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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsI have to wonder if this POS really shot his daughter "accidentally."
Last edited Sun Jun 18, 2017, 12:47 PM - Edit history (1)
Dad says he fatally shot daughter while teaching gun safety
By Joshua Rhett Miller
A father in Indiana is facing five felonies after inadvertently shooting his 9-year-old daughter while he says he was teaching his three children not to play with guns, later telling a responding officer: Shes dead, shes dead. I thought it was empty. Eric Hummel, 33, shot Olivia Hummel once in the head just after telling his two sons about the danger of handguns in the familys home in Hobart on Saturday. The girl died less than 30 minutes later, the Chicago Tribune reports.
...
One boy said Hummel pointed it at him up to three times (WTF?!)and that the gun made a little pop sound, according to the affidavit. Hummel then pulled the top of the gun back and forgot that he put the bullets back in when he shot our sister, one boy told police.
Hummel later asked to call the girls mother and an officer overheard him tell the woman: I shot her, Im so sorry, according to the affidavit. Hummel also told the girls mother that the gun went off as he was showing the boys the gun. (that wasn't how it happened. It didn't "go off."
Hummel has been charged with five felonies, according to court records, including neglect of a dependent resulting in death, battery resulting in death to a person less than 14 years old, reckless homicide and two counts of neglect of a dependent. He faces 20 to 40 years if convicted of neglecting a dependent resulting in death, a Level 1 felony. His first court date had not been set as of Monday, according to court records cited by the newspaper.
http://nypost.com/2017/06/13/dad-says-he-fatally-shot-daughter-while-teaching-gun-safety/
Chemisse
(30,817 posts)They might want to consider a murder charge.
I wonder if he and his wife were estranged in any way. Killing a beloved child has been used as a way of exacting the ultimate revenge on a spouse.
dalton99a
(81,636 posts)Evil POS
spanone
(135,900 posts)good god.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)What a horrible thing to do to a child!
Volaris
(10,275 posts)The connective tissue that links every kind of Stupid in this nation is the childlike and narcissistic belief that The SELF is all that matters, that everything that's not The SELF is somebody else's responsibility, that there are not any consequences for my own actions (but everybody ELSE had better get punished for bad or dumb behavior) and that the Government that I vote for had better ONLY care about ME, because nobody ELSE deserves it.
Randian Republicans and Christian Conservatives are, to a person, child-adults who never had to grow the fuck up and face the universe AS IT IS with no possibility of being able to blame anyone else.
TexasProgresive
(12,159 posts)Pointing a gun at a loved one and pulling the trigger. Whatever happened to; All guns are loaded and never point a gun at anything or person you don't intend to shoot. I learned 10 gun safety rules but these two will cover a lot. Poor baby and her mother and brothers. Lock him up, if for nothing else, endangerment of a child.
duncang
(1,907 posts)What the hell?
riverbendviewgal
(4,254 posts)I was taught to NEVER point a gun at anyone. This man murdered his daughter.
CozyMystery
(652 posts)MineralMan
(146,338 posts)That father should do multiple years in prison. His stupidity and inattention cost his daughter her life. Pointing a pistol at someone and pulling the trigger is an intentional act, not an accident. That he "thought" the weapon was unloaded is no excuse. You do not point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger. Period.
Off to the big house with him.
GeorgeGist
(25,324 posts)SecularMotion
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raccoon
(31,127 posts)Iggo
(47,577 posts)sarah FAILIN
(2,857 posts)For me, I would want to know if there were problems in the home such as mom leaving and taking the kids. If that was going on, I'd say he did it intentionally. If he is one of those stupid people that isn't smart enough to know better than to play around with a gun- there are LOTS of those.. then maybe it was an accident. Sadly they don't make you take any sort of maturity test when buying a gun. If it is stupidity, I expect he will be tried for a lesser charge than murder.
I'd like to know what the mom is saying.
raccoon
(31,127 posts)lostnfound
(16,192 posts)Intentional, is my bet, in a moment of anger. In any case if you point the gun and pull the trigger, it should be assumed to be intentional.
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/hobart-remembers--year-old-girl-killed-in-saturday-shooting/article_66e00fc0-9f24-5f7f-ad66-51cf5f1ea7d7.html
sarah FAILIN
(2,857 posts)Or at the store. If the children are in custody, I tend to believe she is still with him. DHR wouldn't let her have them if she was with him and they were unsure of the safety of the boys.
I agree anything is possible though.
Sancho
(9,070 posts)This is my generic response to gun threads where people are shot and killed by the dumb or criminal possession of guns. For the record, I grew up in the South and on military bases. I was taught about firearms as a child, and I grew up hunting, was a member of the NRA, and I still own guns. In the 70s, I dropped out of the NRA because they become more radical and less interested in safety and training. Some personal experiences where people I know were involved in shootings caused me to realize that anyone could obtain and posses a gun no matter how illogical it was for them to have a gun. Also, easy access to more powerful guns, guns in the hands of children, and guns that werent secured are out of control in our society. As such, heres what I now think ought to be the requirements to possess a gun. Im not debating the legal language, I just think its the reasonable way to stop the shootings. Notice, none of this restricts the type of guns sold. This is aimed at the people who shoot others, because its clear that they should never have had a gun.
1.) Anyone in possession of a gun (whether they own it or not) should have a regularly renewed license. If you want to call it a permit, certificate, or something else that's fine.
2.) To get a license, you should have a background check, and be examined by a professional for emotional and mental stability appropriate for gun possession. It might be appropriate to require that examination to be accompanied by references from family, friends, employers, etc. This check is not to subject you to a mental health diagnosis, just check on your superficial and apparent gun-worthyness.
3.) To get the license, you should be required to take a safety course and pass a test appropriate to the type of gun you want to use.
4.) To get a license, you should be over 21. Under 21, you could only use a gun under direct supervision of a licensed person and after obtaining a learners license. Your license might be restricted if you have children or criminals or other unsafe people living in your home. (If you want to argue 18 or 25 or some other age, fine. 21 makes sense to me.)
5.) If you possess a gun, you would have to carry a liability insurance policy specifically for gun ownership - and likely you would have to provide proof of appropriate storage, security, and whatever statistical reasons that emerge that would drive the costs and ability to get insurance.
6.) You could not purchase a gun or ammunition without a license, and purchases would have a waiting period.
7.) If you possess a gun without a license, you go to jail, the gun is impounded, and a judge will have to let you go (just like a DUI).
8.) No one should carry an unsecured gun (except in a locked case, unloaded) when outside of home. Guns should be secure when transporting to a shooting event without demonstrating a special need. Their license should indicate training and special carry circumstances beyond recreational shooting (security guard, etc.). If you are carrying your gun while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, you lose your gun and license.
9.) If you buy, sell, give away, or inherit a gun, your license information should be recorded.
10.) If you accidentally discharge your gun, commit a crime, get referred by a mental health professional, are served a restraining order, etc., you should lose your license and guns until reinstated by a serious relicensing process.
Most of you know that a license is no big deal. Besides a drivers license you need a license to fish, operate a boat, or many other activities. I realize these differ by state, but that is not a reason to let anyone without a bit of sense pack a semiautomatic weapon in public, on the roads, and in schools. I think we need to make it much harder for some people to have guns.
Binkie The Clown
(7,911 posts)linuxman
(2,337 posts)Can you elaborate?
Binkie The Clown
(7,911 posts)It's a contradiction in terms; oxymoron. Like safe hand grenades, or safe nuclear weapons. Nobody is safe when there are hand grenades around, or nuclear weapons around, or guns around.
linuxman
(2,337 posts)Lots of things are dangerous. Knives, cars, sex, guns, etc. Safety knowledge involving all of the above is not only necessary and possible, but important. I own a few guns designed to kill. I own a few more designed to punch neat little holes into paper. The safety lessons regarding one are 100% interchangeable to another, and following them to the letter insures nobody gets harmed. I have some guns around right now. My wife and I are safe as can be because we follow the four safety rules at all times. I think you are generalizing.
Binkie The Clown
(7,911 posts)Cars have non-killing uses as transportation.
Sex can be used to create life, not destroy it.
The utilitarian uses of many things makes it worthwhile to risk the small danger connected with their use.
Guns have no purpose but to cause death. There is no excuse to risk the danger of death from handling a thing whose only purpose is to cause death.
Oh, but what about target shooting? The purpose of target shooting is to get better at being able to cause death should the desire to do so arise.
Guns just creep me out. I get a sick, uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach when I see a police officer with a holstered gun. Just the sight of the gun triggers a deep fear response, and I hasten to put as much distance between me and the gun as possible. Guns are designed and built to cause death, and I'm not a big fan of death. Especially my own. So I don't want anything to do with death machines. I don't even want them in my sight.
linuxman
(2,337 posts)Ignoring that is just sticking your fingers in your ears and humming a tune. If you can't accept that, you've abandoned reason, and debating further is like administering medicine to the dead. I target shoot to get better at shooting targets in the same way a bowler bowls to get better at making strikes.
Get over it.
"Guns just creep me out. I get a sick, uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach when I see a police officer with a holstered gun. Just the sight of the gun triggers a deep fear response, and I hasten to put as much distance between me and the gun as possible. Guns are designed and built to cause death, and I'm not a big fan of death. Especially my own. So I don't want anything to do with death machines. I don't even want them in my sight."
Jesus.
No offense, but I thank you for your decisions to not own a gun.
Binkie The Clown
(7,911 posts)keep your gun in your pants where I don't have to see it and we'll both be happy.
And FWIW I know an awful lot of people who are seriously creeped out by guns, so it's not like I'm particularly abnormal in that respect. And FWIW I did a lot of target shooting when I was in the Air Force, and yes, I did enjoy it. But, thankfully, when I hit my mid twenties I outgrew my obsession with guns, tanks, hand grenades, and other killing machines.
linuxman
(2,337 posts)but your attention to what's in my pants is touching, if not weird. Ah well, to each their own.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)"is touching, if not weird..."
Much like posting sarcasm in a thread dedicated to the fallen. Yet I understand our need to rationalize in ourselves what we indict others for.
To each their own, indeed...
linuxman
(2,337 posts)LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Less stalking, and more a keen remembrance of the obviously absurd-- though I realize how the self-absorbed may be unaware of the relevant differences.
Though no doubt, your narrative requests you reinterpret that as something it is in fact, not.
linuxman
(2,337 posts)Seems I've been living in your head for a while then. Gonna start charging rent?
SoCalMusicLover
(3,194 posts)Please Oh Please do tell us what those many non-killing uses are.
struggle4progress
(118,379 posts)SoCalMusicLover
(3,194 posts)That is a great song. Never heard it before. Funny stuff.
Someone needs to play that in front of this guy's house.
Towlie
(5,328 posts)"The escaped convicts from GA were caught by private citizens with guns"
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029211791
lostnfound
(16,192 posts)Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)I guarantee you, if he had been busted for something like that, it would be serious business there.
roscoeroscoe
(1,370 posts)The appropriate term is 'negligent,' because the individual is entirely responsible for ensuring the weapon is not loaded, is on safe, and *never pointing at someone*
The military got rid of the term 'accidental discharge' years ago. Any such incident is criminal negligence or willful criminal activity
get the red out
(13,468 posts)Bad enough when one young kid shoots another because of neglectful adults, but this is horrific!
USALiberal
(10,877 posts)miyazaki
(2,253 posts)Don't point the fucking gun at me, don't point the fucking gun at anyone else.
linuxman
(2,337 posts)Someone gets hurt, someone gets prison time. Simple as that. Whoops doesn't cut it.