(CO) Gift of gun nets child-abuse charge

[Oatka]

Dad isn't too swift, but it seems like they're piling it on with child abuse and 2nd degree assault charges.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/crimesat.htm

Gift of gun nets child-abuse charge
By The Denver Post

July 8 - Denver prosecutors on Friday charged a man with child abuse after he gave his 12-year-old son a handgun and the boy accidentally shot himself.

Richard Trujillo and his son were walking back from a convenience store on Monday near the 700 block of West 38th Avenue, officials said. Trujillo gave his son a gun so he could shoot a couple of times under a bridge for practice, said Lynn Kimbrough, a spokeswoman from the Denver District Attorney's Office.

The boy inadvertently shot himself in the right leg when he put the gun back in the waistband of his pants, officials said. Trujillo has been charged with child abuse, second-degree assault and providing a juvenile with a handgun, Kimbrough said. He remains in jail on a $5,000 bond.

Copyright 2000 The Denver Post.



[This message has been edited by Oatka (edited July 08, 2000).]

 

[Dennis Olson]

Not stated:

1) How much time had the father spent teaching the son firearm safety?

2) Why was he going to allow the kid to "shoot under a bridge"?

3) Why did the gun not have a holster?

4) Why did the father allow the kid to shoot WITHIN the Denver city limits, and NOT on a range besides.

5) Why do adults CONTINUE to do stupid things like this?

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You know, I gave my son a shotgun for his birthday earlier this week (turned 14). We went to the range and he shot a round of trap (12/25 with a FULL choke in, and a brand new, unfamiliar, gun. And it was his first time shooting a shotgun.) He managed NOT to injure himself or anyone else.

Am I doing something wrong here? Perhaps *I* need to be arrested...?

The stpidity of the few really makes us all look VERY bad. Every single incident like this is PR that hurts us. Badly.

I for one think that, barring some further explanation, the father SHOULD be prosecuted.



[This message has been edited by Dennis Olson (edited July 08, 2000).]

 

[Shotgun]

The only thing that Richard Trujillo should be charged with is extreme stupidity.

 

[Tango Uniform]

Yup. A charge of Capital Igganunce should carry a sentence of 4 to 7 years.

 

[paratrooper]

The father is an idiot . He should be charged as if he fired the shot . Imagine if they drove there and had the kid drive home while he got some sleep .

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TOM
SASS AMERICAN LEGION NRA

 

[Erik]

I can see the child abuse charge, considering that deals with wellfare and neglect issues.

Assault? They are stretching it, IMO.

Nobody should be handing loaded weapons to children at the 700 block of West 38th Ave in Denver. That isn't exactly a country lane.

 

[MountainGun44]

I'm torn. Part of me says "jail the idiot" before he kills one of MY kids. The other says "give him more ammo" so he can finish the Darwinian selection process.