Gun in Death of 13-Year-Old Belonged to Homeowner

• My question to everyone is....Why would the 14 year old be discharging a firearm in mid air instead of at the ground?? Was he really trying to check the chamber? If the discharged bullet didn't hit and kill Daniel Torres...where would the stray bullet have ended up? Killing someone else! The boy and the parents are both responsible. Parents for not securing the firearm and 14 year old for using very very poor judgement!!!!!!!

• "Had the weapon been secured, the little boy would be alive." Wow, you really are a genius. I admit I did not present my views correctly. I meant that while the failure to secure the gun was *a* cause of the tragedy, the *real* problem was the failure to educate the boy about guns properly, knowing the gun was going to be in the house (and in today's world, the houses of the boy's friends). The latter measure is the most important, because 1) the adult might on occasion forget to secure the firearm and 2) the minor might encounter unsecured firearms outside the home. Pursuant to FS 784.05 the owners likely committed a felony, the cutoff for that statute is under age 16. http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=Ch0784/SEC05.HTM I guess I was trying to say we should not just rely on this law. Even those who choose not to have guns in the home, you can't rely on your kids not visiting homes (or schools, or playgrounds) that do, and simply assuming that other parents are securing their firearms. Put another way Mr. Genius, don't rely on your friends and neighbors to put a fence around their pool, instead make sure your kid knows how to swim.

• no no i thnk tha first part of wt "jewish markman" is sayin tru a gun dont accidentall get pointed at sm1s head nd a trigger wont b accidetally pulld,..

• @Jewish Marksman Slow down there Starsky. Are you even in the vicinity of making a point? It is absolutely astonishing how bad your ideas are... The parent is NOT to blame? Oh come on now. Look, I've been reading your comments for the last couple of months, and your grasp of reality, at the best of times, is flighty. But with this, you have jumped the shark. A little boy is dead. Had the weapon been secured, the little boy would be alive. In my life, I teach the little ones how to operate the weapons and I also SECURE THEM. Kids make mistakes. Even parents make mistakes. Just ask your Mommy and Daddy. Chaz Stevens, Genius http://www.MyActsOfSedition.com

• "They also have not said whether the shooting was an accident or deliberate." If not deliberate, it was gross negligence on behalf of the 14 year old. A gun does not accidentally get pointed at another human being's head. A gun does not accidentally go off, because one does not accidentally put his finger on the trigger. Although the law is the law, I don't blame the parent for not securing the gun. In 2 years, this kid was going to be licensed by the state of Florida to drive. If at 14 he couldn't figure out that a gun pointed at another human being is always a bad thing to be avoided, he was bound to kill somebody on the roads eventually anyway. If this was an "accident", the real problem was failing to instill gun safety knowledge and training for the boys. Guns are a part of life, like it or not. Even if you don't have a gun, or hate guns, you and your kids should learn gun safety. Don't let guns be a "forbidden fruit" for your kids, it only leads to bad things happening. Let a gun-owning friend (yes, everybody has one) take your kid to the range and let them learn to have a healthy respect for firearms. Let them learn to recognize when someone else is not handling a gun safely, what can happen, and why they need to immediately get away from that kind of situation.

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