In what can only be viewed as yet another setback for gun owners, a Texas couple shot and killed 7-year-old Donald Coffey, Jr. this week for "trespassing."
Whatever happened to "Don't shoot unless you know what you're shooting at?" A seven-year-old? Seriously? If you feel threatened by an unarmed 7-year-old, I have to tell you, you have no business brandishing a weapon.
Perhaps we should require IQ and vision tests as a prerequisite for gun ownership? Before you say no, did I mention that the same couple shot the boy's five-year-old sister as well? And his father? And a 30-year-old family friend? With a 12-gauge shotgun, no less. And it turns out that the family wasn't even trespassing in the first place.
To gun owners, restrictions on ownership may seem extreme, but those who are truly familiar with gun safety issues can't want stories like this to become the face of their cause.
Pro-gun enthusiasts can only expect these types of incidents to fuel an already powerful argument that gun ownership should be restricted to a chosen few.
Donald Coffey, Jr. was off-roading with several family members, including his 5-year-old sister, in the Houston area on May 7th when he was allegedly shot in the head by 45-year-old Gayle Muhs and his wife Sheila, (pictured below.) Apparently, Sheila shot first and then handed the shotgun to her husband so he could take his turn firing on the suspected interlopers.
Donald Coffey, Jr., his father, Donald Coffey, Sr. his 5-year-old sister Destiny, and a family friend were all shot and injured by the Muhs couple, who had posted a sign, above, threatening "trespassers" on the property.
For those of you wondering whether the law protects this sort of ridiculous "protection of property," the answer is no. Not even in Texas.
Gayle and Sheila Muhs have both been charged with aggravated assault and may have their charges upgraded to murder on Monday. Police found no indication that the Coffey family did anything to threaten the Muhs prior to the shooting.
911 Call
The details of the 911 call following the shooting make this story sound even worse. Either unaware or unaffected by the fact that she'd mortally wounded a child, Sheila Muhs reportedly informed a 911 operator, "They're out here tearing up the levee, so I shot them."
The irony of this tragic story? According to Liberty County Chief Deputy Ken DeFoor, the family was not even on the Muhs' property at the time of the shooting. They were on property owned by an area subdivision, not the Muhs. In an area commonly used for off-roading.
Here in Florida, residents are permitted to use deadly force against people who threaten them or their property. But certainly no one can believe the type of irresponsible behavior that caused 7-year-old Donald Coffey's death should be protected. Under no circumstances do guns belong in the hands of those who cannot distinguish the difference between an adult and a child, a dangerous criminal and an innocent.
That this shooting occurred is not that shocking. Unfortunately, this type of incident has become tragically commonplace. What's especially disturbing about this story is that the shooters felt no need to conceal either their intentions or their actions. They had such a distorted idea of property protection rights that they felt justified in their actions, even after they essentially shot a group of innocent family members with as little emotion as one might expect from a shooter aiming at a tin can on a tree stump.
We Need Background Checks for Felons and Mental Disordered, but Maybe Also for Stupid
But oh yes, there is a powerful lobby advocating for the prosecution of drunk drivers. In the case of guns, the powerful lobby is the reverse and advocates against any kind of regulation.
The point I was trying to make is that we get all in an uproar and have government prioritize relatively minor problems like cyclospora or West Nile virus, yet we totally ignore the elephant in the room -- a legal killer of 30,000 Americans a year, and at least 700 of those due to pure negligence.
BTW there are three times as many gun deaths in the U.S. per year than drunk driving deaths. In 2011, there were 9,878 traffic fatalities related to drunken driving.
And I fully agree with rjzip's suggestion.. I'd go so far as to encourage mandatory safety training and periodic mental health evaluations for anyone with access to potential weapons, including dangerous chemicals, biological agents, and guns. It might not solve the problem, but it is a step towards encouraging (or at least forcing) some measure of safety.
But yeah.. With the NRA funding the politicos, and with the brainwashed the-guvvermint-can-take-mah-guns-ovah-mah-dead-body rednecks, I doubt any such measure will be passed anytime soon.
Bearly and Manjoguy, who said ANYthing about taking guns away from ANYone?? I didn't. All I'm saying and all the background check supporters (90% of United States citizens) are saying is "Let's not legally issue killing weapons to felons or crazy people! Even with driving a car; once a driver is proven to be a likely killer on the highways (old age, epilepsy, reckless driving, too many OMVI convictions, etc.), their driver's license can be revoked because they are more prone to accidents with a lethal machine. We owe it to our whole society to control people who are likely to kill other people (particularly when they are prone to do so on purpose) and to try to prevent them from doing so.
Also, the comparison of deaths from tornados and hurricanes is an illogical one, Those deaths are unavoidable to a large extent. What government does in those cases is to simply issue weather warnings as best they can and advise people on the best action to take when they are in the path of such a storm.
BTW, I'm being very generous calling this an "accidental" shooting death. It probably should be homicide.