Boy killed with lawmaker's gun ...

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Bud Helms

Senior Member
Boy killed with lawmaker's gun; suicide, accident are possible
7/25/2006, 5:26 p.m. ET
By MICHAEL COWDEN
The Associated Press

GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) — A 14-year-old boy was shot with a state senator's gun while caring for the lawmaker's dogs, but there does not appear to be any evidence the senator was reckless in how he stored the gun, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

The boy's body was found Saturday morning by his father in the woods behind his home, which is next-door to the home of state Sen. Robert Regola III, R-Westmoreland. Regola's 9 mm handgun was found near the body.

The teenager had been caring for Regola's pets while the lawmaker and his wife were away, police said. The couple was in Harrisburg so Regola could receive the Legislator of the Year Award from the Pennsylvania Sheriffs' Association, said Tom Hower, Regola's spokesman.

The state police said forensic tests should determine whether the boy shot himself on purpose, accidentally or whether he was shot in some other manner. The tests are expected to take about two weeks, police said at a news conference on Tuesday.

The gun did not have a trigger lock, but it was not stored haphazardly or recklessly, authorities said. It was not locked away, but also "wasn't left out in an area where anyone would normally see it," Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck said.

Investigators would not say where the gun was stored, but said they found another handgun in the residence during a search.

Regola does not keep his guns loaded, Hower said. He declined to say where Regola kept the guns.

Regola's attorney Mark Rush confirmed the gun belonged to the 43-year-old lawmaker and said the senator was cooperating in the investigation. But Rush said Regola would have no comment beyond a short statement he issued Monday.

"This is a very difficult time with the tragic loss of an outstanding young man," Regola said in the statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family."

According to a search warrant affidavit, the boy had access to the Regola home in Hempfield Township, about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh, because he was "letting the dogs out of the house and feeding them" while the family was away on Friday and Saturday.

Gun owners in Pennsylvania, unlike those in some other states, aren't required to use trigger locks or to keep guns locked away. They can be charged with reckless endangerment or related crimes, however, if they are reckless about storing weapons, Peck said.

Pressed for an example, Peck said that a gun owner can legally leave a weapon on a table at home, but the same gun owner might be judged reckless if he did that with young children nearby.

"That element (of recklessness) doesn't jump out at you in this particular case," Peck said.

Eighteen states impose criminal penalties for leaving firearms easily accessible to children, with many of the safe storage laws applying only when a child has obtained the gun, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. In some cases, the child has to harm someone before the law applies.

Pennsylvania does not have such a law.

"The best available research tell us that these laws are associated with reductions in both accidental deaths involving young children and also suicides involving children," said Jon Vernick, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, in Baltimore.

The 16-year-old brother of the boy who was killed last saw him about 10:15 p.m. Friday in their home. The lawmaker's son Robert Regola IV also stopped by the senator's home at some point that evening, but police do not know if he crossed paths with the boy.

The boy's father said Tuesday he would not comment on his son's death. Nobody answered the door at Regola's home.
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Any PA members know any more about this?
 
The gun did not have a trigger lock, but it was not stored haphazardly or recklessly, authorities said. It was not locked away, but also "wasn't left out in an area where anyone would normally see it," Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck said.
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One hand washes the other. Regardless of the requirements of state laws, an unconnected citizen would be crucified as irresponsible and reckless - especially by the media.
Simply - he was on vacation. A teen had been given access to the house. The gun was stored unlocked and loaded. I would suffer criminal and civil consquences had I done that.
That said, educated in gun safety or not, what kind of idiot points a gun at themselves? What gives even a 14 year old the thought thta this is a good idea?
 
FWIW,
Regola does not keep his guns loaded, Hower said.
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and that is where I'm having trouble. Some one loaded it.

Then there's this:
The lawmaker's son Robert Regola IV also stopped by the senator's home at some point that evening, but police do not know if he crossed paths with the boy.
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Regola IV's age isn't given in he aticle.
 
If the young boy (young man?) had been taught how to responsibly interact with a weapon while an adult was not around he might still be alive.
 
Wonder if said senator is a closet member of nambla?*

*Not a driveby post. Think about the situation.
 
"If the young boy (young man?) had been taught how to responsibly interact with a weapon while an adult was not around he might still be alive."


How do you know he hadn't?
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Well, if he had been trained in gun-responsibility, he evidently didn't employ the training in his actions. So it's a moot question.

- Never was trained, died because of it.
- Was trained, but ignored what the training taught him.


Dead kid, either way. Apparently he was "outstanding," though. :rolleyes: It's always the ones who die tragically through their own negligence or stupidity that get the most compliments paid to them. I guess people feel the need to be nice. Me, I feel the need to be critical. If this kid was such an outstanding, bright one, why did he take a gun that didn't belong to him and end up dying because of it?


-azurefly
 
azurefly: you seem to be assuming the incident was an accident. The boy could have committed suicide. Firearm safety training won't prevent a suicide.
 
M1911, I agree. My point was that the kid was gonna do what the kid was gonna do. He already was the kind of kid, apparently, who would take someone else's property = not a good egg.

If he was intent on suicide (or ANY ill purpose), training would not have impeded him in what he chose to do. Training would be useful only for someone who does not seek to harm himself or others, and someone who heeds the lessons of his training to start with.


-azurefly
 
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