I don’t know what happened here exactly, but there can be cases where a parent did take appropriate measures, but the child got through them anyway. For example, a child watches a safe being locked/unlocked and gets the password, or guesses the password (maybe it’s the same as mum’s phone password), etc.
Comment on No criminal charges over British woman shot in US
Beryl@lemmy.world 3 days agoEven if she was shot by a young child, shouldn’t charges be brought against the parents or anyone responsible for letting that child have access to a lethal weapon ?
Flax_vert@feddit.uk 3 days ago
Diddlydee@feddit.uk 3 days ago
Sounds like those weren’t appropriate measures if someone can get round them so easily.
When I had a shotgun license, my shotgun was in a locked gun cabinet inside a locked room. The cartridges were in a separate locked case out of sight in another room, and I had the only keys for all 3 locks, all of which were on my keychain which was in my person at all times.
When I didn’t have them on me, theyd be in the hidden space behind the hinges piece of skirting board behind my bed.
SARGE@startrek.website 2 days ago
As someone who likes to break into things (legally, with permission, blah blah blah) I can assure you that no amount of locks will keep a determined individual from something, especially if they know the schedule of the people they’re concerned about and if they have an effectively unlimited time with the thing they’re breaking into.
Locks will deter, not prevent, theft or unwanted handling. If there’s a way to access it, it is accessible to anyone with time and intent.
I like picking locks and even if I don’t have the skill for a certain lock, I’ve opened them by accident just by trying over and over. I just needed time.
A gun safe by itself is not enough.
A locked door is not enough.
I know someone who used to take the firing pins out of every firearm, which would then be in a locked box in a floor safe under his bed. Guns in a locked safe, with a locked closet and locked room door. That was when he had nieces and nephews that came over a few times a month. Once he had his kids, the guns went to storage at his dad’s house. His reasoning? He used to steal alcohol from his parents cabinet as a teen and they tried many many times to make it harder but he always managed to get to it. “I always found a way, so could my daughter”
My own firearms have cable locks through the chambers, they’re locked in a keyed safe, and the safe is in a locked closet. The only copy of the safe key that isn’t either on me or my wife is in a hollowed out 2x4 that looks like it’s part of the ceiling in my attic just in case I ever lose my key but need into it.
I don’t have kids so I’m not concerned with someone who has a lot of time on their hands, but never underestimate how determined someone can be when they’re told “you aren’t allowed in there”
Unrelated
which was in my person at all times.
Sorry the phrasing just gave me a giggle.
Flax_vert@feddit.uk 2 days ago
However, when it comes to criminal charges, they do have to draw a line where “accidents happen”
You may also need to have a gun be reasonably accessible for self defence in an emergency.
I’m not picking sides by the way, but I’m just sort of reckoning how something like this could happen with no charges.
prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works 2 days ago
When I didn’t have them on me, they’d be in the hidden space behind the hinged piece of skirting board behind my bed.
So even you here admit to losing positive confirmation of the location of the keys to your gun / ammo.
Diddlydee@feddit.uk 2 days ago
Hardly. I’d be asleep and they’d be in the hidden space behind the bed that I was lying in. The location was exactly where I left them and no one could get them without moving me, moving the bed, and knowing about my hiding place.
curbstickle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 days ago
That would be negligence charges, yes, which is what went to the grand jury. The grand jury, for the record here, is a bunch of randomly selected people - not the cops, or a prosecutor, or anything like that. Its a jury. And what this jury decides is not guilt, but whether or not there is enough evidence that supports the charges to bring it to a trial.
And that grand jury decided there was not.
I’m not aware of (and was unable to find) any specifics around what actually happened, so there may be a very good reason why this was the case.
I’m not defending the decision here, just explaining the situation. It was investigated, the police brought someone and evidence to a prosecutor, a prosecutor brought it to court, and a jury decided the charges didn’t fit the evidence to bring forward to a criminal trial. That is all we really know.
RebekahWSD@lemmy.world 2 days ago
All I know about grand jury was my sibling was on it, a cop tried to convince them that having a machete in the car should be an extra crime (carrying a weapon, maybe) and they were all like “no bro you absolutely need a machete here occasionally, some of us garden and stuff” and the cop seemed shocked they didn’t just nod along and do what he said.
curbstickle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 days ago
Yep, thats how its supposed to work.
Which is why there may be a perfectly reasonable issue as to why it didnt go any further.
captainlezbian@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Or a batshit one. It could just as easily be something like “well of course you need a couch gun. What if someone breaks in while you’re watching TV? Child proof safes take too long to open”
I hate that I’ve been places I can see this happening. And they’d all call themselves responsible gun owners because they tell their kid where the gun is and not to touch it
LilB0kChoy@midwest.social 2 days ago
“A grand jury could indict a ham sandwich.”
The prosecutor, very much, can influence a grand jury’s decision on whether to indict.
curbstickle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 days ago
What part of my comment said otherwise?
LilB0kChoy@midwest.social 2 days ago
No part explicitly but this whole paragraph ignores the fact that the prosecutor presents their case and influences the juries opinion. No defense or alternative argument is made.
The expression “a grand jury could indict a ham sandwich” is a nod to the fact that, often, a grand jury votes in the direction the prosecutor wants them to.