Sunday, June 9, 2013

Las Vegas 13-Year-old Dead - No One is Responsible - Not the Gun Owner, Not the Parents, Not the Teen Shooter



Local news reports with video

An emotional vigil was held Friday evening at Desert Bloom Park, for a young girl whose life was taken too soon. 

On Tuesday, 13-year-old Brooklyn Mohler was killed when she was accidentally shot by another teen girl.

Her accidental death happened just one day before the last day of school.

Mohler's close family members were in the crowd on Friday, but were understandably too devastated to talk on camera.


16 comments:

  1. "No One is Responsible"

    The news article actually does a very good job of avoiding the fact that they know pretty much nothing about the circumstances about the shooting.
    All we really know is she was shot by another teen girl. This article doesnt even mention the police are investigating, though in a different article, they do mention that. While you want someone to be in jail for this, its also sort of important for the right someone to answer for it.
    Have you seen any additional information that would support your opinion?

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    1. When a 13-year-old girl who lives in nice neighborhood dies at the hands of another 13-year-old, you can bet some gun owner is responsible. You can also bet that he's got some fucked-up ideas about proper gun storage.

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    2. Mikeb, if all you cared about were safe storage, that would be one thing, but we all know it's a part of a package deal. Don't you get it? When you insist on sweeping gun control, we resist anything you call for.

      You've created an atmosphere in which every one of your proposals comes with a smell of some hidden agenda. That being the case, you're cash only, keep your hands where I can see them, and don't ask for any bargains.

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    3. "The preliminary investigation into the incident indicated this appears to be a tragic accident. The weapon in this event came from inside the home, and was being held by another teenage girl at the time it discharged."

      "Students at the school told Action News Mohler was at her best friend's house, just hanging out, when another girl accidentally pulled the trigger."

      I never suggested that someone messed up in the area of firearm storage. I was saying that the article you posted gave almost no information, to say nothing of the conclusions you came to based on the title of your posting. I understand that your benchmark for something being done is someone in jail, however in this country, you need to be before a judge within 36 hours of arrest. In Japan for example, they could detain that teen girl for over twenty days before seeing a judge.

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    4. ss, I sometimes post stories of gun accidents in which the responsible person goes to jail that same day. Are you saying tho authorities are doing wrong in those cases?

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    5. Mike, no, I'm not. The decision to arrest is based on many things. First of course probable cause. Sometimes it's a no-brainer. Sometimes police have to coordinate with the prosecutor who decides if there is enough to charge.
      Then, as I've said before, what is pre trial detention for? To prevent the suspect from reoffending to protect and to insure the suspects appear for trial. In this case, is the best friend or her parents likely to reoffend or flee? Probably not.

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    6. I would assume that's because they had enough evidence at that point. They weren't just following the MikeB rule of "if someone is shot, someone needs to sit in jail tonight."

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  2. Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult. Personal responsibility of gun owners isn't enough. The evidence is in the dozens of email alerts I get every day, many of which we post at the Kid Shootings blog.

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    1. So you are suggesting some form of collective responsibility Baldr? That just because I keep my firearms secured and inaccessible to unauthorized people, that I bear some amount of blame for the negligence of some as yet unnamed person? I'm afraid I can't buy into that.
      If you wish to take on that responsibility yourself you're free to, though I think your intent is to attempt to apply it to others without their consent. This being the US, we don't really do the group responsibility thing except at special times like in basic training in the military. And in that case it's done with everyone's consent and with some intelligence behind it to accomplish a set goal.
      You and others in the gun control industry seem to do it because its easier than trying to come up with a solution that doesn't fit into your paradigm of ways to reduce gun violence.

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    2. Dozens every day? So how is it that there are 600 or so accidental gun deaths in a given year, a number that includes all age groups? The number of children who die from accidental gunfire is around 200 in the same period.

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    3. Greg, you love to talk about the 600 DEAD, but you usually fail to mention the wounded ones. And as far as I have seen, you never include the cases in which a kid does the shooting. When one kid kills another, that's not one but two casualties. Same when a kid shoots an adult, you have to count that kid too.

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    4. I don't have the figures on injuries readily at hand, but I recall that number being low as well. But ain't you cute, trying to double the numbers by including the shooter?

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    5. You think that's cut of me??!!!

      How about you, discounting the damage done to child shooters of irresponsible dads?

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    6. What I see is someone who is desperate to make the numbers as large as possible to bolster his weak case.

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  3. "No one responsible" what a joke, show me someone who loves life who wants to die ?

    The US attitude to guns is a joke.

    buzzy99

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    1. Care to be specific? What attitude in detail are you criticizing?

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