There are no gun accidents
Re “Slain girlfriend’s family asks for light penalty on her killer” (Our Region, Jan. 9): This was no accident. According to The Bee’s story, a young couple was drinking on New Year’s Eve when one decided to go outside in a densely populated urban area to ring in the new year with a couple of blasts from a handgun.
Did they think bullets fired into the air never would come down? Was there any consideration at all that a negligently discharged bullet could hit a neighboring house and injure or kill someone inside?
Years ago, a U.S. Marine gunnery sergeant put his face right up to mine and screamed: “There are no accidents with guns. If you shoot somebody, it’s because you intended or because you (messed) up.”
It’s a lesson that I’ve never forgotten. Unfortunately, it’s also a lesson that far too many gun owners and, apparently, members of the local judicial system who are promoting a light sentence for the killer, never learned.
Will Stockwin, Colfax
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This story was originally published January 12, 2015 at 4:00 PM with the headline "There are no gun accidents."