[Mystique]

Kid kills parents to avoid chores

It's not uncommon for a teenager to go to extreme measures to avoid having to do chores: Television and the Internet are far more appealing than taking out the trash and loading the dishwasher.

Nonetheless, most kids slog through it, if only for the sake of getting their parents off their backs. That, however, was not the case with a Colorado teen who police say fatally shot his mother and stepfather to get out of doing his household duties.

The 14-year-old boy, John Caudle, has been charged as an adult with two counts of murder. He is being held at a youth center and is due in court next week.

I know, I know, you can slap my hand for this later Vexx, since you didn't wanna get into it much (albiet, the news thread allows for more freedom to discuss post related news for a while before dying out)
I'm tossing in my two pence just to manipulate the scales a little on the 'less guns the better' side.
I guess it could simply be one of the major cultural differences between the UK and US for the supposed similarities we have (namely the use of English), but given this story, I still probably until the day I die think that the liberalness of guns for "protection" just cause more harm for ordinary citizens than less.
Ironically not from the 'bad people you wanna protect yourselves from', but the numerous accidents and seeing red moments between friends and family.
That kinda news, I find tragic beyond tragic and totally pointless.

A gun was originally created with 1 sole purpose: To main (and/or) take a life.
To kill.
That purpose alone is why so many people are up in arms about its existence more than cars, a bat, a knife or any other tool that has initial purpose other than causing harm.
And while I'm learning about the entire "the US police don't have to protect its citizens..."
(Say what now!? )
- It's too, too easy or tempting just for 1-2 mins of anger to take over rational thought, where kids or adults, reach for the safe/drawer/cupboard of their parents, release the safety and pull a trigger.
Very impersonal, very cold, at a distance and pretty easy if the intent is there.

There is most likely more to that story with the kid in question and his mental state than the use of the weapon of choice, but I think it's a safe bet to say (given that you had a choice between the two, to save your life)
That to grab a carving knife in your very hands and ram it true into an organ of another, up close with the intent of debilitating someone is a lot harder to do than to pull a trigger of a tool and let the bullet hit home.

Originally Posted by justinstrife

Very well said Vexx. I feel the same way you do. Thank you.

Remember people. When the bad guy is knocking down your door or approaching you outside of a store at night, the police are only 20 minutes away. Your 1911 .45acp is only a half second away.

Taking into account justin's and Lost Cause's examples above, I am speaking from someone who has grown up all her young life watching her back (as a girl at a height of 5'4, walking the streets of London on her own), the odds then work against me, add kidnap, rape, mugging or death to that mix.
- And ironically at no point did I feel the need to go 'I wish I had a gun to feel 'safe' with’, rather I appreciate the police visiting our schools and teaching us girls at age 12 onwards how to be street smart in order to minimise getting into situations that are risky, in other to be aware of our surroundings and listen to our instincts of potential danger..
In addition, we were taught how to work the law so that we can use items (keys, umbrellas, etc) as weapons without being prosecuted for GBH/ABH should we need to defend ourselves.
Also being offered and attending self defence courses so we have a choice, a way to get out of being raped, should we be unfortunate to be attacked.
Having the police work with the community to get guns off the streets, not to equip everyone with one.

It just reminds me of the way the big countries of the world are pointing nuclear warheads at each other at present, red firing buttons at the side.
Just in case~

And so on.
I know it won't stop a nation of gun lovers or with an affinity with guns as part of 'normal life', to survive the peril that is America (freedom at its finest?)
It’s not so much "you can’t" Lost Cause, as much as its "you shouldn’t", since there are other ways around this.’
(Think Jackie Chan and Sammo Law) xD
But coming from a world where in an attempt to tackle the same issues of protecting yourself and the community of which involve methods that work around decreasing the amount of firearms on the streets, I generally see that as a better solution.
There is a choice.
I personally would rather try to survive and defend myself as I've had to do anyways, under lesser odds of being hit by a stray bullet from some idiot who decided to pepper spray a place and drive off.
Gun with you or not, there isn't much defence against those kind of attacks...

To give the pro gun lot some leeway though, I will be the first to admit that while less guns on the streets is nice and a direction I prefer, it doesn't instantly guarantee fewer murders on each other, especially within the Black community of London given the fatal stabbings of 2008. And no, guns would not have given those dead much of a chance, as the attacks were usually gang ones or literally stealth as reported to us, it seemed.
(Modern day ninjas)
A few things run deeper and much more disturbing with the mentality of the teens these days in London, that some can take lives so silently and mercilessly without being held back by the repercussions no matter the weapon.

As for the kid himself, I guess he'll be getting all the chore time he likes while in jail.
Once you've killed someone once in cold blood, the rest I assume is easy.
Here's hoping he doesn't get the chance to take the life of another.