14 year old boy saves younger siblings from armed intruder

[Gee Whillickers]

At 14 year old boy from Phoenix was babysitting his three younger siblings when an intruder knocked on the front door. The boy wisely did not open the door. Then the intruder broke through the door, brandishing a gun. The boy hustled his siblings upstairs to safety, took his father's handgun, and shot the intruder, critically wounding him. No-one in the family was hurt.

People have widely polarized views on handguns. However, there is little denying this young teen probably saved his siblings, and his, lives on that day.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/14-year-old-phoenix-boy-shoots-armed-intruder-while-protecting-younger-siblings/2012/06/23/gJQAT0jlxV_story.html

[Chris James]

Although I can understand this young man's need to defend his family, the whole incident makes me very uncomfortable and I can't imagine the emotional aftermath in this family.

In this society where lawyers crawl out of the woodwork at the slightest provocation we have become so afraid of being sued. This is why you see signs that say Beware of the Dog posted on fences...can't say you weren't warned. Perhaps a new sign will be needed: Beware, this family is protected by guns.

I don't imagine the National Rifle Association would be too pleased with that. After all, why warn people away, let them take their chances. The NRA would be sure to voice their paranoia that the government would add such families to a list of gun owners.

So I understand this boy defending his home and I hope it stays that way. In far too many instances kids are bullied at school and then go home to steal daddy's gun to take their revenge. But this was in Arizona where certified nut cases buy assault weapons and then go shoot government officials and small children. Just another day in the American neighborhood.

[Guest Dabeagle]

The part about guns that worries me is for every story we see about this brave young man who seems to have been trained with the proper use of a firearm; we get how many who go home and use it on themselves? We get how many who are too young and in play end up shooting themselves or their friends?

Guns have to be respected for their lethality and, much like parents, should probably require some kind of IQ test before being allowed to own one.

[Cole Parker]

The part about guns that worries me is for every story we see about this brave young man who seems to have been trained with the proper use of a firearm; we get how many who go home and use it on themselves? We get how many who are too young and in play end up shooting themselves or their friends?

Guns have to be respected for their lethality and, much like parents, should probably require some kind of IQ test before being allowed to own one.

The IQ test should check whether they're intelligent enough to lock those guns away from curious children. Too often, the guns are available to the child.

I can hear people saying, in this case if the gun had been locked away, what use would it have been? I guess we should look at the facts. The facts are, guns in homes with children end up hurting people in the family much more often than protecting them. Using a gun to protect your family rarely happens. Having the gun taken away from you and used against you is more common. The kids using it to shoot thiemselves and friends is more common. The Phoenix boy actually getting to the gun and actually shooting the bad guy with it is very exceptional.

C

[JamesSavik]

Although I can understand this young man's need to defend his family, the whole incident makes me very uncomfortable and I can't imagine the emotional aftermath in this family.

Sounds like the plot for an interesting story exploring the emotional aftermath of a traumatic event.

How would a 14 year old process actually taking a life? I looked at a justified shooting in Shadows of the Dragon by a young teen but I didn't explore the long term consequences. Did they develop PTSD? Did they have nightmares? Did they start drinking or using drugs?

This would be a concept worthy of exploration.

[The Pecman]

In this society where lawyers crawl out of the woodwork at the slightest provocation we have become so afraid of being sued. This is why you see signs that say Beware of the Dog posted on fences...can't say you weren't warned. Perhaps a new sign will be needed...

Here you go:

How would a 14 year old process actually taking a life? I looked at a justified shooting in Shadows of the Dragon by a young teen but I didn't explore the long term consequences. Did they develop PTSD? Did they have nightmares? Did they start drinking or using drugs?

I think it depends on the person. I'm not a gun fan, but I think if a family routinely used guns, trained the kids in how to use them, and understood the respect you have to give to any weapon, it might not be too horrible. Just the experience of being robbed and hurt or killed could be far worse than killing the robber.

I would hope they'd get the kid some counseling in the weeks after this, just to make sure he's OK and has no guilt about this. I'm 100% for anybody who kills or injures a burglar who threatens them in any way. And again, I don't own guns and am not personally a gun fan.

[Gee Whillickers]

Unless more has happened since the original story, the boy didn't kill the man. He did, however, send him to the hospital in critical condition.

[DesDownunder]

I agree with Pecman...(what a shock!)

Counselling in this case is an excellent idea.

And I'm not a gun fan either.

[The Pecman]

I was initially a gun fan to some degree (at least in terms of people's rights to own guns), but came around after John Lennon was killed in 1980. My feeling was, handguns do more harm than good, because average people have no common sense with weapons, and tend to use them without thinking about the consequences. Think about how many people would be killed every day if we were allowed to have guns in cars...

[Cole Parker]

Excellent point!

C

[E.J.]

Think about how many people would be killed every day if we were allowed to have guns in cars...

It varies from state to state, but in Georgia you can carry a gun in your car (I'm sure other states also allow this).

Those people that tend to go around shooting others (criminals) would more than likely carry a gun in their car even if they are not allowed.

[Paul_and_Paco]

I have to agree with EJ. Criminals do not care about the gun laws. In Mississippi there is an average of 56 private weapons per citizen. Carrying a weapon is regulated. There are weapons in our home, but they stay locked in a readi-vault... so, unless you have the thumb print that matches the vault, you have no access. No one in our family hunts, so they are only for protection.

I guess I am the minority... I support regulated gun ownership.

[Cole Parker]

I don't know about this minority stuff. I think this country is pretty evenly divided on the issue. Sort of like which way the toilet paper hangs on the wall.

I've never heard of protecting the weapons that way, but like it. It's safer than whatever system most people use.

C

[Gee Whillickers]

No fancy thumbprint devices here, generally, but locked cabinets are the norm. Fortunately, it's relatively rare here for kids to have access to, and have accidents with, firearms. We also have a low rate of crimes involving firearms. Of course, most of our guns tend away from handguns and towards rifles and shotguns. Not exactly the kind of thing you can tuck in a waistband while walking into the 7-11.