13-year old Iowa boy unintentionally shot in head

13-year old Michael Wells unintentionally shot in the head while he was handling an unsecured, loaded gun, in the presence of two teen friends.

From an article:

The boy, Michael Wells, of Berwick, was visiting a friend on Sunday afternoon when the shooting occurred. 

It's unclear how he was shot, but police have reported no arrests. A 14-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy were in the house at the time of the shooting and are considered witnesses. Their names have not been released. Police say children's parents weren't home at the time, either. 

Ankeny police say the girl called 911 after the shooting.

The article did not say how the boy got the gun.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

Texas teen shoots and kills mother and sister

Jake Evans- photo from article

This story should send chills up your spine. A Texas teen-ager decided, for no apparent reason that can be understood, to shoot and kill his mother and his sister. Read the article here:

A Parker County, Texas, teen has been arrested on suspicion of double murder after he called 911 and said he shot and killed his mother and sister.

According to police, 17-year-old Jake Evans called 911 at about 12:30 a.m. Thursday and said he'd used a .22 revolver to shoot and kill both his 48-year-old mother, Jamie Evans, and his 15-year-old sister, Mallory.

"It just kind of happened," Evans told the 911 operator in an eerily calm voice. "I've been kind of, uh, planning on killing for a while now."

When asked if he meant the two of them or just anybody, Evans responded: "Pretty much anybody."

A short time later, Parker County sheriff's deputies arrived at the Evans' family home in Annetta, a town of about 1,700 west of Fort Worth, and took him into custody without incident.

"I guess this is really selfish to say but, to me, I felt like they were just suffocating me in a way. I don't know," Evans said during the 911 call.

"Obviously, I am pretty, I guess, evil," he said.

Evans is charged with capital murder. A judge denied him bond.

"Just to let you know, I hate the feeling of killing someone, you know," Evans said in the 911 call. "I'm going to be messed up."

Wow. It's hard to know what to say to these remarks by Jake Evans. First, where did the gun come from? And second-

Every gun in the hands of a child or teen must first pass through the hands of an adult.

Article: Understanding Kids, Gangs, and Gun Violence

From a New York Times opinion article, entitled "Understanding Kids, Gangs, and Gun Violence" by SUDHIR VENKATESH, regarding the problem of access of guns to minors in gangs, particularly in the blood-drenched streets of Chicago:

CHICAGO hit a grim milestone last week, when it recorded its 400th murder for the year. Homicides are up about 25 percent over last year. Chicago has surpassed New York and Los Angeles as a hub of gun-related violence, most of it involving young people. Since 2001, it has recorded more than 5,000 gun-related deaths, compared with the 2,000 American military deaths in the war in Afghanistan. 

I’ve been studying violent crime for more than a decade — first as anacademic researcher, then briefly as a senior adviser to the F.B.I. — and have been struck by the ways in which our efforts to stop gun violence are not as targeted and efficient as they should be. 

Until I started observing gangs and criminals, I used to think that young, violent criminals were generally adept in gun use. I learned the reality was far worse. Gangs and drug crews had caches of high-powered weapons but no formaltraining. Their members could not match a gun to its proper bullet. Few knew how to load, clean or shoot. Their aim was woeful: they injured one another — not to mention bystanders — as often as their enemies. It would be ludicrous to train gang members to shoot better (even if it would reduce the number of innocent bystanders who get shot, it would empower criminals). So big-city mayors, and their police departments, understandably focus on gun access.....

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

1-year old Texas boy finds and plays with pistol in rented car

Matthew Bates, age 1

Jaymie Bates, a young mother in east Texas, rented a vehicle from Enterprise.  Imagine her surprise when she found her 1-year old son, Matthew, had found and was playing with a 9mm pistol that was inadvertently left in the vehicle by the previous renter!  

Another vehicle on the same rental lot was also found to have a 9mm gun left by another renter.

The article doesn't say whether the guns were loaded or not.

Neither or the prior renters is apparently being charged.

From an article:

"We got home, thinking everything is cool...fine, I step out of the car for a second. I get back in the car and my son was in the back seat playing with a pistol," said Jamie [sic]. 

It was a terrifying image. She immediately took the gun from Matthew and went straight back to Enterprise where the manager contacted the police. 

"Bottom line is that my one-year-old was playing with a pistol. It could have gone off, and I could have been burying my son. So, what is a mother to do or think," asked Jaymie. 

According to the police report, the gun Matthew found wasn't the only one left sitting in anEnterprise rental car that day. The manager told officers he found another gun in a different car on the lot. 

"More than anything, I just want to tell everybody, 'Hey, if Enterprise is not doing their job as a company and checking their vehicles, maybe we as people need to go behind them and double check,'" said Jaymie. 

Enterprise's corporate office said in an email statement: 

"The safety of our customers is our top priority. On return of each vehicle, our procedure is to clean everything including checking under seats, in the glove compartment, in the center console and in door compartments. We are investigating what went wrong in this particular case, and we will revisit with all of our service agents the proper procedures to make sure this doesn't happen again."

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

16-year old Illinois boy indicted on shooting charges twice in two weeks

16-year old Orlando C. Alexander, of Peoria, Illinois, was indicted for a shooting crime twice in the last two weeks.  Both incidents were in August.

From an article:

Orlando C. Alexander, 16, of 503 S. Barnewolt Drive, faces a single count of aggravated battery in connection with the Aug. 18 shooting of Terrance Shelby. 

If convicted of that charge, Alexander faces up to 30 years in prison. 

He was also recently indicted in connection with a shooting a few days later in the 1800 block of North Bigelow Street. On Aug. 21, Alexander allegedly fired several shots at people who were fighting about an earlier incident. 

Two people were struck but no one was killed. 

As with the first case, the new charges were an automatic transfer from juvenile court because of Alexander's age and the nature of the allegations.

The article doesn't say where Orlando got his gun.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

17 year old Massachusetts boy shot by brother

David Wade, age 17

There seem to be quite a number of 17 year olds involved in shootings as reported on this blog. This latest is from the state of Massachusetts where a 17 year old was shot and killed by his 21 year old brother who had just purchased his new gun:

Members of the Stoughton High School football team put on their uniforms for practice Monday afternoon – but one person was noticeably missing.

It was the team’s first practice since the tragic shooting death of David Wade, a 17-year-old senior and defensive back football player, over the weekend.

Wade was accidentally shot in the chest with a .40-caliber gun by his 21-year-old brother in their Turnpike Street home shortly before 3:27 p.m. Saturday, authorities said. (...) 

“There were definitely a lot of emotions,” said Miller, who addressed roughly 1,150 students about Wade’s death through the school’s news feed Monday morning.

Several students, including senior Dwayne Patterson, wrote the number 56 on their wrists in red marker to commemorate Wade’s football number.

“It’s tragic to lose someone like that. You always found him with a smile on his face, no matter what. He was a great kid,” said senior Mauro Oliveira, 18.

Monday’s lunchtime was much quieter than usual, Oliveira said. Students were also noticeably silent in the hallways, he said.

“A lot of people were crying,” said senior Angela Garcia, 17, who has known Wade since middle school.

Garcia said she and other students are making a poster with messages and photographs for Wade’s family that will be brought to Friday’s football game.

A candlelight vigil was held Sunday night outside Wade’s home, students said. A Mass was held at St. James Catholic Church Sunday night for grieving members of the community.

Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey’s office said the shooting remains under investigation. No one has been charged. Results of an autopsy performed Monday came back undetermined pending further testing, said David Traub, spokesman for Morrissey.

Authorities said Saturday Wade was shot in the chest in his parents’ basement by a 21-year-old brother who had recently obtained a gun license.

Shootings have a ripple affect. Many are affected and will never be the same after this senseless accidental shooting.

Clarksville, Tennessee, has a rash of kid shootings

Since, July, Clarksville, Tennessee has had at least six different gun-related incidents involving children.

According to an article:

• A 6-year old girl got hold of a loaded, unsecured gun and shot through a wall, narrowly missing her 6-month old sister.
• A 3-year old boy found a loaded, unsecured gun in a closet and shot himself in the foot.
• A 3-year old boy shot himself in the torso with a loaded, unsecured gun he found on a couch.
• A 4-year old child was left alone with a loaded, unsecured gun on a livingroom table.
• A 1-year old boy shot himself in the hand with a loaded, unsecured gun he found on a coffee table.
• A 5-year old girl was shot in the arm by a younger sibling.

The article stresses the importance of gun-owner responsibility:

Grant Morgan, gunsmith and gun safety instructor at Clarksville Guns and Archery, said locking, securing and storing a gun is the responsibility of the gun owner.

“Accidents happen because of negligence and ignorance,” he said. “If you own a firearm and have no knowledge of how to handle it, that is negligence if you don’t find out how to protect yourself and others.

“The gun doesn’t have a mind of its own. If you leave it unattended, it is exposed to whoever passes by, and unfortunately it has been small children lately. Children are attracted to guns. They see them on TV and some of them even have toy guns. They don’t understand that their actions are permanent, that you can’t pull a bullet back once it’s been shot.”

Few children under age eight can reliably distinguish between real and toy guns or fully understand the consequences of their actions. Yet children as young as age 3 are strong enough to pull the trigger of many handguns, according to information from the Safe Kids USA organization.

“The problem we have here is getting the owner’s training level up to match the responsibility they have taken on in owning a firearm,” Morgan said.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.