Slumber Party Teen Dead Due To Stupidity
While attending a slumber party Monday night, 14-year-old Megan Reppond of Joplin, was shot in the head after another girl picked up a .38-caliber handgun that had been left on a piano and pulled the trigger. The owner had taken the firearm out of a gun-safe to test its fit in a holster and just failed to put it away. The sheriff says information from the investigation will be sent to the prosecutor’s office and juvenile authorities. However, he says he doesn’t expect any charges to be filed.
Many questions come to mind as we read about this story…
Shouldn’t the owner be charged? Shouldn’t the shooter be charged, no matter what she ‘thought’ about the condition of the firearm? Should it be the school’s job to teach kids about gun safety without giving their opinions on the matter? If they can teach evolution/creation, certainly they can teach kids how to handle firearms.
Lessons We Should Take Away From This Story
- Always Lock Up your firearms
- Always keep the gun pointed in a Safe Direction
- Assume all guns are Always Loaded
- Do NOT Assume A Gun Is A Toy
- Train Your Kids proper gun safety rules
- Know Where Your Guns Are at all times
- Know Your Guests, and their stupidity level
Our Opinion
There are certainly accidents that happen, but in this case, the owner left the gun out and the teenager obviously had no business touching the firearm in the first place. Did the gun magically go off in her hands, or did she pull the trigger like an idiot accidentally. The owner should be charged with something and the shooter should also. Local schools should understand that even though some parents may have firearms in the home, not all kids know proper gun safety rules. While it may not be their job to inform kids about gun safety, I don’t see a problem with inviting Eddie Eagle into your school for a few days to education kids on what to do if you’re near a gun >> STOP, Don’t Touch, Leave, Tell An Adult! I simply can’t imagine being Megan’s parents in this case. Do you sue the owner for his mess-up, even though another teen committed the act? How must the shooter feel right now? Will she grow up to be a great anti-gun political activist 
The firearm wasn’t the problem, it was the people in the story who screwed up and caused the death of a teenager.
Our prayers go out to the Reppond family today and the other families affected. I’ll certainly be mentioning this story to my children later tonight so that they can learn from it.
Have your own opinion? – Leave it in the comments below!
KY3 Story: http://bit.ly/fCumYH
Feb. 21, 2011 Followup: Link – Settled with the homeowner’s insurance company: the mother of Megan Reppond will receive $97,500, while her biological father will receive $2,500.
