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About Appeal tribune. (Silverton, Or.) 1999-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 19, 2016)
4A ● APPEAL TRIBUNE WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2016 Recent accidental shootings of minors rekindle safety debate LAUREN E HERNANDEZ STATESMAN JOURNAL In the past 2 1/2 years, seven Oregon minors have been injured and one killed in accidental shootings, according to new data compiled by the USA Today Network and the Associated Press. Of those shootings, four involved minors injuring themselves, three involved adults injuring minors, and one involved a minor shoot- ing and killing himself. The data includes shootings involving mi- nors in Oregon between January 1, 2014 and June 30 of this year, according to statistics compiled by the Gun Violence Ar- chive, an independent data collection and re- search group that com- piles shooting informa- tion nationwide. “Safe storage and child access prevention are always talked about among groups who sup- port it,” said Penny Oka- moto, executive director of Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation, a Portland-based organiza- tion aiming to reduce gun Investing is about more than money. At Edward Jones, we stop to ask you the question: “What’s important to you?” Without that insight and a real understanding of your goals, investing holds little meaning. Contact your Edward Jones fi nancial advisor for a one- on-one appointment to discuss what’s really important: your goals. www.edwardjones.com Member SIPC LOCAL ADVISORS Salem Area Vin Searles Jeff Davis Keizer Area Surrounding Area Sheryl Resner Bridgette Justis FINANCIAL ADVISOR FINANCIAL ADVISOR FINANCIAL ADVISOR FINANCIAL ADVISOR South | 503-363-0445 Liberty | 503-581-8580 Keizer | 503-304-8641 Sublimity | 503-769-3180 Michael Wooters Garry Falor Mario Montiel Tim Yount FINANCIAL ADVISOR FINANCIAL ADVISOR FINANCIAL ADVISOR FINANCIAL ADVISOR South | 503-362-5439 West | 503-588-5426 Keizer | 503-393-8166 Silverton | 503-873-2454 Derek Gilbert Chip Hutchings Walt Walker FINANCIAL ADVISOR FINANCIAL ADVISOR Commercial | 503-362-9699 Lancaster | 503-585-4689 FINANCIAL ADVISOR Stayton | 503-769-4902 Caitlin Davis Tim Sparks FINANCIAL ADVISOR FINANCIAL ADVISOR West | 503-585-1464 Commercial | 503-363-0445 OR-0000381945 injuries through educa- tion and outreach in Ore- gon. Oregon currently has no law requiring firearm owners to prevent mi- nors from gaining access to firearms, nor a law requiring firearm own- ers to lock their weapons, according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. State Sen. Ginny Bur- dick, D-Portland, said she has been trying to in- troduce legislation since the 1990s to make it a criminal offense for a gun owner if a child gains access to their guns, but has been un- successful, mostly be- cause she said the state is focusing on other forms of gun legislation. Governor Kate Brown has three legislative priorities for guns in the 2017 session, including banning extended-capac- ity magazines; expanding definitions of “domestic violence” so those con- victed of domestic crimes and stalking won’t have access to firearms; and closing the “Charleston Loophole,” which would ensure indi- viduals who should be barred from owning guns won’t purchase guns simply because law en- forcement are unable to complete a background check in the current timeline. “It’s such a tremen- dous effort to take on the gun lobby on any gun issue, but child access prevention is serious, and gun owners need to be held accountable,” Burdick said. “There are too many times where there are no charges brought and there should be strong civil liability.” Accountability is weighed during investi- gations following unin- tentional shootings, but in the case of some unin- tentional shootings in the past two and a half years, charges were not filed against the gun owners. In the case of a 4-year- old Gresham boy who unintentionally shot off one of his ring fingers during a family barbecue on February 7, 2015, no charges were filed against the gun owner, who was the child’s grandfather. Chuck Sparks, Chief Deputy District Attorney of Multnomah County District Attorney’s Of- fice, said the boy entered the grandfather’s room, pushed a piece of furni- Church Directory IMMANUEL LUTHERAN CHURCH 25 303 N. Church Street Silverton, OR 97381 Phone: (503) 873-8656 Pastor Leah Stolte-Doerfl er Sunday School 9:15 a.m. Service time 10:30 a.m. Nursery Available AP This undated photo provided by Ruthie Price of Shreveport, La., shows her younger son, Cameron. In 2015, the 4-year-old was accidentally shot by his 6-year-old brother, Ka’Darius, who thought a chrome and black .40-caliber pistol was a toy. Ka’Darius later told police he “pushed the bad button” and that he understood his brother, who “had a hole in his head,” was going to the hospital and was not coming home. About the series An investigation by The Associated Press and the USA Today Network shows minors have died from accidental shootings — at their own hands, or at the hands of other children or adults — at a pace of one every other day, far more than limited federal statistics indicate. Page 1B ture closer to a firearm sitting atop a gun safe and fired the gun. Following a review of the incident, police decid- ed the grandfather did not recklessly endanger the boy because he did not think the child could reach the gun, he had a permit for the gun and did not have a history of being careless with his firearm. “The family was upset but were not asking to file charges,” Sparks said. “The reaction was that it could have been worse.” In the case of a 13- year old boy who shot himself in the leg with a revolver while he was alone at his Prineville home on Jan. 1, 2015, no charges were filed against the parents. The parents said they thought the gun was unloaded and left in the SILVERTON PRAISE CENTER parents’ room, but the teen managed to find bullets and discharge the weapon, according to Sergeant Jimmy O’Da- niel. Kevin Starrett, direc- tor of Oregon Firearms Federation, a gun rights organization that follows gun legislation and mon- itors bills and amend- ments, said gun safety is born from gun education. Starrett said he raised his own children in a household where gun safety was at the fore- front of creating a safe environment for his fam- ily. “Every time a child is hurt or killed by an act of negligence, that’s inex- cusable, but it troubles me when all we want to focus on is firearms with children,” Starrett said. He said the federation would support any legis- lation supporting gun education to children, but not necessarily child access prevention laws. Although Starrett’s guns are locked up in a home safe, he said his 17-year-old son does have access to it due to his extensive knowledge of how to properly handle a firearm. “The state doesn’t know the best way for me to safely lock my firearm,” Starrett said. Burdick said the civil liberties issue as it re- lates to the idea of requir- ing gun owners to lock their firearms in a spe- cific way is difficult. Multnomah County has its own child access prevention ordinance, which requires gun own- ers to prevent access to a loaded or unloaded fire- arm by a minor without the permission of a par- ent or guardian. Starrett said Mult- nomah County’s ordi- nance violates state law and if the state legisla- ture ever considers mak- ing child access to guns illegal, it should consider making child access to other objects with the ability to be dangerous illegal like explosives, chemicals, kitchen knives and lawn mowers. He likens a 6-year-old child knowledgeable in handling drain cleaner to fix a clogged drain to a child knowledgeable safely handling a firearm - both sharing dangerous qualities but safe under the right circumstances. “With appropriate legislation and statues, individuals who are gun owners will be more aware, conscious and more compliant with state law,” Prozanski said. “It goes back to making law more clear.” ST. MARY’S CHURCH Church of God 814 N. Second St. 873-1206 Sunday morning worship 10:00 AM “Committed to Christ, Committed to the Community” Silverton Friends Church Pastor: Fr. Philip Waibel 575 E. College St. 503-845-2296 Weekday Mass 6:50 a.m. Saturday Vigil Mass 5:30 p.m. Sunday masses 7:30 a.m., 10 a.m., and 12:30 p.m. (Spanish Mass) at St. Mary Parish. Mass for Holy Rosary Mission at Crooked Finger is at 10:00 a.m. Confession: 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. on Saturday “loving God… loving others” Pastor Bob Henry Silverton Christian School 229 Eureka Ave. • 873-5131 silvertonfriends@frontier.com Adult Sunday School at 9:00 am Sunday Worship Service: 10:45 am Full Nursery Care • Youth Group meets Thursday 7:00 pm ()%' ' "" # ##"#$ $)') "+')%$ www.stpaulsilverton.com !-((# )*'- "&# *$-%'$ $(( # %%$$(&.%" %"--(#&# SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST COMMUNITY CHURCH Pastor Jose Galvez Saturday Services Sabbath School 9:30-10:30 am Worship Service 10:50 am 1159 Oak Street 873-8568 Inviting All to a Friendly Bible-Based Church Trinity Lutheran Church, ELCA Pastor Carl Hansen 500 N 2nd Street Silverton, OR 97381 (503) 873-2635 Sunday, Worship 11am www.trinitysilverton.org trinitysilverton@gmail.com