A Washington woman has been sentenced to jail for her part in a shooting at an elementary school after a handgun her son had in his backpack went off, wounding a classmate.
Jamie Lee Chaffin was sentenced to 14 months in prison after pleading guilty to unlawful weapon possession charges, reports the Kitnap Sun.
On Feb. 22, 2012, Chaffin’s then 9-year-old son took a loaded handgun to school in his backpack, which went off wounding 8-year-old classmate, Amina Kocer Bowman, shattering her elbow and damaging her internal organs before the bullet came to rest in her spine.
According to Chaffin’s son, he took the gun to school to protect himself from classmates.
Which is exactly the message that we keep sending to our children through video games and movies.
Without a gun we are vulnerable. With a gun...invincible.
Apparently the boy also said that there were a number of unsecured weapons around the boyfriend's home for him to choose from.
I think it is very good news that a parent is being help responsible for this accidental shooting, however it is truly unfortunate that the boyfriend's charges were dismissed by the state Supreme Court.
In my mind if you own a gun you are responsible for any damage, injury, or death that is the fault of that gun.
After all what would have happened if that eight year old girl had died? Or if other children had also been injured?
"The only way to stop a bad middle school kid with a gun is a good middle school kid with a gun."
ReplyDeleteRight, NRA?
Yeah, or if the teacher had just been armed, she could have shot that backpack as soon as it discharged, thus endangering a whole room full of third graders.
DeleteGood, I am glad she is going to jail but unfortunately a child spent a month in the hospital and will most likely suffer from his injuries for the rest of his life.
ReplyDeleteI also hope the child's Dad makes sure she never see's him unsupervised again.
It seems as if they weren't her guns, so if the child got them at the boyfriend's house and not where they were living--the responsibility should be on the owner of the gun.
DeleteThat's how it works with cars. If soemone steals your car - you have to report it or you are responsible. Leave it open with the keys in it and someone takes it, it's negligence and you are responsible. ANd that's one reason we require insurance. It is insane that we do not do so for gun ownership. Let's see them start running actuarial tables on the chances of family mortality and injury with a gun in the house and maybe that would knock some sense into the NRA worshippers heads.
ReplyDeleteNo, not allowed. The CDC is not allowed to keep gun injury/fatality statistics at all. Even though this would be a boon for insurance companies, the NRA will never allow it to happen. Meanwhile, lock up the woman and let the actual owner go free..because a man needs his penis extensions.
DeleteTypo:
ReplyDeleteAfter all what would have happened if that eight year old boy had died?
"...shattering her elbow and damaging her internal organs before the bullet came to rest in her spine."
Oops. I identified the child as a boy didn't I?
DeleteThanks for pointing that out.
I fixed it.
Also, the newspaper which reported this is the 'Kitsap' Sun, not the 'Kitnap' Sun.
DeleteArchie Butt
Maybe we need to strip search the elementary school kids before letting them on campus, or before letting them on the school bus. We can't trust parents/guardians to make sure guns stay at home. A portable full body scanner installed in each school bus and one at the school gates would be nice. A great way to make the little kiddies feel safe at school.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of sick country makes it safer to board a plane than to go school?
I generally believe that our country is overly litigious, but in this case I hope the injured boy's family sues the hell out of the mother and boyfriend/gun owner.
ReplyDeleteThe "Mom" is a deadbeat that doesn't have custody nor does she pay support. I doubt the loser that keeps multiple loaded guns around has anything either. Unfortunately a civil suit only helps if someone has something to take from them.
DeleteWhen my youngest was in first grade a child in her class wore camo every day and drew pictures of violent acts with incredible precision for a first-grader. One day while I was volunteering his mother came to the classroom and she was dressed in a bullet-proof vest and a can of pepper spray was attached to her belt along with several knives. Needless to say, she was not law enforcement but a total nut job. Every other parent in that class attempted to get their kid transferred to another classroom. Thankfully, they left the district. It was obvious the teachers were relieved. This happened 20 years ago.
ReplyDeleteWhen it was determined by some a good idea to mandate armed guards in public schools I wondered how armed guards in our little school would have affected that child and his mother. I don’t feel like it would have given any of us a sense of security. The mother of this child seemed to be looking for trouble. More firepower in the mix would have made everyone more on edge.
Whenever I hear someone complain about how teachers get so much time off I shake my head as they are the most hardworking of us all, tasked five days a week to manage the sometimes insurmountable and complex emotional problems of their charges (some who suffer from profoundly brain altering abuse in their homes). Despite this, my kids’ teachers made every attempt to make sure the students in their classrooms absorbed grade-level skills and most were incredibly determined to nurture their sense of wonder and curiosity too. Teachers are angels in my book.
I work as support staff in a school and we've had numerous unstable and volatile (and very likely armed) parents who are always looking for a confrontation, and threaten violence against the staff and administrators. Last year the principal had to call the police when a parent threatened to assault her.
DeleteWe've also had several instances where a non-custodial parent is not permitted to have contact with a child because of a history of violence or the fear of abduction. In one case, a student had very specific restrictions on contact with her father because he had threatened to take her and return to his Eastern European country of origin.
But teachers are supposed to make school a nurturing, welcoming, safe place in which to learn. Oh, and if all this other stuff gets in the way of instruction, it's the teacher's fault.
Sigh...
I feel sorry for teachers and students in public schools in bad areas of their school districts. My sister made certain that her children would be in the "right" district, by moving across town while her children were infants, thus giving them preference in a preferred school district. That, or private school or homeschooling are really the only outlets for parents that wish to control their children's environments during their educational experience. I truly feel for teachers, parents and students that don't have a choice in where they either teach or attend school.
DeleteProsecutors around the country should be taking lead from this action. Unfortunately this is a rare prosecution.
ReplyDeleteIf only there had been "a good guy with a gun" there to shoot that little boy. This is why we need to arm all the teachers. They could have shot that little boy dead right there and then shot the parents when they came to pick him up at school.
ReplyDeleteThe only rational answer is more guns - doncha see? Doncha see???
The hand gun accidently "went off". Luv that passive voice there.
ReplyDeleteThe sad thing with the video game analogy is there's no such thing as a "reset" button to make things not happen. Mom got away with a slap on the wrist, she'll be out in half the time on good behavior. She isn't suffering the pain the recipient of the loaded gun received, she isn't suffering the nightmares, she gets a vacation from "bad parenting". The gun was illegal and loaded, left where kids can reach it. 14 months. Pffft. We need better judges and stronger laws.
ReplyDeleteAnother senseless gun incident. Can gun companies make a gun that doesn't "just go off"?