Joplin School shooting...

[Broken_Hero]

I saw this earlier in the DU Lounge, and couldn't believe it...:(

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/09/missouri.school.ap/index.html

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. It's terrible

How the hell did this kid get his hands on an AK 47??

[Broken_Hero]

2. kid could have gotten it from

a few places, a friend, parents, parents friend....and to note, this past...hmm, wednesday, three 8th graders in Noel, MO got caught with a .22 magnum pistol in their locker...no ammo, and no one hurt...been a lot of school/gun/shooting incidents lately...

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. The news here in KC

reported last night that his dad was arrested yesterday. Turns out he is a felon and can't have guns but has a houseful. Sounds like a nice home for a child - not.

[Broken_Hero]

4. I didn't hear that...

I got cable a few months back and I hardly ever watch local news anymore...and our local newspaper is....well, it sucks. It comes out once a week, and the main headline is this pastor's family molesting kid case...its a local case, and its been the hub bub for a while now....

[benEzra]

5. It wasn't an AK-47...

How the hell did this kid get his hands on an AK 47??

It wasn't an AK-47. According to the story linked in the OP, the rifle was a MAK-90, a non-automatic civilian rifle that looks, but does not function, like an AK-47. A friend of mine owns a MAK-90, and I've shot it on occasion.

FWIW, possession of an actual AK-47, or any other automatic weapon, is a 10-year Federal felony unless you have Federal permission (i.e., a BATFE Form 4).

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. It still is not a weapon a middle school kid should have

And it sounds like his dad is in a bit of trouble now.

The assault rifle that a Joplin, Mo., boy allegedly fired inside his middle school Monday was one of three owned by his father, according to federal prosecutors.

The weapons were among nine firearms seized by investigators after the school incident, according to an affidavit filed Thursday to support charges against the boy’s father.

Gregory Lynn White, who has convictions for burglary and possession of methamphetamine, was charged Thursday in U.S. District Court in Springfield with being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The weapons were kept in a locked safe at his home, but the boy apparently used a key to get the rifle, the affidavit states.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/15756295.htm

[benEzra]

7. Which would be equally true of any firearm...

squirrel rifle, deer rifle, target rifle, revolver, pistol, or whatever. Looks like the dad was negligent in allowing the kid unsupervised access.

Of course, his father couldn't legally so much as touch a gun, or a single round of ammunition, due to the prior felony convictions, so the guns were apparently in the home illegally to start with.