Such a shame
A reminder to everyone. 
Whenever I see one of these “cleaning accidents” I pretty much assume you were messing around with your gun and it went off.
Please let’s call it what it is. It’s not an accident, it’s negligence. Clear the damn gun!
Or as @RocketPak said, he was fooling around with his gun. Still negligence.
I fixed it.
Apologies @KillJoy, I wasn’t criticizing your choice of word, but the actual news story’s headline.
“Accidents” (I should name it stupidity) like this really makes me angry.
Additionally this:
"Cayenne added that his team were in discussions with the state attorney’s office to determine whether the neighbor should be charged. "
What doesn’t mean whether should be charged.?
Hell yes… Should be charged. I fully support 2A… but not lack of thinking.
Yes, accidents happen all the time… but there is a difference between accident and negligence.
And negligence has no excuse.
This. Yes.
Yes. Negligence and therefore 3rd degree murder or manslaughter as we’re told. Minimum 10 years plus restitution to the family.
If I use the mantra “I am responsible for every bullet that leaves the end of my barrel” then this guy is, in my mind, responsible. Was it an accident? Probably, heaped with a large portion of negligence.
This is a tragedy whatever you call it.
I believe we quible too much over the word accident.
Merriam-Webster
Definition of accident
1a : an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstanceTheir meeting was an accident.
b : lack of intention or necessity : CHANCEThey met by accident rather than by design.
2a : an unfortunate event resulting especially from carelessness or ignorancewas involved in a traffic accident
bmedical : an unexpected and medically important bodily event especially when injuriousa cerebrovascular accident
claw : an unexpected happening causing loss or injury which is not due to any fault or misconduct on the part of the person injured but for which legal relief may be sought
dUS, informal —used euphemistically to refer to an uncontrolled or involuntary act or instance of urination or defecation (as by a baby or a pet)The puppy had an accident on the rug.
3 : a nonessential property or quality of an entity or circumstancethe accident of nationality
I know more than 1 story, some involving AR, some AK, all novice shooters, when ND happened as they started to take the gun down for cleaning. Not paying attention is what it is.
If you are cleaning your Firearm why have ammunition in the vicinity. This is tragic and IMHO there was definitely negligence in this case. When I am cleaning my firearms at home I always make sure of clearing the firearm safely and have the weapon pointed in a safe direction while clearing it. There was no intent in the neighbor to shoot her but that was the fatal outcome. Two families lives changed in an instant. After I complete a shooting session at the range I bring the guns I shot empty to my home to avoid mistakes/accidents.
I agree, but a 100% avoidable tragedy.
Edit: I was going to stop with the above, but I realize what’s really bothering me, and what I need to say is all of us here focus on preparation, we focus on training and on safety.
We want to protect ourselves and our loved ones. But how do you protect against an idiot like this? Am I being too harsh? I don’t think so. I think about my own wife and how I’d feel if my neighbor was negligent in this manner.
I’m not saying the neighbor doesn’t regret what he did, but this never had to happen, and wouldn’t if he behaved responsibly beforehand as opposed to after.
When will people learn. Clear you weapon of magazine and chamber. Remove it from the cleaning area. Do not clean weapon around other people .
And I agree with you 100% avoidable and don’t excuse the behavior at all. My comment was more focused on preventing incidents like this, not what we call it.
I will assume for sake of argument that the shooter was in fact cleaning a loaded gun. Otherwise I don’t believe it happened that way!
The Sunshine State
Florida’s law against discharging firearms in public or on residential property stipulates: “any person who … recklessly or negligently discharges a firearm outdoors on any property used primarily as the site of a dwelling … or zoned exclusively for residential use commits a misdemeanor of the first degree.” The penalties for first degree misdemeanors in Florida include up to 12 months in jail and/or up $1,000.00 in fines.
With the tragedy next door the shooter could easily face manslaughter charges. And likely should!
And you’re right. I was just venting, because his negligence cost a family dearly.
So how can we prevent incidents like this? I don’t think education is the key; presumably he knew he shouldn’t be cleaning a live weapon. I still wonder if that’s truly what was going on.
I don’t know how we can prevent any unintentional lethal act. Automobile crashes, negligent discharges, and the like have been with us ever since the first time Og said, “hold my (beer).”
Some humans just don’t think about “what’s the worst that could happen?” in anything other than an attempt at humor.
I worked as a disaster recovery planner for a few years. As an occupational hazard, I am now prone to identifying the worst that could happen.
Sad tragedy. It changed and devastated the gun owner’s life, he still gets to live, and have a chance to live free; but for another person, her life has ended.
Great tips. Reinforces we all need to continuously train each other. Any one of us could be a similar accident victim.
I heard it said before, “accidents happen”; Like there’s nothing we can do about it. Is that what industries like the airlines and nuclear power plants say when they have an accident? Is a firearm not a deadly weapon? In this particular case, could this specific shooting have been preventable?
Does that mean we should just accept it, and put away the memory? Does our responsibility end within our own home (only)?
This was not the first such incident, and won’t be the last. Please think about what things we can do to help reduce such accidents. If we do not develop more safety measures, the anti-2A will do it for us. And as such accidents continue to happen, how are we ever going to stop the anti-2A? Can you blame the resolve her family will have to develop safety measures? Utmost, life was lost; but many were instantly swayed against 2A.
I once heard a police officer answer when asked how they solve mysteries, “Creativity, hard work, and luck”.
I’d rather we shape our own destiny, so that we have say in the matter, get it right, and out of “respect”. Her name was Jennifer Edelen, she was inside her home when it happened, she was 47, she is survived by four children.
The next time you hear about more mandatory training before being allowed to own a firearm, please also remember “Jennifer”.
IMHO.
“Defense is a definite part of the game, and a great part of defense is learning to play it without fouling.” – John Wooden