had shot his wife. She is in critical condition.
The obvious difference between the two cases is that Lucas was engaged in a clearly illegal act when he negligently fired the weapon. He appears to be one of the many morons who fire weapons to celebrate despite the obvious risk to others. That makes this more than simple negligence for Lucas.
Karen S …. the “hazing” I got as I walked across campus didn’t bother me much. I knew who I was and I know who I am. I hope. Sorry I didn’t get to step on anyone 🙂 In those days (daze?) there was legitimate concern about what we were doing…I got that. I even felt it myself.
By 1971 it was a mess, both politically and racially, in the military and in the civilian world…the race issue came up out of the blue, so to speak, within the military (from my perspective) …almost always via the REMF’s. None-the-less it was disruptive. No, momma, your black child did not die in a proportion larger than whitey did, nor your Puerto Rican kids either. Getting dead in combat is one thing that is very equal. I respect beyond calculation anyone who lost their life regardless of color or ethnicity. Seriously. I am fortunate that I wasn’t Infantry who had far more exposure to terminal conditions that I did occasionally. You wonder why I respect any guy who earned a CIB or Marine combat ribbon, that is why. Guilt. If you’ve been there, done that, you will understand…if not, I understand why not.
Suzie and I had a good laugh over dinner about the whole thing…she said she never thought about what a guy in uniform would incur in that regard. What a lot of the “protest” folk of those days didn’t know (or didn’t care about ) was that to travel on a discount (35%+) you had to wear your dress greens. Even the involuntary draftees had to do so … so an enlistee like me was no big deal. I took only one CONUS leave in 3+ years and I was not going to spend extra money to be “cool.”
Other than that, Seattle was pretty cool…I was there when it wasn’t raining, which I understand is rare. 🙂
Aridog – I can only imagine.
It puts me in mind of one of my Dad’s stories. He and another officer were walking with a general, I believe in DC. There was a lie-in protesting the war. Dad and the other officer were awkwardly tiptoeing around all the “bodies”, hopping from spot to spot to keep from stepping on anyone. The general never broke stride, or paused in the conversation. He just walked on like the floor was clear, and kept talking like nothing was wrong. You could hear grunts, “Ow!” etc all down the hallway. He turned for a moment, and told them to keep up.
Driving a car increases your chances that you will get in an accident because of negligence. Owning a pool increases your chances that there will be a drowning. Riding a motorcycle increases your chances that you will be involved in a motorcycle accident. Having cleaning supplies in a home with children increases the chances that a child will ingest poison.
Here is what I do not understand: if someone breaks the law with a gun, why do you punish legal gun owners? If a parent is negligent and puts a loaded gun in her purse, where her child can reach it, how is that anyone else’s fault but her own?
We cannot protect people from their own stupidity or mistakes.
If someone negligently handles a gun and harms someone, there are already laws against that.
One of the guys who worked at a store I frequent was killed by a woman who experienced pedal error. He was smashed to death. That wasn’t the car’s fault, or other drivers’ fault, and we didn’t need any more laws or to outlaw cars. There were already laws that covered that scenario. It was her fault. It was a terrible accident, but it was her fault.
Two mass murders happened in SoCal in my memory with a car as the weapon.