Kids find loaded gun in S.F. park's sandbox

[alp227]

Source: Henry K. Lee, San Francisco Chronicle

(12-03) 10:18 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- A group of children found a loaded pistol in a sandbox in a playground in San Francisco's Visitacion Valley, police said today.

The children found the gun at the Visitacion Valley Playground on the 200 block of Leland Avenue about 4:20 p.m. Tuesday, said Officer Samson Chan, a Police Department spokesman.

The pistol had its hammer cocked back and had a round in the chamber, Chan said.

Authorities are investigating whether the gun was used in recent shootings, he said.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/12/03/BAQH1AUG4A.DTL

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At least they didn't shoot it. Seems that we REALLY need gun control.

[winyanstaz]

1. of course! We need more guns taken away from law abiding people...

so that CRIMINALS don't hide guns in sandboxes! Why didn't I think of that?:think:

[Alcibiades]

3. You don't know it was a criminal

[Dogtown]

5. Not taking sides.

I don't get into squabbles about gun rights but I have to correct your logic.

"winyanstaz" should have amplified to "criminal or psycho", perhaps, but no one has an *honest* reason for burying a loaded, cocked piece where kids are the most likely to find it.

Either someone ditched it quickly and thoughtlessly, and that would suggest a crim, or it was placed as a booby-trap. Psychopath.



Carry on, please.

[RaleighNCDUer]

7. See, that's the catch 22.

The moment that a law-abiding citizen commits a gun crime, he is automatically a criminal, therefore, only criminals commit gun crimes and law abiding citizens never do.

gotta love the logic.

[G Gordon Libby]

11. Three guesses...

...and the first two don`t count.

[slackmaster]

12. Unless it was dropped by a cop, it pretty much had to be dropped by a criminal

If you aren't a government official, it's virtually impossible to get a permit to carry a loaded handgun in SF.

A cop can carry one (and perhaps a few security guards have open-carry permits), but anyone else who has one is almost certainly a criminal in that city.

[Alcibiades]

34. It could have been a kid

It could have been martians. A dog could have buried it as if he were burying a bone.

There were a lot of folks on DU the other day saying that Maurice Clemmons was a "suspected" cop killer, even though there were multiple eyewitnesses, he has a history of psycho behavior, and he had one of the officers' weapons on him at the time of his shooting. By whatever standard it is that we would declare him to be simply a "suspect," we would have to acknowledge that we have no idea whether this gun was left there by a criminal, because we know even less about how this gun got in the sandbox than we did about how the officer's weapon got into Maurice Clemmons' possession.

[slackmaster]

39. A kid illegally in possession of a loaded gun

In other words, a criminal.

...we would have to acknowledge that we have no idea whether this gun was left there by a criminal, because we know even less about how this gun got in the sandbox than we did about how the officer's weapon got into Maurice Clemmons' possession.

I have a pretty good understanding of probability. The most likely explanation by far is that the gun was ditched there by a criminal.

[sam sarrha]

30. it is a Criminal Act, punishable by imprisonment to store or leave a gun accessible to children

it must have a gun lock or be stored in a locked place separate from the ammo. when you buy a gun you have to read a form with the law stated plainly.. and sign it. perps, as a rule don't know how to take care of guns or how to handle them, store them safely. those guys are the problem with guns, not responsible gun owners. i don't use alcohol the last 11 years/drugs the 30 years. i have taken gun safety courses, conceal and carry training and tactical training courses that law enforcement officers take. i was a parole officer. i own 4 hand guns.. 2 my wife uses.. neither of us have ever lost one in a playground.

someone probably stashed it there to be ready during a nearby drug deal.. probably the junky sampled his buy and forgot all about the gun.. i have known junkies.. they are pathetic and disgusting. one guy i met on a job was really a nice person.. his life was totally F'd up. a couple years later i was at a friend of a friend's house when he walked thru the door, walked into the living room and layed down on the couch..went to sleep. seems i was the only person who knew him. he was really stoned, got lost and thought he was at his house... didn't remember anything from the last couple days. thus my theory about the gun.

in 1972 i moved into a house in Bellingham WA previously inhabited by drug dealers. we found all kings of money.. up to $200 at a time.. bags of weed, one stash was about a half pound of really good Jamaican Bud.. :smoke: :party: :party: :crazy: i can see how they lost track of that stuff..

[slackmaster]

40. Only if someone gets injured or killed

California's "safe storage" law does not apply until someone gets shot.

[winyanstaz]

35. oh your so right...it was a law abiding citizen that hid a loaded and cocked gun in the sandbox...

where a child could find it.
Perhaps it was a child though...but somewhere some adult was criminally negligent to let a kid get the gun.

[Alcibiades]

37. Or the kid was trying to get it out of the house

Mommy says it's not safe.

[slackmaster]

41. Which would be a criminal act on the part of the kid

You can't carry a loaded handgun around in SF unless you have a permit, and nobody under 21 can get such a permit in California.

[slackmaster]

2. What we REALLY need is gun safety training in public schools

Every child should be taught where babies come from, the dangers of illicit drugs and unprotected sex, how to swim, and what to do when they encounter an unsecured firearm.

[alp227]

9. K&R!!!!

Because really, the world ain't as innocent as fundies would like it to be. I'm not sure if the children in this case knew what to do about abandoned guns. If they did, good. If they didn't, they just got off lucky.

[tosh]

14. Sure. Before they graduate from sandbox.

:eyes:

[slackmaster]

17. At that age the lesson is "Don't touch. Go find an adult."

Rather than picking it up.

For kids that age there certainly should be an adult nearby. Hopefully one who has been trained in gun safety.

[cowcommander]

4. Maybe a law-enforcement agent lost it

Like this case here.

A loaded handgun found in a storm drain by small children playing in an upscale Bettendorf neighborhood has been returned to its owner, Police Chief Phil Redington said Tuesday.

The children were playing in the street with a remote control motorcycle when they spotted the gun about 11 a.m. Friday in the storm drain in front of their home in the 3300 block of Marynoel Avenue, according to a police report.

Redington said the elementary-school-age children could not reach the gun and never were in danger. The revolver was retrieved by police.

The gun, a stainless steel Smith & Wesson .357 hammerless revolver, did not show up as being reported stolen in a National Crime Information Center index, according to the report.

After the neighborhood started buzzing about the discovery, nearby resident Mark Bartholomew contacted Bettendorf police Monday and said he believed the handgun belonged to him. Redington said police confirmed he was the owner of the gun by its serial number and type of specific cartridges that were loaded in it, including five rounds of Federal .38 Plus P rounds of hollow point ammunition.

Bartholomew had a gun permit, Redington said.

Bartholomew declined Tuesday to comment on how the gun may have ended up in the storm drain. Although a Quad-City Times news story a year ago described Bartholomew as a special agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, he would not confirm his employment with the agency on Tuesday, saying “my position does not allow me to talk to the press.”

According to the police report, Bartholomew told police that he recently had misplaced the gun and thought it would eventually turn up. He said he was not sure how it could have ended up in the storm drain and any scenario would be speculation only, according to the report.

Redington said there had been a rash of car burglaries in the area during the time the gun turned up missing.

The children’s father told police he had inspected the storm drain during the summer and had not noticed any gun then.


http://qctimes.com/news/local/article_2d3821c8-defb-11de-bafe-001cc4c002e0.html

[Dogtown]

8. Off duty cop, visitation weekend.

Takes the tykes to the park, but has a few nips from the flask. Ankle-holster strap breaks, but the eftup officer fails to notice.

Gets a DUI on the way home, rugrats go to Juvie, he's released after sleeping it off but doesn't remember his weapon because of the black-out...


A sandbox isn't a storm-sewer. Lot's of things end up in storm-sewers, mostly you find tootsie-rolls and catshit buried in sand boxes, and it's oft daft to pick twixt the twain.



Your premise is not impossible. Don't plan your retirement on those lottery tickets, though.

[slackmaster]

13. The scenario you describe would qualify as "dropped by a criminal"

:hi:

[jberryhill]

18. the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms

Man, I gotta get me one of them.

I'd put it next to my cabinet of condoms, beer, and beach towels.

Although I'm not sure if its a good idea to keep alcohol and firearms in the same bureau.

[Gormy Cuss]

36. Not likely in Vis Valley.

Vis Valley has a lot of law-abiding citizens but also more than its share of criminal lunkheads.

[tomm2thumbs]

6. 'guns don't kill people... sandboxes with guns kill people'

there, I said it.

[damntexdem]

10. Concealed bury.

Come on, gunnuts: play in your own sand box!

[Blandocyte]

15. Another Glock torture test?

[Blandocyte]

16. Time for total ban is past due

[hack89]

19. How do you propose to do that?

given that it is beyond the powers of the Federal government to enact or enforce such a ban?

[bossy22]

21. not to mention

that its against the will of the public

[proteus_lives]

24. Stupid post of the day.

What other rights to you wish to strip from your fellow citizens?

[Pavulon]

25. Jesus will literally walk the earth before that happens..

you will see miracles, he will come to your house and turn water to wine before than insanity ever hits the US.

I think there is a ban on weed and coke, how is that working out.

[sylveste]

26. ban on what

on what, sandboxes or children?

[sam sarrha]

31. take em all from criminals, thugs, gangs, psychopaths, thieves, drug dealers first, an i'll hand in

mine... you are worried about the wrong people.. all mine are registered.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

38. Fortunately that Constitution prevents idiotic ideas like that from happening.

[mitchum]

20. Damn! I just found porn when I was a kid

[sam sarrha]

32. did you shoot yourself with it...??

:rofl:

[Katya Mullethov]

22. At least they didnt shoot it

Because the odds are quite good they wouldnt know a real gun from a toy , and would just naturally be pointing it at another child when they did so . This wasnt always the case .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=118&topic_id=271698&mesg_id=271698

Amongst other things , my charges were all taught to swim and shoot at an early age .

[The Straight Story]

23. Isn't it illegal to leave guns such places? How is that law working out? (nt)

[slackmaster]

27. I believe that would constitute littering at a minimum

Which can get you a $1,000 fine in California.

[sam sarrha]

33. it isnt the law, it is the law breaker... get alcohol/drug rehab on public insurance teach it in

school from grade K.. and make a difference.. faulty logic should be a crime too

[beevul]

28. California...

California HAS some of the strictest gun control in America.


I suppose maybe the gun came from virginia... :eyes:

[The Straight Story]

29. But laws make people feel all good and happy. Like no smoking in bars, cars, homes, outside

etc - all the while inhaling loads of other fumes dangerous to them....they feel better, so it makes it all ok.

Their psychosis, your laws :rofl: