Precisely.

The best reason to prosecute firearm negligence is not (always) to put people in jail but to create a situation where they can never legally own or use another firearm again and have that procedure pass a Constitutional challenge.

Guns are simple devices. They are much, much easier to operate safely than, say, a car. A small amount of training and a normal serving of not-being-a-complete-dumbass is all it takes to prevent this stuff.

That said, this is EXACTLY why guns should NEVER be in the hands of anyone but a trained professional. Even then, it’s iffy…

I’m American, and I don’t get the gun-fetish, either. It’s just fucking STUPID.

As far as the kid being punished, there should be some punishment. Not being allowed access to firearms for at least 5 years, no shooting permit nor license, no ability to buy firearms for a period of time, a firearm safety class, and a fine.

I’ve run into plenty of other people who tie their identities to their firearms, which I think is unhealthy. It’s much like viewing one’s worth by any other outside thing: size of one’s house, expensive jewelry, how good one is at sports, or one’s job. You are not the things you own.

Some people feel guns are the only true protection. I found a sharpened hockey stick works very well. It successfully backed up a guy that was trying to get into my apartment through a window. No one ever tried again after that. Cast iron pans work pretty well too, and they are awesome for cooking (multifunctional). The times that a gun would help over anything else are very few and far between. There are far more accidentally shootings than there are people successfully defending themselves with a gun.

I think some people misinterpret what is intended by keeping a militia. It would take some research though to see if there were any court cases that had an opinion on that. If the US citizens decided to overthrow the government, there’s the problem with the military being willing to fire on their own families. I think half the military would turn against the government as well, which effectively makes the government unable to defend itself. If someone left the military to defend their family, I doubt they are going to leave their firearm on the base. It would probably go home with them as well.

The current militia’s that exist in the US don’t have a lot of popular support as far as I know, and aren’t likely to launch a successful coup against the government. They’ll just upset a lot of people by managing to kill normal US citizens.

Everyone sees other people’s hobbies as crazy anyway. Most people don’t understand why I have a big iguana in my house, but he’s been my bestest buddy for over 17 years. It’s just something I like as much as someone else might like having a dog or a cat.