(TX) Daughter’s death drives Seguin man's fight

[Drizzt]

Daughter’s death drives Seguin man's fight
By Bryan Kirk
The Gazette-Enterprise

Published February 27, 2005
SEGUIN — A Seguin man is taking his concerns about firearm safety to state lawmakers.

Jack Braham is the father of 13-year-old Tianna Braham, a San Antonio girl fatally shot in the head by a friend with a loaded gun.

Braham has a proposal that involves changes to the Texas Penal Code, as well as broadcasting public service announcements to educate the public about firearm safety.

Braham was in Austin last week and met with State Rep. Edmund Kuempel to talk about filing legislation that could hold parents more accountable for storing firearms safely.

“The whole purpose of this is similar to the MADD program and the Click it or Ticket program,†Braham said.

Braham said where organizations such as the National Rifle Association and the Texas Hunter’s Association have available information, it is usually reserved for exclusively for their membership.

“If you are a hunter or a sportsman, you are going to have all that information, but are you going to tell me that a 28-year-old woman who has a child and is worried about her psychopathic ex-husband coming around to do harm to her will not want to pick up a gun?†Braham said.

Braham said he hopes the ad campaign will remind parents gun locks can be obtained free from any law enforcement agency.

The second part of Braham’s proposal involves changing Texas Penal Code Section 46.13 — the only state statute that holds a parent accountable for proper firearm storage. However, the statute only pertains to loaded weapons.

Andre Gibson, the boy who shot Braham’s daughter, retrieved an unloaded gun from an unlocked closet and loaded it with bullets he found in another area of his home.

Gibson is serving a nine-month sentence in the Texas Youth Commission for manslaughter.

Braham said preventing similar tragedies begins with strengthening the law and requiring all firearms where children are in the home be locked up.

Several years ago, the Florida Legislature passed a law credited with significantly reducing the number of teen shootings in the state. Braham has asked Kuempel and his staff to compare the Florida statute with Texas law.

A third step Braham proposes would require potential gun owners to take an on-the-spot safety test.

If the potential gun owner failed the test, they would not be able to purchase a firearm.

Braham said that part of his proposal was not considered by Kuempel.

Kuempel said he and his staff have been researching the Florida statute and are in contact with other state agencies.

“We are checking with the Attorney General to find out if we just need to enforce the law we have on the books more vigorously,†Kuempel said.

Kuempel said he liked the idea of creating more public awareness through public service announcements as a safety mechanism.

“Everything is going fine, we are just waiting on opinions to see if this has a chance and what the possibilities are of passing this,†Kuempel said. “We are on this vigorously. Hopefully, we will have some answers from the AG’s office on what can be done sometime next week.â€

http://www.seguingazette.com/story.lasso?ewcd=c83f0a4e0d1d0569&page=all

 

[Standing Wolf]

Laws don't prevent people from making stupid mistakes.

 

[Selfdfenz]

"a 28-year-old woman who has a child and is worried about her psychopathic ex-husband coming around to do harm to her will not want to pick up a gun?†Braham said."

They say the price of peace is eternal vigilance.

Sometimes the price of peace is eternal vigilance, a loaded 38 and the knowledge and will to use same when the chips are down. Like it or not sometimes the price of peace is moving the he11 out of town and not sending a forwarding address. May not be fair but the world offers no such promise.


S-

 

[dolanp]

The law could be a little tougher. It is only a Class A misdemeanor to you if your kid kills someone with your gun, and a Class C if nobody gets hurt. And the kid is only serving nine months for manslaughter. Granted he's a kid, but I can understand the girl's father feeling that justice is not being served here.

 

[TallPine]

Braham said where organizations such as the National Rifle Association and the Texas Hunter’s Association have available information, it is usually reserved for exclusively for their membership.

Well, of course ... we can't allow that nasty evil NRA to be indoctrinating our kids now, can we ...?

 

[HighVelocity]

I have a 9 year old son and we talk about gun safety regularly. It is my belief that the parents and non-parent adults are 100% responsible for their weapons and if a child in their home finds an unsecured weapon and uses it then the owner/person in charge of that weapon is 100% responsible and should be held accountable.

Come on people! It's a no brainer to keep your guns locked up.

 

[TheEgg]

Gibson is serving a nine-month sentence in the Texas Youth Commission for manslaughter.

I would hope that the father is outraged about this. The one actually responsible for his grief got a slap on the wrist. HE SOUGHT OUT THE GUN, SOUGHT OUT THE AMMUNITION, LOADED THE GUN, THEN SHOT THE YOUNG WOMAN!

He should be spending at least the next twenty years in jail, and the father of the young woman needs to not displace his anger on others who had nothing to do with her death.

 

[richyoung]

Gotta disagree, HighVelocity. I don't keep my .45 locked up, any more than I keep the fire extinguishers locked up. $20 says that I can go into any house or garage and find something lethal, (gasoline, drain cleaner, butcher nives, chain saw, crow bar, lighter, matches, car keys, etc) laying around not locked. The minute we start down this slippery slope, we will end up having to store our handguns at the range or the police station - if we are allowed ot have any.

 

[HighVelocity]

Do you have kids richyoung? Kids are extrememly curious and if there is a gun accessible they WILL find it. period. Knives, fire extinguishers, chainsaws etc, do not have the allure to a child that a gun has. ESPECIALLY little boys. I am not talking about locking the guns away so deeply that even you can't get to them quickly but a simple trigger lock is enough.

This past weekend a 5 year old little boy here in Fort Worth picked up his fathers pistol that was carelessly left out and shot his mother in the back. The father whom happens to be a jailer. Claims the gun is "usually" locked up but he left it out just this one time.

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/local/11020805.htm

 

[whm1974]

And how is adding more laws to the books going to prevent ND's? And who is going to do this these on the spot saftey checks? And when?

If the boy killed his daughter with a baseball bat, would he propose putting restrictions on sporting equipment?

-Bill

 

[duckslayer]

I think the only thing they should mandate is gun safety training in Texas public schools. They have mandatory sex education, why not gun safety?

 

[JohnBT]

"if there is a gun accessible they WILL find it"

Well of course. Duh, that's why you teach them. Same thing with hammers, saws and all the power tools. Do you lock up your car keys? Why not? What if a child takes the car and kills someone? (And don't tell me a 5-year-old can't drive - that's when I started learning to drive a car and tractor. Wasn't any good, but dad liked letting me try and seeing how far I could go.) They know better than to drive the family car you say? Well, now you're thinking like me. Training.

When I was a youngster growing up, heck, from the time I was born in 1950 up until this very day there are guns stored in my parents' closets (and now the garage, but they didn't have a garage back then.) Everybody kept their guns in the closet, except those who kept some hanging on the wall. My aunts and uncles, my cousins, my grandparents...everybody had a gun or six or so around. I wasn't allowed to keep more than a BB gun in my closet until I was 10 or so, but the others were there for the taking...with the ammo on the shelf.

If we wanted to see them or shoot them we knew that all we had to do was ask.

OTOH, I keep mine locked up now that there're so many crackheads, junkies and generally worthless people stealing things.

John

 

[striker3]

HighVelocity,

I disagree, we do not need to protect children as much as TRAIN them. Yes children will find firearms, yes they will try to handle them(I know I did) so they need to be educated. My father taught me that ANY time you ever pickup a firearm, you eject the mag(if there is one) and open the action to inspect the chamber. That is how he started me, and that is how I act to this very day.

He also taught me to differentiate between real and toy guns. He made sure that all of my toy guns were marked by an orange barrel tip. Anything with an orange tip was okay to play games with. Anything without the orange tip was dealt with as real and not to be played with. I never pointed a non-painted weapon at anything I did not mean to shoot.

In my opinion, having a trigger lock on a loaded weapon is pointless. It defeats the whole purpose of having a loaded weapon. The nature of most self defense encounters is that when you need your weapon, you need it NOW. Having it locked up will just get you killed. I think that it is a desicion that you have to make, either keep a loaded weapon and educate your children, or keep all of your weapons completley locked up.

 

[hrb02]

Gotta throw my $.02 in with HighVelocity on this one. I've got two boys 8 and 3 whom I am teaching all the rules of gun safety--just as I was taught as a kid. However, my 3-year old loves play guns and cannot distinguish between the real and the play yet (orange stripe or not) . Therefore, all guns are always locked in the safe.

The 8-year old knows the rules and handles the guns (rilfles and pistols) well and safely. My fear is not so much him, as it is a friend who might be over and might not know the rules and then...

Every situation--and every kid for that matter--is different. Use good judgement and when in doubt, lock 'em up.

MHO.

 

[JohnBT]

"when in doubt, lock 'em up"

That's pretty hard on the kids, ain't it?

John

 

[Werewolf]

My fear is not so much him, as it is a friend who might be over and might not know the rules and then...

That's the scary one all right and is the perfect reason why gun safety should be taught in school. IMO - every other year starting with Kindergarten.

And the training must include hands on, touch the gun, pull the trigger, shoot it type education.

AND As harsh as it might be a live visual demonstration of a gun's power (for example - blowing a rabbit's brains out) would probably be in order too just so the children would learn first hand exactly what a gun is capable of.

 

[El Tejon]

Gun-proof children, don't child-proof guns.

Mandatory firearms classes in K-12 throughout Texas!

 

[Otherguy Overby]

Didya catch this bit?

Braham said he hopes the ad campaign will remind parents gun locks can be obtained free from any law enforcement agency.

The second part of Braham’s proposal involves changing Texas Penal Code Section 46.13 — the only state statute that holds a parent accountable for proper firearm storage. However, the statute only pertains to loaded weapons.

I'd like to see this gentleman demonstrating the safety of a trigger lock on a loaded weapon. On video, of course...

BTW, is there anyone on THR who would even consider putting a trigger lock on an already loaded weapon, a Glock, for example?

Finally, regarding "safe storage" and CCW. If one is carrying and comes home, under the new law when is he/she required to secure the gun?

Some time back California came up with this stupidity "for the children" and it was only months after that a girl who was familiar and fairly good with firearms was baby sitting her younger siblings. All the firearms had been secured per the new CA law. Some miscreant started breaking in. She ran to the neighbors for help and by the time they could return all the younger kids were dead.

I agree with the others who stated this father is transferring his grief and anger to the wrong thing. Lastly, only a true gunophobe would blame the gun when the shooter got it from one place, ammunition from another, then loaded the gun and shot his daughter.

 

[Andrew Rothman]

Let's have some common sense.

Kids are not adults. They have immature brains, with less-developed executive decision-making capabilities.

That means that kids can be taught -- can know -- the rules, and still break them. (If you don't believe me, go look at teen pregnancy statistics.)

You can't make the world 100% safe for your kids, but, dammit, you have to do what you can. That means a multi-tiered defense.

Kid-proof your guns and gun-proof your kids. That way, your son's idiot friend won't shoot your son with your gun, and hopefully your kid will have the sense to beat feet when his idiot friend gets out his dad's unlocked gun.

No, locked, unloaded guns aren't much good for self-defense. So carry it on you. Get a quick-access gun safe. The solutions are out there -- don't let ideological purity blind you to them.

We owe our kids nothing less.

 

[Standing Wolf]

I think the only thing they should mandate is gun safety training in Texas public schools. They have mandatory sex education, why not gun safety?

Because the leftist extremists would get their knickers in very tight knots at the very thought of it.

 

[TheOtherOne]

Do you have kids richyoung? Kids are extrememly curious and if there is a gun accessible they WILL find it. period. Knives, fire extinguishers, chainsaws etc, do not have the allure to a child that a gun has. ESPECIALLY little boys. I am not talking about locking the guns away so deeply that even you can't get to them quickly but a simple trigger lock is enough.

This past weekend a 5 year old little boy here in Fort Worth picked up his fathers pistol that was carelessly left out and shot his mother in the back. The father whom happens to be a jailer. Claims the gun is "usually" locked up but he left it out just this one time.

I had EASY access to my dads guns and ammunition the entire time I was growing up. For quite awhile they were in a gun cabinet that didn't have a lock on it and one day they migrated to a top shelf in the basement where they also weren't locked. I even remember a few times when I was fairly young (< 10) getting them down and looking them over.

Still.... even with easy access, I was never stupid enough to load them and point them at a friends head while pulling trigger. It's probably the same reason I was never stupid enough to take a butcher knife from the kitchen and stab a friend in the heart.

 

[c_yeager]

Gibson is serving a nine-month sentence in the Texas Youth Commission for manslaughter.

Boy that doesnt add up to well for an purely "accidental" shooting.

I had access to firearms and ammunition for as long as I can remember. The solution that my parents found to having firearms and a child in the same home was thouroughly educating that child on firearms safety and personal responsibility (which was applied to all things, not just guns). You will never be able to secure your firearms in such a way that it is IMPOSSIBLE for your kids to get to them. What matters is wether or not the have a desire to "play" with them and what they do when/if they encounter them. That is all a matter of education.

 

[peacefuljeffrey]

I have a 9 year old son and we talk about gun safety regularly. It is my belief that the parents and non-parent adults are 100% responsible for their weapons and if a child in their home finds an unsecured weapon and uses it then the owner/person in charge of that weapon is 100% responsible and should be held accountable.

Come on people! It's a no brainer to keep your guns locked up.

We are talking about a kid who went and sought the gun, then sought the ammunition, put them together, knew enough about guns to know how to get the gun ready to fire, and then fired, killing a young girl!. Adults, schmadults, no adult can prevent a deliberate crime unless they are present with the juvenile offender at all times and also have the ability to overpower him and stop him if he should decide at any given moment to go astray.

Imagine an adult was driving with his 16-year-old son who has a learner's permit. All of the sudden, the kid decides to swerve onto the sidewalk and mow down four people, killing them. The adult's responsibility for the kid's actions should be severed at that point! And the same should go if the kid deliberately takes an adult's gun after going on the prowl for it, and the ammunition (which was kept separate, as is so often recommended).

At some point we must realize that parents do not have some sort of remote control for their children!

Let's not delude ourselves about this parent's motivation. He is mourning the death of his daughter; and in frustration and futility, since he can't bring her back, he is now trying to get nosy with what other people do and the choices other people make. We have the same thing here in Florida: State Rep. Irv Slosberg lost his daughter to an accident because she was not wearing a seatbelt. Slosberg's "solution" (You know, "So that no other parent has to go through this tragedy"): make failure to wear a seatbelt a "primary" traffic offense, meaning that a cop could pull a driver over for not wearing the seatbelt, even absent any other traffic offense. (Currently they must have some other "primary" reason to pull you over, and they can't pull you over just for not wearing the seatbelt.)

Now we all know that nothing stood in the way of Slosberg's daughter being smart enough to put her seatbelt on of her own volition. The facts of seatbelt use are well known, and have been for decades. They save lives. She knew that, and chose to not wear it. Does anyone believe that if the fact that she knew it could save her life did not motivate her to wear it, the fact that she could get pulled over for not wearing it would do so?!

This is a bereaved parent's futile attempt to make some sort of peace with the spirit of his dead daughter, nothing more. It will not make anyone safer. It just intrudes on how people live their lives. One person, or even one legislature, should not have the power to tell everyone they must conduct themselves in a "one-size-fits-all" manner. Locking up firearms may be suitable for one family, but not for another family; so deciding not to do so should not put the second family at risk of prosecution.

-Jeffrey

 

[HighVelocity]

peacefuljeffrey

So you're saying that if there was a trigger lock on the gun the little girl would have been shot anyway?

 

[TexasRifleman]

Braham said where organizations such as the National Rifle Association and the Texas Hunter’s Association have available information, it is usually reserved for exclusively for their membership.

Well that's obvious Bullsh*t. The Eddie Eagle program is offered to school children nationwide. I offered to do the Eddie Eagle thing at my local schools but was turned down by the administration. He felt it would "upset" too many parents to teach gun safety in the schools. I have his response in writing and God help the school disctrict if such a thing ever happens here. I will publish his refusal for the world to see.