GUNS DON'T KILL PEOPLE, OR DO THEY?

[Jimbone]

I would like to see negligence laws applied and enforced consistently across the country in regards to children unintentionally injuring or killing themselves/others with loaded guns. Charges should be brought in all cases; it shouldn't matter whether the state is strict or lax when it comes to gun control.

Just all cases involving guns? Or do we apply the negligence laws for all child deaths, without regard to what caused the death or injury?

If you go back and read the stories in this thread about deaths caused by children shooting guns, you'll see that most of the parents appear to be otherwise generally decent law-abiding people and parents. They were also undoubtedly negligent in leaving their loaded guns in reach of their children and, IMO, should all have been charged (despite their self-inflicted anguish).

They're equally as negligent when they don't belt them in a car properly, fail to latch a pool gate, walk away while they are in a bathtub, fall asleep while smoking... so do we hold all accidental child deaths to the same standard?

I'm not being a pro-gun zealot here either... just trying to point out that whether it's a gun in the nightstand or a parent talking on the phone while their kid drowns in a pool, the negligence is the same.

Interesting debate.