Washington 13-year-old Boy Shoots Dad

[mikeb302000]

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/132729503.html">KOMO News reports

The teenage boy, who is accused of shooting his father Jimmy Asher in the back of the head with a .17-caliber bolt-action rifle, earlier told detectives the Sunday night shooting was an accident, police say.

But prosecutors say that doesn't match evidence that they are gathering.

At least they're charging the boy in juvenile court. Too bad he doesn't have the same lawyers as http://mikeb302000.blogspot.com/2011/10/woman-exonerated-in-ny-shooting.htmlhttp://mikeb302000.blogspot.com/2011/10/woman-exonerated-in-ny-shooting.html">this lady.

Since hindsight is 20/20, it's easy to say the boy shouldn't have been allowed access to the gun, but how does that work as a general rule? Are 13-year-olds, generally speaking, not mature enough or responsible enough to handle guns safely? Should http://mikeb302000.blogspot.com/2010/02/safe-storage.html">safe storage at home be required by law?

Even some of http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/?s=home+carry">the staunchest gun-rights supporters like Robert Farago say unless you have a gun on your person in the home, it should be locked up. His motives are first to be able to fight off those home invaders who might burst through the door at any moment, an idea which I love to make fun of, and only secondarily to keep guns out of the wrong hands. But the truth is, I prefer his way to what many others do.

What's your opinion? Do you have any sympathy for the young shooter? Wasn't the deck stacked against him, abusive dad, gun availability, society which teaches that gun violence is the answer?

What do you think? Please leave a comment.
http://mikeb302000.blogspot.com/">(cross posted at Mikeb302000)

[AtheistCrusader]

1. Insufficient evidence at this time to be jumping to such colorful conclusions.

[ileus]

2. Was this near wher you live?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

3. I will tell you what I think

I think you don't post enough info for me to make an informed decision and I don't click on your links because I understand that they all link to your blog which, I have no interest in visiting. Also, I am NOT going to surf the net to find this particular article, that is your job since you are the one that wants to discuss it. Therefore, I really don't think much at all about this OP.

I will go as far as to say that from what little you have posted that I feel sorry for the kid. Sounds like he has a tough row to hoe.

TA

[krispos42]

4. the top link doesn't go to his blog

In fairness, usually he direct-links to the story he's talking about. The other links go to his blog, but he usually links direct to the story.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

7. ok, thanks. I am hesitant to go to the blog or to blind links in general

can get viruses that way. Also, isn't he allowed up to 4 paragraphs from the article? That would be enough to see if I need to read more before making a comment. Thanks.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

8. still not enough info for me. I would have to hear the trial. I don't think

1st degree can be proved. The prosecutor is right to put it at 2nd degree. and wow! that girlfriend! asleep. even with earplugs! damn!

[petronius]

9. +1. Safe storage is common sense and should be common practice

Beyond that, there's nothing in the story to provide a foundation any of the OP's apparent interpretations, or to allow the formation of any real opinion. In particular, I see no allegations of abuse. So you're right - see what comes out in court.

Tragic story, though - and rough for the girlfriend (although I suppose she could have been shot as well)...

[mikeb302000]

13. the first link in most of my posts is like this one

KOMO news reports. Did you think that leads to my blog? And even if it did, what is so important about your and a few other people from DU clicking on it? Do you think that really matters to me?

[rl6214]

15. "Do you think that really matters to me? "

YES, dosen't the UN pay enough?

[Common Sense Party]

16. It must matter to you. That's why you keep putting your bloglinks in every post.

You've been asked time and time again to actually post the info HERE so it can be read and discussed. No, you refuse. So, quite obviously, your bloglinks ARE of supreme importance to you.

[TexasProgresive]

5. I was going to post that 17 caliber is a BB or pellet gun,

But I see that there are .17 caliber powder rifles now. That is a really small projectile.

[mistertrickster]

6. Unless I'm cleaning or showing off a gun, I keep it locked. No fuss, no muss. nt

[gravity556]

10. Sounds like the kid cold bloodedly murdered his dad.

Had he not had a gun, he probably would have enlisted the help of some buddies and just beaten his father and mother to death with baseball bats like that kid did in Chicago the other week. Of course, you didn't even respond to that thread-both because you didn't write it and because it doesn't support your bullshit agenda.

So, would the dad be any less dead if the kid had beaten him to death?

And for the record, I got my first .22 at 5, and at 10 I was allowed to keep it in my room, along with ammunition. I did not shoot my parents, nor did I go on a school shooting, nor did I shoot an innocent man having a smoke at 2 AM. You know why? Because I am not a social deviant. I am not a criminal asshole.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=118x469762 There's the link to the 3 Chicago teens who beat their friend's parents to death and stabbed them as well, all to steal a bit of cash. So, mikey, what gun law would have prevented that one?

[gravity556]

11. See, you keep trying to mitigate what he did.

What's your opinion? Do you have any sympathy for the young shooter? Wasn't the deck stacked against him, abusive dad, gun availability, society which teaches that gun violence is the answer?


It doesn't matter-any of it. I've got plenty of friends who had real fucking bastards for parents, and access to guns and you know what? They didn't fucking murder anyone. This kid CHOSE, of his own volition, to load his gun, sneak into his parent's room while his dad was asleep, and then conciously and intentionally aimed and pulled the trigger. You're trying to blame a gun rather than lay the blame where it belongs-with the individual who killed another in cold blood.

Here's some stuff you left out of your cherry picked excerpts.
"Prior to the shooting, there was some discord between father and son, and after the shooting, the younger Asher took steps to conceal evidence," Lt. Greg Elwin of the Thurston County Sheriff's Office said in a statement released Thursday.

The Thurston County Coroner's Office also released autopsy results Thursday showing that the father was shot at close range, meaning the muzzle of the rifle was 24 inches or less from the father's head when the trigger was pulled.


Shot from less than 2 feet away, and the kid made an effort to conceal the crime. Shows he knew he did wrong and it wasn't a "heat of the moment" event.

Court documents lay out several different stories from the boy about what happened. First, he told investigators he heard noises in his father's room and thought his father was shooting at him. Later, he claimed it was a terrible accident; he said something bumped the gun and caused it to fire.

Changing and false stories....another sign of a guilty conscience. He even tried to say his dad was shooting at him. Unfortunately, the fact that his dad was capped in the back of the head from 2 feet away shoots a hole in that story. No pun intended.

So how about you try it again without rubbing that cheesy funk of yours on it, Mikey. I know that you criminals try to cover for one another, but that's just silly.

[Remmah2]

12. "society which teaches that gun violence is the answer?"

Which school did you attend?

[rl6214]

14. How do you make some of this shit up?

"Wasn't the deck stacked against him, abusive dad,"

So you are taking the quote in the article, which says there was "some discord" between the father and son and turning it into an abusive dad? Are you a world class long jumper because that is quite a leap.

Three blind links to your blog in this post. Must be a very slow day at the UN Foodbank today.

ETA another good job you've done blaming everything but the killer.

[Common Sense Party]

17. I see NO EVIDENCE of an "abusive dad." None.

That is wholecloth fabrication on your part.