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Dad calls accidental shooting a 'wake-up'
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
By Larry O'Connor
Staff Writer
A Norvell Township man pleaded no contest to failing to register gun that injured his son's friend.
For 15 seconds, a norvell Township dad let his guard down.
Two weeks later, Michael Knott continues to replay the incident in his mind in which an 8-year-old Canton boy was accidentally shot in his home. He expects to be tormented by the memory for the rest of his life, although the boy escaped with a graze wound on his heel.
On Monday in District Court, Knott entered a no-contest plea to a firearm safety inspection violation in the Jan. 8 incident. He paid $150 in fines. He has a sentencing hearing Aug. 17 at which time he could receive further penalties, a suspended sentence or the case could be dismissed.
Knott isn't content to let it go with a court date. He believes the incident is a wake-up call about complacency, not only for himself but for others when guns are around or any other potentially dangerous situations.
"You start to get to the point where you believe everything you do is right," said Knott, 43, an Army major who teaches military science at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. "Then all you do is let your defenses down for 15 seconds, and something happens that can destroy your life. !"
The victim, who was celebrating his birthday, is friends with Knott's 7-year-old son, David, and was staying the night at their home at 5920 Norvell Road.
During dinner, the guest asked to see Knott's guns locked in a safe. The father and two boys planned a BB gun safari the next day on the family's 23-acre parcel.
After unloading the weapons, the father placed a BB gun and two handguns on the bed and provided an impromptu gun safety lecture.
The kids soon became bored, so Knott reloaded the guns and was putting them away.
As he placed the first gun back inside the safe, Knott lingered for a moment on a document -- adoption papers for a pet -- he thought had been lost.
Then he heard what sounded like a firecracker and turned to see his shocked son and equally stunned friend.
While picking up the .357 revolver to hand it to his father, the son squeezed the trigger.
"I could tell by his face he thought, 'I didn't know it was loaded,' " Knott said of his son.
The son had left the room for a moment while he was reloading the two guns, Knott said. He also didn't put the safety lock on the revolver.
After tending to the visiting boy's wound, the father phoned state police, who told him to meet them at Foote Hospital.
The boy received stitches and was released.
The Jackson County prosecutor's office charged him with the misdemeanor since the weapon involved wasn't registered.
"There was nothing under the statute to charge him for his actions," said David Lady, chief assistant prosecutor.
FIA was notified but didn't feel the situation warranted immediate action, a state police report said.
The boy's mother is upset with Knott. She works with him at EMU. He expects a civil suit to result.
The incident also was upsetting to his wife, Beth Knott, who is an Army drill sergeant and teaches R.O.T.C. at Spring Arbor University.
Despite the turmoil, the father and National Rifle Association member doesn't plan to remove guns or alter his outlook in talking to his children about them.
"If children are sufficiently educated on the safe and secure storage of guns, the natural curiosity they have will dissipate," Knott said.
"They don't need to know how to shoot. They need to respect what that weapon can do and that it can maim."
-- Reach reporter Larry O'Connor at 768-4926 or [email protected].
http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?/base/news-11/110667270281730.xml
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
By Larry O'Connor
Staff Writer
A Norvell Township man pleaded no contest to failing to register gun that injured his son's friend.
For 15 seconds, a norvell Township dad let his guard down.
Two weeks later, Michael Knott continues to replay the incident in his mind in which an 8-year-old Canton boy was accidentally shot in his home. He expects to be tormented by the memory for the rest of his life, although the boy escaped with a graze wound on his heel.
On Monday in District Court, Knott entered a no-contest plea to a firearm safety inspection violation in the Jan. 8 incident. He paid $150 in fines. He has a sentencing hearing Aug. 17 at which time he could receive further penalties, a suspended sentence or the case could be dismissed.
Knott isn't content to let it go with a court date. He believes the incident is a wake-up call about complacency, not only for himself but for others when guns are around or any other potentially dangerous situations.
"You start to get to the point where you believe everything you do is right," said Knott, 43, an Army major who teaches military science at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. "Then all you do is let your defenses down for 15 seconds, and something happens that can destroy your life. !"
The victim, who was celebrating his birthday, is friends with Knott's 7-year-old son, David, and was staying the night at their home at 5920 Norvell Road.
During dinner, the guest asked to see Knott's guns locked in a safe. The father and two boys planned a BB gun safari the next day on the family's 23-acre parcel.
After unloading the weapons, the father placed a BB gun and two handguns on the bed and provided an impromptu gun safety lecture.
The kids soon became bored, so Knott reloaded the guns and was putting them away.
As he placed the first gun back inside the safe, Knott lingered for a moment on a document -- adoption papers for a pet -- he thought had been lost.
Then he heard what sounded like a firecracker and turned to see his shocked son and equally stunned friend.
While picking up the .357 revolver to hand it to his father, the son squeezed the trigger.
"I could tell by his face he thought, 'I didn't know it was loaded,' " Knott said of his son.
The son had left the room for a moment while he was reloading the two guns, Knott said. He also didn't put the safety lock on the revolver.
After tending to the visiting boy's wound, the father phoned state police, who told him to meet them at Foote Hospital.
The boy received stitches and was released.
The Jackson County prosecutor's office charged him with the misdemeanor since the weapon involved wasn't registered.
"There was nothing under the statute to charge him for his actions," said David Lady, chief assistant prosecutor.
FIA was notified but didn't feel the situation warranted immediate action, a state police report said.
The boy's mother is upset with Knott. She works with him at EMU. He expects a civil suit to result.
The incident also was upsetting to his wife, Beth Knott, who is an Army drill sergeant and teaches R.O.T.C. at Spring Arbor University.
Despite the turmoil, the father and National Rifle Association member doesn't plan to remove guns or alter his outlook in talking to his children about them.
"If children are sufficiently educated on the safe and secure storage of guns, the natural curiosity they have will dissipate," Knott said.
"They don't need to know how to shoot. They need to respect what that weapon can do and that it can maim."
-- Reach reporter Larry O'Connor at 768-4926 or [email protected].
http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?/base/news-11/110667270281730.xml
This was an unfortunate, and preventable, event. But no amount of registration will prevent either accidents or crime.
