7 Year Old Faces 2 Felony Charges For BB Gun

[celtic_crippler]

A 7 year-old is being charged with two felony counts of discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle.

Over-reacting much?

Somebody please inform these idiots that by definition, a “firearm” fires a projectile by use of an explosive charge…not compressed air.

Now, I’m not against the kid doing community service but two felony charges?

And what about the parents’ responsibility; where’s their community service?

Video: http://www.wsoctv.com/videos/news/7-year-old-faces-2-felony-charges-for-shooting-bb/vxBtg/

 

[Drasken]

A 7 year-old is being charged with two felony counts of discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle.

Over-reacting much?

Somebody please inform these idiots that by definition, a “firearm” fires a projectile by use of an explosive charge…not compressed air.

Now, I’m not against the kid doing community service but two felony charges?

And what about the parents’ responsibility; where’s their community service?

Video: http://www.wsoctv.com/videos/news/7-year-old-faces-2-felony-charges-for-shooting-bb/vxBtg/

Once again. NEGLIGENCE.

A few points.

1. Firing a bb gun at an abandoned house is also a no no.

2. A 7 year old should NEVER be allowed to play alone with a bb gun.

3. If the owner of the vehicle and cop did not want to press charges, none should have been filed. The parent should take away the bb gun, pay for any damages and have the cop and parent talk to the child about why he is in trouble.
Seen it happen before.

The other point is that even a decent court appointed lawyer should be able to have this laughed out of court. A bb gun is NOT a firearm and thus the charges are false. I could see mischief. I could possibly see assault. This however is BS and I wouldn't expect it to go anywhere.
It is an overreaction to a minor incident. The mother should be in more trouble than the child anyway.

 

[arnisador]

The parents should certainly be in trouble, yeah.

 

[jks9199]

Don't know exactly why they charged the kid. Not enough details in that news report. Might be that the kid or family has a history of dangerous conduct or being unable to control the kid (I got involved over the weekend in an investigation of a 12 year old with 12 convictions for larceny...) and that these charges are a way to get them in for services. Might be that one of the drivers involved pushed the issue, too... Personally, I'd have probably been charging the parents with a few different things...

Regarding "firearm"... In Virginia, many (but not all) of the relevant code sections include a definition along the lines of "that fire a projectile by means of burning combustible material", so BB guns generally aren't. Brandishing is one exception. However... there's another charge that would be relevant: missile at an occupied vehicle. I include the link because it's very possible that the caption of the charge in this case is a little misleading. My first felony arrest as a cop was for "missile at a vehicle." No -- the suspect wasn't lobbing a Tomahawk cruise missile or a Nike at the car... it was a paintball pellet. (Kid was lucky, at that. The driver of the car was an Aussie military attache from their Special Forces... who handled it by calling us.)