- @cnnbrk
- Followers: 64,172,676
The Justice Department has charged two people with conspiracy in an alleged extremist plot to damage Baltimore-areatwitter.com/i/web/status/1…B6
- @cnnbrk
- Followers: 64,172,676
More than 1,200 reported dead in Turkey and Syria following powerful earthquake, with thousands more injured cnn.it/3JJh6j7
- @cnnbrk
- Followers: 64,172,676
Viola Davis achieves EGOT status with a Grammy win for the audiobook of her memoir cnn.it/40ySJLd
- @cnnbrk
- Followers: 64,172,676
Pakistan's former President Pervez Musharraf has died in Dubai, the Pakistani military has said cnn.it/3HxdHBn
- @cnnbrk
- Followers: 64,172,676
The US military has shot down the Chinese surveillance balloon over the Atlantic Ocean, a US official says. cnn.it/40tn3Xq
- @cnnbrk
- Followers: 64,172,676
The FAA has issued a ground stop for three airports in the Carolinas for a “national security effort,” as a suspetwitter.com/i/web/status/1…SVqtu9
- @cnnbrk
- Followers: 64,172,676
Democrats approve dramatic changes to the 2024 presidential primary calendar, but it’s far from a done dealcnn.it/3HySjf1Bs
CNN POLITICS ON FACEBOOK » | CNN POLITICS ON TWITTER »
Relative shoots costumed girl after mistaking her for a skunk
A little girl was fighting for her life early Monday after she was shot outside a Halloween party by a relative who mistook her costume for a skunk.
Police in western Pennsylvania's New Sewickley Township said the 9-year-old girl was dressed in black with a black hat for the Saturday evening party.
As the two to three dozen guests milled about, the girl went to hide on the edge of a hill.
It was past 8 p.m. and the sun had long set. A relative spotted the dark figure in the distance, mistook it for a skunk and fired his shotgun, said Officer Greg Carney with the township police.
The girl was hit in the neck, back and arm - and flown to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, about 30 miles away. There, she remained in the intensive care unit, Carney said.
Police will determine later Monday whether they will charge the shooter, whom they did not name. Nor did they say how he was related to the girl.
They did add, however, that the man had not been drinking.
On Twitter
On Twitter
@cnnbrk on Twitter
What an idiot. Maybe he was not drinking but he sure was on something else. Guns for idiots, results: deadly.
True, but the same can be said for cars and idiot, lawn care equipment and idiots, cell phones and idiots…ect, ect
another great american "sportsman"
And despite this, people will get on this board and continue to argue that more guns makes for a safer society...
Actually they argue the ‘safety’ you are referring to is from crime. No need to twist the argument to suit your opinion. Unfortunate for you the statistics support their side. I do however have a question for you. Seeing as vastly more people die in car crashes everyday and the only real purpose of a car is for convince… are you also suggesting we ban cars?
the shooter should be locked for stupidity and cruelty to animals and take that gun license off this develop delayed idiot
First off, I truly hope this little girl recovers.
Second, skunks are known to carry rabies.
Third, the shooting still seems to be a knee jerk reaction. Then again, I wasn't there so this is still speculation.
Another tragic commentary on the NRA mentality.
Rather broad use of the paintbrush there. The vast majority of gun owners, NRA members or not (I do not belong to the NRA) grew up to respect their firearms with safety being foremost in mind. I will admit his action seemed reckless though.
You hear more about accidents because that makes for a better news story scrub. Do your research. And I’m going to use an oldie but goodie here…more people die in accidental car crashes, smoking and obesity than by guns.
So that makes shooting this little girl OK? same for the two dad's that have shot and killed their own sons in the past few weeks.... that's OK too?
True, iother things kill to and we continually try to find ways to lessen those statistics.... except guns.... let's DO NOTHING and let it continue.
The gun requires someone other than the victim to take an active role in causing the injury or death. Unlike the auto accident, smoknig, and obesity. Required demonstration of intelligence would eliminate moronic acts like this by taking guns out of the hands of morons.
more die from cars and obesity than from the common cold, flu virus, EEE and West Nile virus too. Don't mean we can't try to control it. poor argument little Tommy
Car crashes – drivers who act irresponsible should be charged, and there is no public outcry from car enthusiests when people suggest laws to curb irresposible car ownership and operation. This either makes your comment irrelevent, or it suggests the need for better vetting of who should own a gun.
Smoking rarely results in the loss of someone elses life, as well as obesity. Both are self destructive behaviors and would only be relevent had this been a suicide.
Wrong, more people die by suicide with the use of a gun.
Sorry Tom Tom, he broke the golden rule of handling firearms. ALWAYS know exactly what you are shooting at, ALWAYS!!!
Which doesn't do you any good if you are shot, does it? People aren't statistics.
And many more people drive, smoke and over eat than own guns. It's known as probability, that's why they pay higher insurance rates.
Smoking, obesity and gun-related deaths are emminantly preventable. This is also true for cases of distracted driving.
Pull trigger first, then ascertain the nature of the target is DUMB. Dumb people shouldn't have access to loaded weapons.
Yes, and if the little girl dies, I'm sure her folks will take that into consideration and feel better about the whole thing.
While I will agree with your raw numbers, you are comparing apples to oranges. The set of people exposed (or exposing themselves) to obesity, smoking and vehicles is much larger than the set of those exposed to guns - whether their own or their relatives, friends and neighbors. If you want to compare apples to apples, you need to determine the percentage of serious injury or death from guns to the number of guns vs the percentage of serious injury or death due to, for example, cars on the road.
I am sorry, but that is one weak argument.
Tom Tom: Have you written a statement supporting gun ownership, to be released posthumously, in the event you are an innocent victim of a gun crime?
Tom,
Is it your goal to get out of 4th place?
What does that have to do with guns? Guns are worshiped like a necessary part of everyone's everyday life. This is exactly what happens. A gun in the home is 10 times more likely to be involved in an accidental shooting that be used against an intruder. Keep bragging about your guns, just sucks people end up killing someone innocent.
I am sure this will make that 9 year old feel better.
But if you add in the non-accidental car crashes, what do the numbers look like? Who cares if more are killed by auto accidents and obesity? People using guns are killing way too many innocent people. A person dressed up as a skunk and shot is not an acceptable collateral damage statistic for the "right to bear arms".
We have lessened the number of people killed in car crashes and from lung cancer. We should do the same for guns. Make ammo so expensive that folks will think twice before pulling the trigger.
As I mentioned earlier this is a csse of criminal negligence or negligent homicide. The fault was that of the human.
A 12 year Oklahoma girl had, yes thecorrect word is had, to shoot a home invader
quote statistics all day, but i do not think the families of those who have died by gunshot care
that still doesn't make it ok.
Oldie but a goodie?? I would certainly hope more people would die in car crashers, due to smoking. and obesity, There are hundreds of thousands of horrible drivers, and smoking and obesity are problems rampant in our society. How on earth does naming three of the major killers in the united states justify deaths due to the morons that shouldn't have guns? Apples and oranges my friend. I'm sure heart disease kills more people than gun violence as well. It doesn't mean that heart diesease should be used as a justification for gun violence. I'm not even that anti gun, I just think your argument holds no water.
...yeah...and this is because guns don't kill...right? riiiight....
i would say the 9 year old could care less about your accident statistics.
I can minimize the risk of a car crash by being a safe driver, and I do. But how do I minimize the risk that some random neighbor idiot will pull out a gun and shoot me?
How would you avoid when someone crashes into your car missing the red light even if you are a very safe driver?
But in those cases Tom, it's the stupid ones doing it to themselves (i.e. smoking or obesity), with guns, it's the stupid doing it to others, innocent people. BIG DIFFERENCE.
guns plus plus stupid people does hundreds of times more harm than stupid people without guns.
True and only 30,000 die by guns each year. Not too high right?
you can die by walking, tripping, and hitting you're head. what's your point? Guns were created, for one sole purpose. and its not raking the lawn (though I'm sure you can somehow die from that too) The good thing about America being so armed is a deterrent for invasion on american soil... until then, the weapons will be used on inwardly.
One cannot die "in" smoking or obesity. Your claim is indeed an oldie . . . and sadly out of date.
If I tried to hit what I thought was a skunk with my car and hit my child instead, would you call that an accident?
If you die because of smoking or overeating, it's YOUR smoking or overeating that's the problem. Don't drag me into it.
If more people die due to firearms than heroin, would you use the legality of firearms as an excuse for legalizing heroin since heroin is a lesser problem?
Yeah you can always find ways to die to add together to make it more then for guns. The fact that you had to find three things, all pretty serious, does not help your argument. On the contrary, it hammers home the point beautifully: the amount of gun deaths is as big as the number of deaths caused by car crashes, smoking and obesity PUT TOGETHER. No bub, you aren't very good at arguing, but perhaps it is because you can't win this one!!
And there are numerous organizations continually working on improving car safety, campaigns to fight childhood obesity, and active taxation and messaging to lower smoking rates. And a national organization with no objective other than to prevent any such type of activity for guns. I don't see many "we need to free car crashes, stop fighting against fat, please smoke more" national campaigns.
That depends where you live. The number of motor vehicle accident deaths is higher than gun deaths nationwide, but if you live in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, or Washington, the number of gun deaths was higher than the number of motor vehicle deaths (according to 2009 statistics). Also when you consider the nationwide numbers, the numbers are pretty darn close. In 2010, there were 32,885 deaths by motor vehicles, compared to 31,513 gun deaths. Now when you consider that 90% of Americans own and operate motor vehicles compared to the 45% who own guns and the number of people that drive on a daily basis, that number is pretty amazingly close.
In 2010, 5,285 of those gun deaths in the US were children or teens. When you consider that over 5,000 children died by guns in the US in one year and the total number of American soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan from when the wars began in 2001 until 2010 was 4,680, it is pretty startling.
I'm not saying that I believe that guns should be outlawed in their entirety, but we gotta admit, there is a problem. There is not enough regulation of guns when the people who own them don't know how to use them, don't know how to operate in situations where they might need them, don't keep them safely in their home (especially homes with children), and don't use them in a responsible way (ie, shooting at dark objects you can't see and don't know what you are shooting at). People need to be more trained and gun ownership needs to be at a higher responsibility than it is now.
An oldie but not relevant-ie. Differences: 1. Car crashes: people also spend a LOT more time driving cars than they do shooting guns now don't they? Deaths per hour of driving compared with deaths per hour of shooting guns would be a little more accurate. 2. Smoking-personal choice that doesn't kill other people (secondhand smoking arguments aside). If this guy were smoking instead of playing with his bang bang toy that little girl wouldn't be in the hospital right now. 3. Obesity: see #2. Again if this guy was simply fat, and not playing with a gun, the girl would still be all set.
Fortunately, most accidental gun deaths are to other gun owners, so at least here's a element of live by the sword, die by the sword. But there is also a lot of collateral damage like this in a country infested with millions and millions of guns.
What a stupid argument. Tom, Tom, The Piper's Son. Not as many people die from this as from that, so leave this alone! That's a 2 year old's logic. Applying your argument to children looks like this: more kids die in car accidents than from child abduction, so let's not worry about child abduction! See how stupid that sounds?
I own several guns, including assault rifles, and I have to say, if you're going to argue for the right to keep them, use a real argument.
And that argument is worthless as usual because THERE IS NO PARALLEL.
More Americans die in gun violence on American soil than have been killed in Afghanistan
Iraq, and Iran during a time of war!!! The fact that an American on American soil can 'legally'
get a gun due to weak oversight and then go on mass shooting sprees in schools, malls, mosques,
churces, movie theatres, etc...is PROOF that we NEED STRONGER GUN LAWS. And a moron with
a gun that shoots his own family because he thinks A HUMAN is a SKUNK is also PROOF that most
people DON'T DESERVE TO OWN A GUN.
Tell that to the little girl.
Which is why we do everything we can to prevent obesity, car accidents, and smoking. And measles, and electrocution, and drowning. If that guy didn't have a gun, his innocent victim would be alive.
Also more die by cars than from heroin, so lets legalize that too?
But if guns are still a factor in the death of many the issue is still not to be ignored.
It is the nature of most gun crimes. People don't choose to get shot. They do choose to eat and smoke, drive etc.
Does that makes guns any LESS dangerous?
And here's some new, smarter, more rational thinking to an "oldie, but a goodie:"
Cars are a useful product (transportation) while guns exist only to kill.
Smoking kills the smoker without harming others (unless you want to count second-hand smoke).
Obesity kills the user without harming others.
Tom,Tom the idiots son.
And so that becomes your benchmark? I see that comment and say to you, "Why does anyone have to die at all?" It's like you've accepted that guns in households will result in accidental deaths and you are okay with it. It's a skunk. Not a threat to national security or threat to the household.
You do realize that you can get shot, not die and it still isn't cool.
Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son–regarding your comment that more people die from other causes than from guns. So what?! Would you also say that since more people die of AIDS than malaria, we should ignore malaria deaths? Gun accidents and gun-related violence are important problems.
True, but the liberal media isnt pushing for automobile bans....
A prayer for the family and girl struck by an unfortunate accident. Accidents are a tragedy and a reality, no matter how stupid it may seem to you, the are called accidents because they are not intentional. Obesity, intentional. Drunk driving, intentional. That list is long. I agree with Tom and safety first. May God bless the family and the man who will live with the "mistake".
For once can u even admit that some people should not own a gun. or at least trained in proper use. this tragic act was caused by 100% stupidity.
I'm sure if it was one of your family you would think more of the victim then politics of gun ownership.
Maybe so Tom, Tom. But the difference is when you get a car, the main usage and purpose of that car is to transport yourself and/or your passengers between point A and point B. That's why you bought it. We put speed limits on roads and drunk driving laws in place, there are spot checks, speed traps and those laws are diligently enforced. Someone gets caught, they get punished. Most people get caught before they kill themselves or someone else. Difference with a gun is that there's really only ONE reason to have one - to shoot something. No matter why you shoot or whether or not you intend to kill someone, when that bullet leaves the gun and hits something alive, chances are good its gonna kill it or injure someone. There's no one randomly checking people who own guns to make sure they are being used responsibly. When someone picks up a gun in their house, if they are drunk (or STUPID), the consequences are likely to be fatal. And chances are also very good that no one will be there to stop them. When you get on the road, drunk or speeding, chances are there will be someone (a cop) along the way who will stop you. There's just no comparison in my view.
Yeah, yeah we all know. But let's see how much you defend a dumb shooting when your kid is pumped full of lead.
...but that just means that more people die needlessly? Might be wrong. Not good at math.
RE: "more people die in accidental car crashes"
Yes, and guess what? You are required to pass a TEST to drive. So why do NRA nutjobs rally against the idea of being required to pass a basic gun safety course before being allowed to own a gun?
If nyou don't think this worthy of a newspaper article, go somewhere else. You are clearly in the minority. Bye, bye.
Irrelevent. Way more people are killed by guns than saved by them.
true but those rarely kill kids during Halloween parties.
And more people aim their cars and fat guts and cigarettes at potential victims than those with guns too right.
Compared to the number of times people drive cars, smoke a cigarette or eat an unhealthy meal on a single basis to the numbers of times a gun is used with tragic results on a single basis and get back to me about whats a bigger threat to the general public.
I like your comparison to tobacco. It's a choice, a bad one admittedly. But the thing is, you just kill yourself. A similar argument holds true for obesity – a personal choice that kills only you. Cars have a positive purpose and a negative consequence at times. Guns are used to injure, kill, or otherwise destroy things. Nothing positive in my opinion except in the hands of the military.
Since the majority of gun deaths involve an armed person shooting an unarmed person. Your analogy of highway deaths makes no sense. Unless you think people drive into your backyard to run you over?
By your twisted logic we can also dispense with going after murder – going after that crime costs soooo much, and it does not change that the person killed is juts plain dead at all. So, and as you said, since so many more people die because of .. (I refer to your list above) we would all be better off just ignoring killers. Have a nice day.
But stupid people should not be allowed to buy guns. Oh... wait, that's most of the people in America.
But stupid people should not be allowed to have guns. Oh... wait, that's most of the people in America.
Those things mostly only kill in accidents. This was no accident. A gun's purpose is to harm and he did harm.
Tell that to the parents of this poor little girl.
Yes but the girl didn't smoke or drive and at 65 lbs was not obese.
I wonder if you would still be saying that if it were your child that was shot?
I think u meant 'or' instead of 'and' cuz when it is 3 vs. 1, 3 usually wins
Sure, your statistic is right but accident is accident, people don't intend to have it happens; with gun is different, people have to take it out, aim and shoot.
Why he shoot at the first place, because he has a gun , gun ,gun ,gun , small threat can invoke anyone to fire, pity on this gun culture, I hope this girl should recover fast, I hope this gunman should rest in jail
This is all due tp Mitt Romney
Inappropriate political commentary.
Wrong forum...down the digital hall & to the right–under 'politics'; have fun!
Good thing we have a right to bear arms or CNN wouldn't have much to report. Everyday the new is littered with shootings. And yes I know there are responsible gun owners, but something needs to change...I hope the little girl recovers fully.
Far more people are killed by irresponsible vehicle owners. Do you want to ban those too?
With a gathering of children, this thing referred to as a relative is firing a shotgun in the darkness without being positive about what he's shooting at is a perfect example of the insanely fixated gun rights zealots' truly and without remorse represent! Folks here's your poster child for today's gun toting rights!
Guest321 Yes to banning both!
This guy needs his firearms taken away! First incident of irresponsible use of a firearm should result in the loss of your ability to own a firearm.
How big do skunks get in PA?
I use to say people with mental illness, and history of drug, alcohol abuse should not own guns for 3 years after event. I guess a intelligence test is needed as well.
next time, the person should just shoot themselves. Talk about moron. You win the dumbest of 2012 for sure.
You have said it all.
What an idiot..how big are skunks in PA?
Unbelievable. You damn well better know your target before you pull the trigger.
Not drunk, just stupid.
Another big win for the NRA, the craziest and most dangerous special interest group in the United States.
Actually that would be the religious right. The NRA is small potatoes in comparison to the number of deaths if could be held responsible for.
Sorry for the Girl,she will be changed forever. The idiot should be charged with reckless discharge of a firearm. I would never fire at anything in the dark, what harm is a skunk anyway and besides I wouldn't even think of unlocking the gun cabinet when dozens of others were having a party much less firing a shot.