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This man took a paper plate, stapled it to the trunk of a skinny tree in his backyard (the plate more than covered the width of the tree) and then fired a full clip at from (I think) 100 ft. away.
Now here's the thing: Bullets, especially any caliber under .40, have the ability to travel over a mile when fired on the correct trajectory, and can ricochet for several hundred yards. I know this from personal experience. When I was a kid, my dad and I were shooting at soda cans for target practice with our .22 rifles in the backyard, until we received a very angry phone call from the nearest neighbor .75 miles away, who stated that he heard a pop while he was feeding his pigs, and checked the nearby tree to find a bullet. He was understandably upset, and after that, we put up a backstop.
Now, back to the story at hand. This man was obviously careless with his weapon, and as such killed a little girl, but it is unclear here in MO whether or not he actually broke any laws, and therefore he has yet to be charged. It is likely that if he does end up in court, he will be hit with an involuntary manslaughter charge that they will plea down to nothing.
In many counties in Missouri (the ones with higher population density), firearms are legal to possess, but illegal to discharge except in certain zoned areas. It is also illegal to discharge firearms inside the city limits of just about any town. These laws are not intended to be repressive, but rather to protect innocents from incidents just like this one, and I think it's high time we start implementing them statewide. Sadly, rural voters will never vote for such a law, as they consider it as "their land, their business." I would agree with that sentiment, if not for the fact that the bullets can very easily leave said land...
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