world

Boy, 11, brings gun to class in Utah

40 Comments

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© 2012 AFP

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

40 Comments
Login to comment

I can see the smile on the faces of the NRA.... America will be a safer place if everyone carries a gun....

18 ( +18 / -0 )

We need to have stronger background checks on kids like this.

11 ( +11 / -2 )

Just crazy! And this is what the NRA loves!! That even kids armed to the teeth$$$$$$$$$!!!!

0 ( +3 / -3 )

It's not this kid's fault. This is precisely what the gun culture of America has taught him is the best course for protecting himself. And no, that's not a good thing.

15 ( +16 / -2 )

Lets see this kid is to young to vote, to drink, to drive. Yet he can go to school with a gun. Ah only in America, the land of the gun nut

8 ( +12 / -4 )

As long as this 11-year-old received "safety" training on how to handle the weapon he brought to school, I'm sure the NRA will endorse his right to "bear arms."

9 ( +9 / -0 )

ridiculous that he brought it to school, needs to be grounded for a month!!

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Gun laws will never pass. Yanks have been shootin each other up for a couple hundred years. Did you hear about the school in Texas where the principal is armed? Most of the kids interviewed said they felt safer! Well, let the U.S. have their gun culture. Good luck.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

I feel so sorry for this kid. I am sure he has heard the same old rhetoric from his greater community (parents, relatives, neighbours, the media...) stating that "if only someone at the school had a gun, they could have shot the guman." Hearing this, and feeling insecure about the safety of his school, he probably felt that he was acting responsible by bringing and unloaded gun to school with amunition seperate in case it was needed. He should not be the one being punished.

5 ( +6 / -2 )

it's okay, America.... people don't kill people, you've made your bed.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Dog owners are legally responsible for their pets even when their pets are not with them. Gun owners should face the same responsibility. Required guns to be secured in locked cases; if they are not and are misused by anyone, charge the owners with a felony.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

LFRAgain: "This is precisely what the gun culture of America has taught him is the best course for protecting himself."

I would agree with you but for one thing -- the kid was threatening others with the gun. That is NOT protection, and he was rightly charged with aggravated assault. At least nothing beyond that happened...

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Stay classy, Utah. Was it trigger discipline?

1 ( +3 / -2 )

The kid's parents didn't teach him Law 1. Or he broke Law 1.

Never point a gun at anyone for any reason, even if you think it is not loaded.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Laguna, great point!!! I think it should go a little further and also check all the paper work of the store that sold the gun. A very thorough check up!!! I also think that the owner of the gun, the one who purchased it, should bear the same responsibility as the one who pulled the trigger, meaning that in the case of the latest school shooting the mother should be criminally prosecuted by the state. Since she is deceased her estate should be sold and put towards her sons victims families recovery. I know it is very severe but anyone who buys a gun should know that gun is his responsibility, forever.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Saulo, three steps would greatly cut down on gun violence in the US, the two I mentioned above - requiring guns to be stored in approved cases when not in use and holding their owners accountable for their usage if not - and also requiring that all guns be physically brought to inspection centers yearly for re-certification. The latter would eliminate the vast number of guns people own but do not want.

None of these steps would unduly burden gun owners; their enforcement over a decade would greatly reduce the number of weapons and also increase the safe storage of those which remain.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

@Superlib- A background check? For an eleven year old? What kind of information do you think they could possibly find on a child? That he has been trolling some of his friends on Facebook? The simple fact of the matter is you can't tell who is going to snap/ 切れる. The only thing we can do is take away the means to kill so many people at once. People snap here in Japan and although it is equally horrific there are always a lot less fatalities.

We had the exact same thing happen in Scotland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunblane_school_massacre) so we outlawed rifles and handguns leaving only shotguns for farm use. (Snap and load only) You know how many shootings there has been in the 16 years since then? You guessed it ZERO! America come on! How can you look at the pictures of those poor children and still justify to yourself the need for guns?

6 ( +6 / -0 )

"enforce restrictions already on the books"

Restrictions aren't being enforced? Sounds like some law enforcement officers need to be fired.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

In this debate over gun control, pro-guns always use 3 arguments. In the name of liberty/freedom I can carry a gun, to protect myself or a gun does not kill it is the hand that hols the gun that kills. (Sounds like perfect propaganda/marketing/speech inspired by the NRA) The last one (even though I consider the 2 firsts as non-sense strikes me the most. What does it mean "it's not the gun that kills people...?" Try to attack a school with a knife (happened in China last week no fatal casualties) or a baseball bat I am pretty sure you'll have less casualties. The hand still want to kill in both cases but the gun actually kills much more efficiently... So even if the "hand that holds the gun" represents the killer's will you can't kill as much with a bat, knife, fork, your fist or whatever than you would with a gun, rifle, shotgun, M-16 or whatever fire arm American citizens seem to be so found of. So guns kill as any other thing could kill but they kill much more person in the US than any other thing, in 2011 there were 12,664 murders in the US. Of those, 8,583 were caused by firearms. So off course 4,081 murders were done by knifes, hands, other. But you need your hands, knives and tools in daily life much more than you need a gun. And last but not least guns are for pussies...

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Laguna, the "shaken" approach to keeping the registrations up to date is definitely necessary to keep files updated and as you mentioned if it is too much of a burden to keep renewing the license it means it is time to turn it in or resale to another certified party, just like old cars in Japan. That is why we don't see a tone of old piled up in peoples back yards. So thumbs up for you!!! I have heard that in Japan, whenever there is a shooting incident the rare people who do have permits have to take the weapons to be analysed by the police and that is the main reason why although it is possible to buy a gun, most people would choose not to.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The USA is the land o LAWYERS, I can not wait until a couple thousand lawyers start going after not just the NRA, but after all of these idiot gun makers, ammunition makers, and yes, the idiot neighbor in Indiana who thinks it is ok to have 300 rifles, 25 pistols, and 100,000 rounds of ammo just in case the Mayans are right about the end of the earth being this coming Friday, so they can shoot at the Mayans who are coming to take away are pretty little earth??

1 ( +2 / -1 )

naturalboke: "@Superlib- A background check? For an eleven year old?"

I do believe SuperLib was being sarcastic.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

naturalbloke's right, after Dunblane everything here changed, and now they are going to put through a bill that all air rifles/pistols have to be licenced.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Guns are so easy even an 11-year old can get his hands on one.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Laguna: Saulo, three steps would greatly cut down on gun violence in the US, the two I mentioned above - requiring guns to be stored in approved cases when not in use and holding their owners accountable for their usage if not - and also requiring that all guns be physically brought to inspection centers yearly for re-certification. The latter would eliminate the vast number of guns people own but do not want.

You could also strip away the right to own a gun in situations like this. If your kid gets access to your guns, then the house loses the guns, and the owners get blacklisted. It would be tragic if this gun were returned to the owners, the same owners who showed they are in no position to safeguard them. Give gun owners responsibilities along with their rights.

Overall I'd rather see guns banned, but table the possession issue for later. The first people to lose their guns would be the criminals and replacing them would be difficult since they aren't making any more of them. Farmers and hunters would be able to keep their guns for generations. Over time our thinking about guns will change.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

A crying shame.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Never point a gun at anyone for any reason, even if you think it is not loaded.

The raison d'etre of a gun is that it be pointed at someone, prior to the trigger geing pulled. The kid was just helping the weapon on its path to fulfilling its destiny.

Perhaps we should not have guns freely available in society so that we can dispense with teaching children about the ettiquette surrounding lethal weapons.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Sasuga. His parents must be proud. Dude, in a world of rapidly depleting testerone.... you're a MAN !

http://clutchmag.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/bushmaster-ad1-600x450.jpeg

The boy brought a .22 caliber handgun into class Monday at the West Kearns Elementary School,

Elementary School ? What a waste of talent ! This boy, well this young man, is so precocious that he should jump a few class. At 11, he knows enough to graduate education. He can do shopping, threaten, tell BS and carry a gun, already a complete US citizen. He can join the US army and come to Okinawa...

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

@naturalbloke

You know how many shootings there has been in the 16 years since then? You guessed it ZERO!

I'm not sure that's a reasonable argument. There had been no mass shootings in Scotland at any time prior to Dunblane either when gun controls were less strict, although even then, far stricter than than those being proposed for the US now. Thomas Hamilton didn't get access to a gun easily. He was manipulative, clever, and knew how to get officialdom on his side.

Don't get me wrong! I'm not saying gun controls are ineffective. Just the opposite. The more difficult it is to access guns, the fewer incidents there will be. But we shouldn't think that gun controls alone will prevent further incidents in the future.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

If your kid gets access to your guns, then the house loses the guns,

Make them lose the kids. Really.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

registered weapon or not it shows how irresponsible some adults are with guns in the house.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"You could also strip away the right to own a gun in situations like this. If your kid gets access to your guns, then the house loses the guns, and the owners get blacklisted. It would be tragic if this gun were returned to the owners, the same owners who showed they are in no position to safeguard them. Give gun owners responsibilities along with their rights."

Superlib, that sums it up perfectly. When the you imagine how this incident could potentially have ended in tragedy, I think careless gun owners should face gaol time too. It might finally drum into thick heads how dangerous firearms are and make people take responsibility for themselves and the lethal weapons they own, as well as a life ban.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

sakurala: I feel so sorry for this kid. I am sure he has heard the same old rhetoric from his greater community (parents, relatives, neighbours, the media...) stating that "if only someone at the school had a gun, they could have shot the guman." Hearing this, and feeling insecure about the safety of his school, he probably felt that he was acting responsible by bringing and unloaded gun to school with amunition seperate in case it was needed. He should not be the one being punished.

That is his story, but he was waving the thing around and pointing it at others, according to the article. It sounds to me as though he made up this sob story to save his sorry butt.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It's the Christmas season. Perhaps next year the NRA and the gun manufacturers can come up with a line in kiddie firearms - an ideal stocking-filler. Give me the boy, I'll give you the man...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

the gun manufacturers can come up with a line in kiddie firearms

You thought that didn't exist ? Don't ask me how I know, but this is a model for kiddos aged 9 to 14 :

http://www.amazon.com/Crosman-1077-Repeat-Semi-Automatic-Pellet/dp/B001BS3YW6

Some kids in my street had some toys as chrissie pressies. Classy families. "Oh don't worry dear neighbors, that's not dangerous at all, that kills only birds.. you ain't a bird ? LOL. You are a chicken. RFOL,", would say the par... , well DNA givers and room mates, as that's beyond parenting in my books. That kills another kid's eye too, That did.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The NRA is the most obstructive organization in lobbying for gun "control". When I was 11 the worst I worried about was the gangbangers trying to do a drive by, and drug dealers hanging out. At school it was just the school bullies I had to worry about even in high school. I've lived 35 years without a gun (although I do like to go hunting) and I'm not about to get one for "self protection". If my life is in danger I will definitely defend my home/family/person as well as I can without one.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This kid's parents should be charged just the same as he is. They're just as responsible for what he did. There's no way in the world that an 11 year old should have access to a gun or ammo.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

and he was rightly charged with aggravated assault.

Question for you, if this was Japan and a 11 year old did that what would happen to that child in terms of criminal charges?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

That is NOT protection, and he was rightly charged with aggravated assault.

Do you know what would be the penalty if this was done in Japan by a boy/child of similar age.

Its incidents like this that show/justify why America charges kids as adults.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites