By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Public reaction to the widely-reported accidental shooting involving a 15-year-old Washington teen who was wanted on a felony warrant appears to be strictly unsympathetic, judging from the responses from readers of the story at KOMO News.
The unidentified teen was walking down a street during school hours Tuesday with a 13-year-old companion, and was reportedly carrying the unidentified handgun in the waistband of his pants. The gun apparently discharged sending a bullet into the teen’s groin area. He then reportedly handed the pisto l to the 13-year-old, who was subsequently arrested by Lynnwood police for illegal gun possession.
The shooting was first reported as an accident at KIRO, the CBS affiliate in Seattle, and at that time, based on sketchy details, it appeared the younger teen accidentally shot the older youth. That was before more details emerged.
A follow-up report at KOMO revealed the wounded teen had the outstanding felony warrant because he cut off his ankle monitor. He is apparently a suspect in an armed robbery in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood which occurred in November. According to the report, the teen was positively identified by one of the robbery victims.
After being transported to Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center for treatment, the teen reportedly tried to escape and had to be restrained. He is currently being held on the King County felony warrant, and will possibly face additional charges in neighboring Snohomish County, where the shooting occurred near the popular Alderwood Mall.
The 15-year-old’s plight has stirred no sympathy from Washington state’s embattled gun owners, as illustrated by some of their reactions to the KOMO reports.
One respondent wrote, “Let me guess-the taxpayers will be on the hook for his hospital stay. Afterward, he will be released to his ‘concerned and loving’ parents. The court will show leniency b/c 15 y/o boys’ brains aren’t developed enough to realize the consequences of putting a stolen handgun in one’s waistband. If they find the owner of said handgun, they will be prosecuted for allowing the boy to break into his house and steal his firearm. Meanwhile, the boy will receive counseling and be allowed to return to school. Finally, his parents will find a bottom-feeding lawyer to sue the gunowner for not securing the firearm well enough to keep from getting stolen, thereby allowing the boy to carry it in a hazardous way and injuring himself.”
Another chimed in, “I could’ve sworn 15-year-olds weren’t allowed to own, possess, or control firearms. And all those laws Washington has been cranking out over the last decade? Surely they’ve fixed everything by now, right?”
And there was this observation: “Obviously law abiding gun owners are somehow responsible. Washington State must pass a tax on law abiding gun owners to fund holsters and full medical care for youngsters illegally carrying firearms.”
For more than a decade, well-financed anti-gunners have been successfully pushing restrictive gun control proposals—including bans on so-called “assault weapons” and “large-capacity magazines,” a 10-day waiting period, “enhanced background checks” and more—while receiving more than $365,000 in public funds over the past two bienniums from the state Department of Commerce, as earlier reported by TGM.
