One would think that 'using a weapon as a crutch' is some kind of metaphor about the gun culture and people using their weapon as a support mechanism to lean on when unable to stand on their own. Because no jackass would ever actually use an assault rifle as a literal crutch right? Wrong. And a little girl is dead:
An Oregon man told police he was using his assault rifle as a crutch to help him get up from a couch at a friend's apartment when it fired a burst through the ceiling and killed a little girl upstairs, court records show.
A police affidavit said Jon Andrew Meyer Jr. told investigators the gun went off accidentally June 27 at the Grants Pass apartment, the Grants Pass Daily Courier reported.
Meyer is being held on $250,000 bail on charges of manslaughter, assault and unlawful possession of a machine gun.
Authorities say he was responsible for the reckless burst of rifle fire that killed 5-year-old Alysa Bobbitt of Shady Cove and wounded apartment resident Karen Hancock.
Accidents happen thought right? As tragic as things may be, this was just a horrible accident and nothing could of been done to prevent it, many NRA types would argue. Sure, unless you start asking why Meyer even had a weapon in the first place.
Court records say his fiancee had kicked him out of her place, getting a restraining order, and he listed his current residence as his sister's home.
..
Her June 20 petition for the restraining order described him as an ‘unpredictable drug addict’ who had threatened her with a gun, and threatened to burn down her house, slash her tires and break the windows on her car.
The judge noted in the file that Meyer had four guns.
So we have a man who just a couple weeks prior had been making violent threats who was roaming the streets when the courts knew he was armed. It is not the courts fault because I am sure there is some ALEC or NRA based law that prevents weapons from being seized without someone having been found guilty of a crime or something crazy like that.
Meyer has another point in his favor:
Defense lawyer Gary Berlant adds Meyer had been assured the gun was not fully automatic.
See? Only one person should have gotten shot upstairs. But instead some mean person lied when selling the gun and it sprayed far more bullets than it should have.
Can we please live in a world where our kids do not have to wear these to visit a friend or go to school?