Why are so many gun owners terrified of everything that moves? I mean, even if you think the kid was a burgler or something, why not at least ask who he is/why the hell he is in your house once you have him at gunpoint? One question and a horrid tragedy is averted.

Gun nuts are like those little yapping dogs...so scared and weak they need to bark and bark so no one notices. What a bunch of cowards.

Expect Mudede to accidentally a word...

The daughter lied and said she didn't know the boy.

Yes, it's her fault.

When your teenage daughter says she doesn't know the teenage boy that snuck into her room at 2:30 AM I guess you shouldn't believe her ?

http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/Deput…
According to detectives, his 16-year-old daughter let a 17-year-old boy in the house and snuck him into her bedroom.

Her younger brother went to say good night and saw two feet sticking out under the bed, detectives said. He then went to get his father.

The father walked in and asked questions, but his daughter claimed to not to know the male teen. The father then called 911, but an argument ensued with the teenage boy.

The father told police the boy dropped his hands as if to grab something, so the man opened fire. The teen died at the scene.
No other injuries were reported, but the father was transported to the hospital to be checked out for medical reasons as he complained that he was not feeling well. Constables said the man appeared to be on several medications.

It appears they are all to blame.

Yes, most unfortunate. Speaking of teens & trouble, I just read this ghastly story:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2014/03/…

This behavior is just abject savagery. Sigh. I do hope the little tyke recovers.

Daughter says she doesn't know perp, therefore he is probably a rapo.

I want to know how many other details converge here. Is the dad an NRA member? A Christian, esp the evangelical flavor? Did the daughter sign a purity pledge? I.e. how many tiny seemingly-not significant details went awry here...?

@7 it's still early in the morning and you're already wrong. Re-read the bold text in the article, please.

@9, your error is expecting Charles to link to a good article describing the incident. About half the space is devoted to some other shooting.

See what I posted "Her younger brother went to say good night and saw two feet sticking out under the bed, detectives said. He then went to get his father.

The father walked in and asked questions, but his daughter claimed to not to know the male teen."

@4: Thanks for the better article. Given that there might have been a rape, or the father killed, or both - well.... I'll stop there.

I would say that whoever pulled the trigger should be blamed.

You know, personal responsibility and all.

i'm picturing a younger brother going to say goodnight to his 16 year old sister at 2:30 in the morning.

everything smells in this one.

but don't worry, 5280 will be along shortly to relate a home invasion self-defense. it does happen, approx. 1/1000 shootings.

here's a favorite of the it-happens-all-the-time crowd: http://thearmedcitizen.com/mother-opens-…

@13: As well as for the it-does-actually-happen crowd.

I survived a home invasion nearly 30 years ago, using common sense and not a gun.

Still don't own or use a firearm at 64 because I'm not a pissy pants NRA member scared of his own shadow.

And the results? I'm still alive and no one has ever been killed in my house, accidentally or otherwise.

Sure anecdote isn't evidence, however, keeping a gun in your home makes it something like 12 times more likely you, your family, friends or any poor soul in your gun nut domicile will be shot, than you'll ever have to wave the thing at a home invader.

http://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2…
I don't like those odds and common sense has saved me more than once.

"Having a gun in your home significantly increases your risk of death — and that of your spouse and children.

And it doesn’t matter how the guns are stored or what type or how many guns you own.

If you have a gun, everybody in your home is more likely than your non-gun-owning neighbors and their families to die in a gun-related accident, suicide or homicide.

Furthermore, there is no credible evidence that having a gun in your house reduces your risk of being a victim of a crime. Nor does it reduce your risk of being injured during a home break-in.

The health risks of owning a gun are so established and scientifically non-controvertible that the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy statement in 2000 recommending that pediatricians urge parents to remove all guns from their homes.

Notice that the recommendation doesn’t call for parents to simply lock up their guns. It stresses that the weapons need to be taken out of the house."
http://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2…

"Children aged 5 to 14 in the United States are 11 times more likely to die from an accidental gunshot wound than children in other developed countries....

Children in the U.S. get murdered with guns at a rate that is 13 times higher than that of other developed nations. For our young people aged 15 to 24, the rate is 43 times higher..."

http://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2…

How's telling people about your fake stats of "gun in the house" working out for you? Tons of guns being turned in?

@16 - One would generally agree, but Detroit (re: @13)?

@4,

Given that the father was allegedly "asking questions" shortly before he shot the kid, then I'd hazard a guess that, no, he didn't believe his daughter.

Imagine walking into your teenage daughter's room to find a supposed male intruder in there. What do you do? Sit down for a friendly conversation or chase the guy out/beat the shit out of the guy/shoot the guy on sight?

I feel sorry for the next teen who tries to date the daughter!

Pretty sure if this man had a teenage son and found a girl in his room at 2:30 am, no one would have gotten shot and there maybe would have been a stern talking-to, with dad secretly pleased his son was such a stud. I know there's a fatherly instinct to protect their children, and daughters in particular, but there's definitely a sexist double-standard going on here as well.

@23: Since you're "pretty sure" about this - what happened to Malaysia Airlines flight 370?

@4- " Constables said the man appeared to be on several medications."

Too doped up to think straight? Make sure you keep a gun around!

Right on schedule. The Gun Fetish Death Cult members turn every horrible avoidable death into a reason for more people to own guns.

The Death Cult members love these kinds of deaths. Even the deaths of toddlers they just turn around into an argument for more pro gun indoctrination.

@25, or maybe he's currently taking a bunch of meds for chemotherapy or to combat AIDS.... doesn't matter. I'd be worried if a father who found out he shot his daughter's "secret" boyfriend didn't feel ill afterwards.

let's say it again...

GUN.

DEATH.

FETISH.

CULT.

You're talking about how these stories keep getting posted to SLOG by people who have never been trained to handle guns, right ?

@24: ...did you just conflate a guy being "pretty sure" about a hypothetical case with a guy necessarily knowing all things hidden or revealed? Wow, you suck at this.

@28: I think it's Gun Fetish Death Cult. But I appreciate your enthusiasm, what with the caps and all.

Guy's under the bed, right? Daughter says she doesn't know him. Surely the thing you do is tell daughter to get the hell out of the room and call the police, while you stay in the room and make sure the punk doesn't get up until the cops arrive?

@29 Right on time! Not enough gun training. That's the only problem. Even the news about these horrible tragedies would not be getting through, but the only we reason be know about them - not enough training!

So, you have identified a problem, that people are finding out about these senseless deaths caused by the outrageous proliferation of firearms. But then you propose a solution! More gun training for reporters would somehow make them stop reporting on this issue. If people didn't report the senseless deaths, it would be as if they magically never happened!

@33,
no, I think the GUN DEATH FETISH CULT is these internet bloggers who pick the least developed reporting on deaths caused by firearm use and carry it directly to "guns=tragic death" conclusions, all by a writer who has never gone through firearms training or safely used a gun in a controlled environment.

But, hey, maybe Dan Savage should do a whole series of interviews with the (roman catholic) pope and other church figures about which sex positions are the most exciting. I'm sure that'll be real informed.

@34 - Cool story bro.

@34
I think it is more about getting more page hits for the advertising dollars.
Which is why the staff at The Stranger keep getting basic facts wrong.

"Guns seem to kill everyone (lovers, children, teenagers, mothers) except criminals:"

Why post a headline that is obviously incorrect?
Or is Charles so uninformed on the subject that he does not know it is incorrect?

Call Judge Judy.

Guys, read the second story, posted at #4. Younger brother pokes his head into his sister's room to say goodnight, sees two feet sticking out from under the bed. Tells Pop, who gets his gun. Girl says she doesn't know the guy, Pop calls 911. While waiting, the kid drops his hands--Pop says he thought he was reaching for something--and Pop shoots him.

No one covered themselves with glory that night.

@38: Don't confuse people with the facts; nobody here is interested in hearing an unbiased account.

See at @38 and @39, the Death Cult members are itching to find excuses to kill people. Whether or not it was necessary is totally immaterial to them. That is to say, it is getting to the point where the Cult teachings have people shooting with the flimsiest of pretexts, because they are taught it is not only excusable, but also is the MOST appropriate, necessary, response.

#31,
Nope, it's right. Think about it.

Last night it was snowing gangbusters around these parts when I opened my patio (first-floor, but no stairs from the parking pad to the patio) door to take a picture to send my snow-deprived friends. My dog decided to go for a romp in the snow (he loves the stuff, bless his hardy soul). I tried to call him back in when I was done with my pictures, but he was having fun and ignoring me, so I shut the door and took a seat in the room with the door, knowing he'd scratch when he was done. It was really late, maybe 1 AM.

A couple minutes later, my doorbell rings. We have a few nut-jobs in the neighborhood who occasionally ring doorbells late at night (sometimes begging, sometimes just acting crazy), so I ignored it. Then there was pounding on the door. I peeked out a window, didn't recognize the person, and ignored that, as well.

Then my dog starts barking like crazy and I hear a THUMP on my patio. I look out the window in the door to see the same man on my patio, and yell "GET OFF MY PATIO! I'M CALLING THE POLICE!" He ran up to the door and said "Wait, wait. I think there might be a misunderstanding. Is this your dog?" I told him it was, and he said "do you think you should leave him out here in this?" I then opened the door and said "is THAT why you were ringing my bell? He's been out here for all of 10 minutes, I'm waiting 2 feet from the door to let him in when he asks, and he loves the snow. He'll come back in when he's ready, probably in 10-15 minutes." He apologized, explained that he was concerned that the dog was going to spend the night out in these conditions, and just wanted to make sure he was cared for. Turns out he just moved in up the street and was on his way home when he saw my dog, alone, on the patio. We shook hands, I introduced him to my dog, and I let him out through the front door so he didn't have to jump back over the railing. He mildly insisted he could just jump back over the railing to avoid tracking snow through my house, if that tells you how much of a "bad guy" he is.

Had I been a paranoid gun nut, the dead, albeit over-zealous, dog-lover would have been morning news... I had no reason to shoot...I was locked safely inside my house. But that doesn't seem to stop the nuts. Not saying he should have jumped the railing, animal control and welfare is very responsive here and he could have just called them, but shooting him would have been a serious over-reaction, as well.