Boy Killed in Gun Accident; Father Wanted Weapon for Protection After Terrorist Attacks
September 17, 2001 8:35 PM   Subscribe

Boy Killed in Gun Accident; Father Wanted Weapon for Protection After Terrorist Attacks Hmmm, would this be filed under Darwin? I think we have a nominee here.
posted by BarneyFifesBullet (33 comments total)
 
"Maj. Howard Smith of the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Department said the gun was hanging on a window curtain rod above the child's bed. "

A 3 year old child killed themself while playing with a gun that their father stored in their room, Barney. Are you saying that the 3 year old was comically stupid?

Please tell me that you sent this in haste. I find your post terribly offensive.
posted by glenwood at 8:46 PM on September 17, 2001


For clarification, the definition of Darwin Award follows:

Named in honor of Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, the Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it.

You can apologize now.
posted by glenwood at 8:47 PM on September 17, 2001


The father should be seeing child endangerment charges soon. Maybe that was the darwin reference? That the father shouldn't be a father?
posted by mathowie at 8:48 PM on September 17, 2001


Technically, the man removed some of his genes from the genepool...
posted by whatnotever at 8:49 PM on September 17, 2001


Technically, the man removed some of his genes from the genepool...


Classy.
posted by glenwood at 8:49 PM on September 17, 2001


Okay, all those against guns, use this incident to argue that guns are bad.

Then all those who like guns, say "it's not the gun, it's the stupidity of a person who would hang a gun on a curtain rod in a 3-yr-old's room."

Repeat ad naseum.
posted by rushmc at 8:52 PM on September 17, 2001


I luv the way metafilter has become such an institution that every other thread is comprised primarily of predictions on how said thread will progress, based on gross generalizations of the typical behavior of your average metafilterer.

We were already having a discussion of sorts, rushmc, that stayed well outside the realm you just outlined.
posted by glenwood at 8:55 PM on September 17, 2001


That Darwin crap really isn't necessary when talking about little dead kids, Barney. I agree with Glenwood.
So, this guy expects to....shoot airplanes out of the sky? Disengage car bombs with that thing? Or perhaps he bought the gun and a ticket to the middle east. There is that Bin Laden reward money.
posted by Doug at 9:02 PM on September 17, 2001


Well, until now we were, anyway.
Thanks rushmc.

:)
posted by glenwood at 9:02 PM on September 17, 2001


We were already having a discussion of sorts, rushmc, that stayed well outside the realm you just outlined.

"Of sorts," indeed, since it was a discussion of the appropriateness of the timber of the post. My remarks were in reference to the eventual and inevitable discussion of the actual linked event. skallas shouldn't be the only one to enjoy a little prophecy!

In any event, my prediction wasn't aimed particularly at MeFi; this group seems quite representative of the rest of the country on this issue.
posted by rushmc at 9:05 PM on September 17, 2001


timbre.
posted by rushmc at 9:05 PM on September 17, 2001


Ha.

Glancing at your second post, I thought you were exclaiming "TIMBER!" : thus making a very accurate prediction of the coming degeneration of this thread.
posted by glenwood at 9:09 PM on September 17, 2001


That was too easy skallas. But props anyway. [I'll wait for the paperback]
posted by hotdoughnutsnow at 9:27 PM on September 17, 2001


the Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it.

Oh, themselves.....yikes

I thought it meant anyone's death.

Hey, my mistake....I messed up, well, you know what I meant.
posted by BarneyFifesBullet at 9:29 PM on September 17, 2001


Does this mean using tragedy to advance your political position is fair game once again?
posted by thirteen at 9:35 PM on September 17, 2001


Nah, I thought the story was ironic, stop busting my balls already.

Hey, what do you mean, "once again"?

Is that directed toward me, or are you speaking generally?
posted by BarneyFifesBullet at 9:41 PM on September 17, 2001


I was speaking generally, unless you were one of the people complaining about people complaining about people doing that earlier in the week. Even if you were, I don't mean it in a mean way, I agree that it is a bad time for cheap shots.
posted by thirteen at 10:03 PM on September 17, 2001


The "your" in my first post would apply to anyone, of any flavor.
posted by thirteen at 10:04 PM on September 17, 2001


i have to agree. i dont find small children dying very funny on any comedic level.
posted by Satapher at 10:10 PM on September 17, 2001


It would be a Darwin award if the child had shot the father.
posted by fleener at 10:11 PM on September 17, 2001


I was speaking generally

Well, we figured that out.

BTW, I don't complain about people talking politics about most anything.

If you can't speak your mind, what good is it?

Onward....
posted by BarneyFifesBullet at 10:20 PM on September 17, 2001


You know, the invasion always begins in Spotsylvania, VA. Oh wait, that's the outer space alien invasion. Nevermind.
posted by joemaller at 10:58 PM on September 17, 2001


Then all those who like guns, say "it's not the gun, it's the stupidity of a person who would hang a gun on a curtain rod in a 3-yr-old's room."

Let's see, my father owned no less than seven different guns and raised two sons in the house with them for a total of 17+ years each without incident and, conversely, this moron owns a gun for less than a week and his child is dead...

...of course it was the gun's fault...

Repeat ad naseum.

Already nauseated but thanks for the suggestion. People that ill-equipped to be a parent make me sick...
posted by RevGreg at 12:50 AM on September 18, 2001


I don't believe there's a constitutional protection to hang guns on curtain rods.
posted by holgate at 4:08 AM on September 18, 2001


First Amendment? Free speech through interior decorating?
posted by ODiV at 6:32 AM on September 18, 2001


Aside from the tragedy of the kid with the gun, I somehow found this thread to be immensly amusing...a guilty pleasure...
posted by adampsyche at 6:41 AM on September 18, 2001


sorry to hear about the kid. what a dad. way to keep his son safe.
posted by mich9139 at 7:21 AM on September 18, 2001


i'm sorry. i just have to see it again in print....

"the gun was hanging on a window curtain rod"

it is just one of those phrases that could almost make one's head implode from too much thought. lewis black did a stand-up bit on this very phenomenon, about phrases you read or overhere that just completely obliterate your thought process. the one he overheard at a diner: "if it wasn't for my horse, i would've never made it through that year in college." (don't think about it too much... it hurts.)

it is a sad sorry, made even more disturbing any sensible human's inability to fathom why a person would think that a curtain rod would be a perfect place to store a handgun.
posted by grabbingsand at 8:22 AM on September 18, 2001


the gun was hanging on a window curtain rod

maybe the dad planned on buying more guns and hanging them from the same curtain rod to make some kind of 2nd Amendment Mobile to hang from the ceiling.
posted by tolkhan at 11:19 AM on September 18, 2001


a time of crisis is of course the ideal time to buy a deadly weapon.

Let's see. I'm angry, I'm upset, I'm distraught. I'm probably not sleeping well, so maybe a little tired. Definitely distracted. And, I know absolutely nothing about guns -- this will be my first one.

Yes, of course, now's the perfect time to go buy one!
posted by mattpfeff at 12:38 PM on September 18, 2001


Anyone want to bet he kept rat poison in the fridge and smoked while filling up at the gas station?

No law can protect someone from his own stupidity. No law can protect a child from his parents' stupidity.
posted by mikewas at 12:41 PM on September 18, 2001


i have to agree. i dont find small children dying very funny on any comedic level.

But, HOO boy! When them BIG 'uns die! Pure hilarity.
posted by rushmc at 4:39 PM on September 18, 2001


Oops, brain fade. Disregard previous post. Forgot the referent.
posted by rushmc at 4:40 PM on September 18, 2001


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