Shocking news reported this week was the story of a five year old boy from Kentucky (naturally) who accidentally shot dead his two year old sister. First thoughts were that his parents must have been thoroughly irresponsible to leave their loaded gun in a place that was accessible to children. At that age kids will inevitably be curious about things.
But then it transpired that the gun that was used was actually the child’s own weapon, given to him as a present when he was four years old. Someone had actually thought it to be a good idea to give a pre-school child a .22 calibre gun.
Putting aside the debate on the right to bear arms, what rational adult thinks it’s appropriate to arm children? And then fail to supervise where and when this firearm is being used? This all makes the debates in the UK around exposing children to violence seem rather quaint. Continue reading






