Does it get anymore ridiculous? 7 yo charged with 2 felonies for BB Gun

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usmarine0352_2005

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http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/7-year-old-nabbed-on-felony-bb-gun-charges.html




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7-year-old Nabbed on Felony BB Gun Charges

By Todd Starnes

Sam Grant nearly celebrated his eighth birthday party in jail.

The North Carolina boy had been charged with two felony counts of discharging his BB gun.

The parents of a then-seven-year-old North Carolina boy are beyond angry after their son was charged with two felony counts of possessing a BB gun. Just moments before the child was expected to answer to the allegations before a Catawba County judge — the charges were dropped.


“They considered his BB gun a firearm,” Ray said. “”It’s not a firearm. It’s a BB gun.”

The trouble started last month when Sam was in the backyard of their rural home shooting his BB gun. His mother stepped inside to put dinner in the oven – telling the boy not to run off.

But Sam’s curiosity got the best of him — and he scampered out of the backyard – and fired his BB gun at an abandoned house across the street. In doing so, he hit a car.

Cherry immediately call the sheriff’s department and offered to pay for the damage to the car. The deputy sheriff took a report but said he wasn’t going to press charges and neither was the driver.

Instead, Sam’s parents took responsibility, paid for the damages and administered parental justice.

Sam got punished. They took away his BB gun and made him do community service at their local church.

“We wanted to teach him responsibility so he’s been cleaning up around the church and polishing pews to repay the $350 it cost to repair the car,” Robbins told Fox News.

But their world got rocked when the received a letter from the Department of Juvenile Justice summoning the family to court.

“They told us that they considered it to be a violent felony — discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle,” Robbins said. “It was crazy. We completely disagreed with the charges.”

Their son – was now facing the prospect of a year on probation, hundreds of hours of community service and a criminal record.
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I'm glad that I'm an old goober and won't live to see the day when there are no longer any cajones left in America.

S/F Mac
 
They probably found a bit a problem with the charges
an airgun is SPECIFICALLY NOT a firearm....

As for me, were it my child, I'd be getting the number for the best ambulance chaser who'd work on percentage to go after them for abuse of process.
 
I wonder if maybe this wasn't someone trying to teach the child the gravity of gun ownership. The charges were dropped after all. If it was a lesson (similar to scared straight), I bet it worked. And I bet the parents won't be leaving him unattended with a gun for a very long time. Now had they actually tried to prosecute, I would be enraged.
 
I'm hideously embarrassed that this happened in North Carolina.

I know we've got some massive egos running around in sheriff's costumes, but I really thought they knew their limits.

Sheesh.
 
I'll tell you one thing -- I'd be royally ticked if that was my car that the kid hit. And another thing -- would it make a difference if this had happened in innner-city Detroit rather than in rural North Carolina? For most people here, I bet it would. But it shouldn't. Brats are brats wherever they are.
 
AlexanderA said:
I'll tell you one thing -- I'd be royally ticked if that was my car that the kid hit. And another thing -- would it make a difference if this had happened in innner-city Detroit rather than in rural North Carolina? For most people here, I bet it would. But it shouldn't. Brats are brats wherever they are.
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Yes, I would be ticked. I'd also accept the payment from the parents then let it go. Parents and child now have learned a valuable lesson.

The boy is a brat? What do you know about him except that he's SEVEN?
 
While I agree that charging this child with anything is absurd, I hope the parents realize how dangerous a position they allowed their child to be in. Many air guns today look just like real firearms. Imagine if the motorist who had his car hit had stopped to examine the damage, and imagine if this driver was carrying a concealed weapon. He steps out of his car and sees a child possibly pointing a "gun" at him. He draws his own gun and tragedy follows. I know it is a bit far fetched, but not out of the realm of possibility. Some of these new air guns have as much power as a 22, and are certainly not toys. Fortunately this case ended without serious consequences.
 
Yeah, I broke a window with a BB gun when I was a kid.

Heck, if that's what it takes for the kid to learn that he's responsible for what he does then it was a cheap lesson.

Our prisons are full of people that never got it.
 
an airgun is SPECIFICALLY NOT a firearm....
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Apparently some in NC think it is..

N.C.G.S. 14-316
(a) It shall be unlawful for any parent, guardian, or person standing in loco parentis, to knowingly permit his child under the age of 12 years to have the possession, custody or use in any manner whatever, any gun, pistol or other dangerous firearm, whether such weapon be loaded or unloaded, except when such child is under the supervision of the parent, guardian or person standing in loco parentis. It shall be unlawful for any other person to knowingly furnish such child any weapon enumerated herein. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.

(b)Air rifles, air pistols, and BB guns shall not be deemed "dangerous firearms" within the meaning of subsection (a) of this section except in the following counties: Anson, Caldwell, Caswell, Chowan, Cleveland, Cumberland, Durham, Forsyth, Gaston, Harnett, Haywood, Mecklenburg, Stanly, Stokes, Surry, Union, Vance. (1913, c. 32; C.S., s. 4441; 1965, c. 813; 1971, c. 309; 1993, c. 539, s. 218; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c).)
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I personally had to do a whiskey tango foxtrot :confused:
 
Wow, tarosean, kinda scary. Glad I no longer live in Cleveland Co.

Noticed that Catawba Co isn't on that list, yet the kid was charged.

Sigh.
 
I don't get it. Most places I've lived, a child under 10 couldn't be charged with a crime (let alone a felony) because there were considered too young to understand right from wrong.
 
I know in New Jersey, airguns, pellet guns, bb guns, etc are considered firearms. I also believe slingshots are illegal as well. How people live in these fascist states is beyond me.
 
Felony discharging a firearm into an occupied building or vehicle is supposed to cover putting a bullet through a building or vehicle endangering the life or limb of an occupant.

It is overreach like this (seven year old hits a car with a BB gun and gets 2 felony charges) that undermines respect for law and order and authority figures.

Overcharging does pump up crime figures when needed for budget purposes (we need more money); and not charging real crimes when needed for public relations happens too, especially in NYC according to the Village Voice.)
 
I brought my BB gun to elementary school one day for show and tell. Tells you how far our society has deteriorated since then.
 
That's nothing. Back when I was in high school (the olden days according to my daughter) I rode the bus to school carrying an 1863 Springfield rifle for history class. I left the rifle in the principal's office and retrieved it for my class because the damn thing was heavy and I didn't want to tote it all day, took it to my class and explained how the rifle was loaded and fired, and then rode the us back home later that afternoon, with the rifle. No one thought anything at all abou the event. Granted this was 1962. I was late to my first period class because the principal asked me so many questions about the rifle.:rolleyes:

We've gone over the edge guys.
 
*** is going on here?

The parents notified the Sheriff dept, the Sheriff nor the driver were going to press charges so who did?

Some dumbutt in Juvenile Services must have. You would think that they would go after the gang banger teens, but this kid was easy picking, low hanging fruit.
Or it could have been a do-gooder neighbor that knows what is best for their neighbors kid.

Seems like the DA decided that this was BS and dropped it. I hope the idiot in Juvie is looking for a new job. And if it was a neighbor, well they should continue to look at the world from behind their curtained window, too much of a coward to talk with the parents if they had a problem.

I hoped my home state would never behave this way, but at least level heads prevailed.
 
NC was in the top 2 states i am considering retiring to....WAS actually #1

this sounds too close to the -0- thought mentality which has me leaving Corrupticut. top 2 now are VIrginia and SC
 
That kid as well as mine will see the war that puts an end to all this nonsense.
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Well said. I hope as a young man I will be around to contribute when that time comes.
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I don't think we, as a society, want to go there. Just look at Syria today and see what awaits.
 
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