Father of boy who shot friend gets 3 yrs
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| Sun, 07-18-2004 - 1:21pm |
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=Child%20Shot%20Sentence
Saturday, July 17, 2004 · Last updated 8:28 p.m. PT
Father of boy who shot friend gets 3 years
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CLEARWATER, Fla. -- The father of a boy who shot and killed a playmate with a loaded gun he found stashed under a sofa was sentenced to nearly three years in prison, followed by probation during which he must speak monthly on gun safety.
Louis Mevec Sr. was sentenced Friday for felony culpable negligence in the 2003 death of Sean Caroline II. Mevec, who owned the .357-caliber Magnum used to kill the 12-year-old friend of his son Louis, was convicted last month.
During his father's trial, 14-year-old Louis testified that a small group of Largo Middle School students had skipped school and were playing video games at Mevec's apartment when he pointed the gun at Sean and shot him between the eyes.
"I blame you and only you for my son's death," Sean Caroline, Sean's father, told Louis Mevec Sr. in court Friday. "My wife and I are also serving a sentence ... but we got no trial. Ours is a life sentence."
Circuit Judge Brandt Downey sentenced Mevec, 53, to the maximum six-year prison term, but suspended more than half of it and replaced it with probation. His remaining sentence is 34 months, but with good behavior he could be released by late 2006.
The Caroline family had asked that Mevec be required to speak on gun safety after his release.
The younger Louis Mevec was sent to a juvenile facility and is now living in New York with his mother and younger brother.
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I have a .45 that is locked with a cable lock through the handle (where the bullets are loaded) with the clips unloaded and amunition in a seperate location. The gun is than locked in a case that is 4" x 12" x 12". Easily able to transport. If someone broke into my house stole the case, cracked open the case, cut the cable, bought ammunition and loaded the gun and than killed someone.
Should I be responsible?
Edited 7/21/2004 4:14 pm ET ET by vader716
Edited 7/21/2004 4:15 pm ET ET by vader716
I don't wish to argue this with you. You have strong feelings one way, mine are strong the other way and I don't see that changing.
I would like to clearly defined what our positions are based on.
I can provide ample studies, books, etc supporting my fact based opinion.
I assume you don't support your belief based strictly on emotional feelings. Therefore, I'd love to see statistics that support your viewpoint.
You may not change your viewpoint, and you are entitled to those beliefs, but I want to clearly show others what are factually backed statements and which are driven by emotion.
Edited 7/21/2004 4:25 pm ET ET by vader716
EXACTLY! Perfect. I must admit I was saving this retort for your response. You would never be able to prove how I stored the gun beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore prosecuting those who have had their guns stolen is ludicrous. In the case of this article I would agree the owner should be prosecuted but not in cases where the weapons are stolen.
The problem with that argument (that gun control works) is that you cannot establish causation to the exclusion of other factors... not in Canada, not anywhere. It certainly cannot be proven in the US, as studies conducted after the Brady Law (just as an example) sunsetted established that it had no measureable impact on crime rates.
Having a lower firearms-related crime rate does not automatically and inherently mean that gun control measures work. It quite obviously cannot be as simple as "gun control equals less crime", or Great Britain (for example) wouldn't be in the situation it is now.
~mark~
Merlins_Own
AS ABOVE, SO BELOW!
What!?
I'll assume by your lack of response that this is a case of "logic vs emotion" and that I can't debate.
If that is the case I'll support your right to refuse gun ownership providing you support my right to own and carry one.
But what if the car is left unlocked, and someone hotwires it to steal it? Maybe you shouldn't leave your car unattended, even locked with the keys in your purse/pocket, in a parking lot, because it's still viable that someone could come along and steal your car. Maybe you shouldn't drive at all...
Bottom line is, if a gun is locked within the confines of your home (not in addition to a lockbox) then you have done everything necessary to keep that gun safe from those OUTSIDE your home...because, let's face it, they shouldn't be IN your home in the first place. If you have children in the house, you should have your guns secured away from the children...not to mention that you should know what your kids are doing anyhow...gun in the house or not.
If it was an adult who accidentally shot another adult, we wouldn't be having this conversation. We would just be shaking our heads at the sadness of it, and asking how the adult with the gun could be such an idiot. However, initially we were talking about children. Children are the responsibilities of their parents until they have matured and reached adulthood. So yes, hold the father of that boy responsible, because he didn't know what he was doing. Do not hold an entire society, (or their constitutionally protected right, for that matter) responsible. It's this general thinking that socieity is to blame as a whole for much of what goes wrong with youth that leads to piss-poor parenting. If my kid beats up another kid at school (not in self-defense) it's my fault for teaching him it's not right to fight. If my kid steals a car and goes joyriding and wrecks the car, or hurts someone, it's my fault for not knowing what my kid is doing. If my kid shoots another kid with my gun, it's my fault for not keeping that gun out of his hands and/or teaching him right and wrong. Period. I am so empahtically tired of all of the whiney, "my kids listen to bad music and are influenced, watch bad tv and movies and are influenced, hang around with thugs and are influenced" crap. Parents need to find some guts and start being parents and stop blaming their problems on every scapegoat that passes by.
I understand that you are affected by the loss of someone you know. When a person dies, especially a young person, it's heart wrenching. But looking to point the finger, and opting for the bigger target rather than the bullseye isn't doing any good. I had a very good friend die in a snow mobile accident when he was 24 years old...left behind a wife and two little ones. Even accidents can produce blame if we look hard enough, but it wouldn't do any good in bringing someone back. My point being, hope that they find the person who shot your friend(s)...help find them if you can, but don't look further. Sure, that person who shot your friends probably got the gun he used from somewhere, but no one put it his hand and forced him to pull the trigger. He did that, so that is where the blame lies.
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