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A father accidentally kills his son while cleaning a shotgun

Christopher Stanlane - a 34-year old resident of Fairmont, North Carolina - accidentally shot and killed his 10-year old son while cleaning his shotgun on Sunday afternoon. The father was said to be cleaning his shotgun while on the couch and his son was in front of him watching television when the gun went off and struck the boy in his head, which killed him instantly. With the investigation ongoing, no charges have been filed to this point.

I have so many questions for the father upon reading this story. First off, why in the world would he not check to make sure his gun wasn't loaded before cleaning it? Next, why wouldn't he make sure to point the gun away from anyone, regardless of whether or not it was loaded? Lastly, why would he not go about this in a different room than where his 10-year old son resided?

This guy obviously didn't have proper training and at this point in his life, was much too careless and uneducated to be owning a firearm. This is one reason why I'm so strongly in favor of stricter gun regulations. Should we give people driver's licenses without first passing vision, written, and driver's tests? No. Guns aren't toys. They're designed to inflict great harm and/or death upon a living being. The least we can do is make certain people whom purchase firearms actually know how to use them and know how to be responsible with them.

Finally, can we please put an end to the "guns don't kill people; people kill people" line? What is one of the common denominators in all gun-related deaths? Yes, "people" is one of the two. What's the other? That's right - guns. ...and before someone tries to compare guns to another potentially lethal tool such as a knife, baseball bat, or hammer, let me ask you this - would this boy have died if his father had been cleaning a knife? No. Would he have died if his father had been cleaning a baseball bat? No again. Would he have died if his father had been cleaning a hammer? No once again. As much as some like to minimize the potential harm a gun can inflict on another by comparing it to other gadgets, a gun is the only such tool which would have killed the boy in this scenario, unless flamethrowers are suddenly making a comeback...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/25/christopher-stanlane-kills-son_n_2952944.html
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