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Philly cop leaves loaded gun unattended, sadness ensues
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Author:  DeanC [ Tue Feb 03, 2009 9:11 am ]
Post subject:  Philly cop leaves loaded gun unattended, sadness ensues
Quote:
Posted on Mon, Feb. 2, 2009


Fatal shooting at Phila. Super Bowl party; gun from off-duty officer

By Barbara Boyer

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
A Superbowl party in Northeast Philadelphia turned tragic when an off-duty police officer left a loaded gun on a table that was picked up by a friend who accidentally fatally shot his host.

Christopher Donaghy, 27, of the 3400 block of Bleigh Avenue - the son of a Philadelphia police officer - died Sunday night after he was struck once in the back, said homicide Capt. James Clark.

Ronald Parncutt, 49, who lives on the same block as the victim, is charged with murder, Clark said.

"It's tragic," Clark said. "It never should have happened."

The men were among six to eight adults, and at least one child, watching the game in the basement at Donaghy's home when Parncutt picked up the loaded 9mm Glock that had been left unattended by a Plymouth Township police officer on a table.

Shortly before 9 p.m., as Parncutt allegedly was playing with the weapon, which did not have a safety lock, he pulled the trigger once, striking Donaghy, Clark said. The victim was rushed by medics to Frankford-Torresdale Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Clark said the District Attorney's Office is reviewing the circumstances to determine whether the off-duty officer, whose name was not released, faces any criminal charges. Homicide investigators have also spoken to Plymouth Township police officials to determine whether the officer faces any administrative charges.

Parncutt has been cooperative with investigators who said he is distraught and expressed remorse about the shooting.
Author:  Carbide Insert [ Tue Feb 03, 2009 1:12 pm ]
Post subject: 
This is the end result of raising entire generations of children where nothing about firearms are taught in government schools.

Tragic
Stupid, to be sure, but tragic.
Author:  Traveler [ Tue Feb 03, 2009 4:17 pm ]
Post subject: 
Carbide Insert wrote:
This is the end result of raising entire generations of children where nothing about firearms are taught in government schools.

Tragic
Stupid, to be sure, but tragic.


There is a tremendous amount of wisdom and observation in your statement. Firearms were a way of life in the first-ring St. Paul suburb of my youth. We rode our bicycles with our .22's strapped on to the Anoka County border to hunt squirrels and rabbits. Parking in a high school parking lot with a shotgun in the trunk or back seat was an accepted ritual during the fall hunting seasons. The local Coast-to-Coast hardware store employees never asked for proof of age when selling ammunition. It was accepted by all that .22 practice would be held under the Como Park Pavilion.

Fathers (and mothers in many cases) educated their children in the proper operating and safety aspects of firearms, and also set parameters in the proper use of the tool – and firearms are indeed a tool.

For me it is interesting to observe that increased firearm restrictions parallel the rise in social programs that substitute a monthly check for personal responsibility.

The knee-jerk mail-order restrictions made in response to the JFK assassination ("Thou shalt not purchase another Carcano via the mails.") got the ball rolling. It is high time to retrieve that ball.

A government that has firearm ownership protected by it's Constitution should be able to foster firearm ownership and also provide safety and proficiency training in said firearms.
Author:  Dee [ Tue Feb 03, 2009 4:20 pm ]
Post subject: 
Well, Its not just about schools.
It's also about parents who can't be bothered to take the time to educate their children about guns. Every kid should go through the Hunters safety course even if they aren't going to hunt.
Author:  MNBud [ Tue Feb 03, 2009 4:56 pm ]
Post subject: 
The clown who did the shooting was 49 years old. The off duty cop that left the gun un-attended should be held liable for this incident.There is no reason anyone should have gotten access to his firearm, laying on a table is un-acceptable.
Author:  macphisto [ Tue Feb 03, 2009 5:01 pm ]
Post subject: 
Dee wrote:
Every kid should go through the Hunters safety course even if they aren't going to hunt.

Amen.
Author:  Carbide Insert [ Tue Feb 03, 2009 5:29 pm ]
Post subject: 
Dee wrote:
Well, Its not just about schools. It's also about parents who can't be bothered to take the time to educate their children about guns. Every kid should go through the Hunters safety course even if they aren't going to hunt.


And what can be done about that?
Might I suggest:

Every kid goes to school.

What better place to school the children (including said Hunter's safety course) in necessary life skills and common sense than... schools?
...Or do we just send them there for ($10,000/pupil/year) babysitting and aquisition of a piece of paper? <-- Don't answer that... :cry:
Author:  PocketProtector642 [ Tue Feb 03, 2009 6:18 pm ]
Post subject: 
It seems like there are a lot of stories like this where someone picks up a loaded gun and it results in a death... not injury, death.
This means that they are pointing it COM or at the head, and pulling the trigger. This isnt an accident to me. Its obviously murder. Ask anyone "how do you shoot a gun" and most will say pull the trigger. Its that easy. So why point it at someone and pull the trigger. *Do you need to go to school to learn to not pull a trigger? The problem is that people dont think anymore.
______________________________________________

*I understand and advocate safety courses. I understand the need for people to learn in a class setting.
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