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Man kills 7 y/o son


Tigerpaw

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RIP little guy.

:nono:

http://news.yahoo.com/police-boy-7-shot-death-pa-gun-store-200049283.html

MERCER, Pa. (AP) — A man's handgun went off while he was holding it as he got into his truck in the parking lot of a western Pennsylvania gun store Saturday, and the shot killed his 7-year-old son, authorities said.

Joseph V. Loughrey, 44, of Sharpsville, was getting into the truck when the 9 mm handgun discharged, wounding Craig Allen Loughrey in the chest, according to state police. The boy died at the scene at Twigs Reloading Den in East Lackawannock Township, 60 miles north of Pittsburgh.

Investigators said Loughrey told them he didn't realize there was a bullet still in the chamber. "This happens all too often where people think the gun was empty," Lt. Eric Hermick told The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Loughrey was trying to sell two guns at the store — one a scope rifle and the other, the handgun, state police said. The owners told Loughrey the store doesn't buy guns so Loughrey and his son returned to the truck with them. Loughrey put the boy in the passenger seat and loaded the rifle into the truck, state police said. He was attempting to get inside and reached to put the handgun in the center storage console when it fired, they said.

Loughrey was questioned by state police, who said he was cooperative and distraught. The shooting is being investigated as an accident, although Loughrey could face charges, including manslaughter and negligence, Hermick told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

"I know that little kid was everything to him," Mark McLaughlin of Fredonia, a friend and co-worker of Loughrey's at Superior Well Services in Fredonia, told the Tribune-Review.

Messages left for the coroner's office and at a listing in Loughrey's name were not immediately returned.

Assholes need to learn proper weapon handling:mad:

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The what now?

any firearms i <might> have had were lost in a horrible smelting incident, Mr. Government Agent Man...

...and any that <might> have survived were locked in a safe that tragically went overboard when my boat hit a large wave on Lake Erie...

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any firearms i <might> have had were lost in a horrible smelting incident, Mr. Government Agent Man...

...and any that <might> have survived were locked in a safe that tragically went overboard when my boat hit a large wave on Lake Erie...

That's unfortunate.

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This idiot broke every damn rule in the book and an innocent child pays the price. Way to go, moron.

When I put my pistols in the safe I make sure they are pointed in a safe direction as I store them loaded and I'm worried I might catch the trigger and discharging when I pick them up. Chances of that happening? About the same as the chances of me winning the lottery while I'm balls deep in Emma Watson... (In this case, safe direction means pointing directly towards an outside wall where there's nothing but miles of farmland, even if the bullet makes it out of the safe.)

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any firearms i <might> have had were lost in a horrible smelting incident, Mr. Government Agent Man...

...and any that <might> have survived were locked in a safe that tragically went overboard when my boat hit a large wave on Lake Erie...

No shit?! You too, huh?

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With the few details in the story, I'm assuming he did not have a CCW. I could be wrong.

That being said:

He walked into a public place/private business with a loaded weapon.

He had it pointed in an unsafe direction.

He had his finger near/on the trigger while not prepared to fire.

Very tragic, but it sounds like this guy was an accident waiting to happen sooner or later.

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Tragic indeed, a two or three year old got very lucky at Woodbury's about ten years ago when he was hit with a ricochet inside the store.

All I can say is may God be with this family, I can't even imagine whats going thru their heads right now.

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RIP this is just to sad.

As others have said he broke many rules of gun safety and now he has to live with what he did. I don't think he should serve any time as what he's going through is worse than any prison could ever do.

I pisses me off when I see people with their finger on the trigger of even toy guns. I was at an airsoft place at the flea market yesterday and this guy had his pistol (airsoft) and had his finger on the trigger and kept accidentally pointing it at people including myself. The owners kids, who help around the store, had better gun safety habits than that guy did.

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RIP this is just to sad.

As others have said he broke many rules of gun safety and now he has to live with what he did. I don't think he should serve any time as what he's going through is worse than any prison could ever do.

He should be charged with any crime that he committed. Just because he feels bad about it doesn't mean he should be forgiven. Parents who leave kinds in hot cars don't intent to hurt anyone, and they feel bad about it - but they are still charged if the prosecutor feels the parent was negligent.

I think he should be charged with involuntary manslaughter. As the victim was under 12yo, under PA law, this is a felony 2.

For this, under PA Code 303.15, this is a gravity score of 8. http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/204/chapter303/s303.15.html

Gravity score 8 sentencing is 6-18 years, with a + or - 6 year mitigation/aggravation correction range. http://www.penn-law.com/lawyer-attorney-1831194.html

So, according to my cursory reading of these laws, if he is convicted of F2 Involuntary Manslaugher the judge can sentence him to no time at all. Or he can sentence him to 24 years.

A lot will depend on this guy's history. Are the guns legal? Is he allowed to own them? Has he been convicted of breaking any gun laws in the past? Does he have an established pattern of poor handling of firearms?

Assuming he's just a regular guy with a clean history and character witnesses that will state he normally has very good firearms handling procedures and this was a one-off accident then I think it would be appropriate to convict him of F2 Involuntary manslaughter but his jail sentence can be very low, if anything at all. Probation even. The key is that he'd have the felony record and lose his guns.

Any kind of bad history at all and serious jail time is appropriate.

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