271

Florida deputy’s son, 10, accused of selling dead father’s gun to classmate for $300 (www.nbcnews.com)

submitted 3 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

84 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Two 10-year-old students were arrested in connection with a gun sold at their elementary school in Florida, county officials confirmed.

A deputy's son "agreed to exchange a handgun, (later found to belong to his deceased father), for a sum of $300" back in February, the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

The Country Oaks Elementary School was placed under lockdown Wednesday morning after the sheriff's office received a call about "a suspicious incident" on campus. Authorities discovered ammunition in the backpack of the boy who purchased the gun.

The gun was later found in his backyard under a shed, hidden with a 74-gram bag of marijuana, according to investigators.

top 50 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[-] shalafi@lemmy.world 48 points 3 months ago

10-year-old students were arrested

Fuck me. We didn't used to arrest tiny children.

And when shit like this comes up, I'm screaming, "How did a 10-yo have access to a GUN!?" Arrest whoever fucked that up please.

There is no excuse. My kids are that age, and they won't touch a gun. Period. (Partly because I've taught them, but mostly because they have brains.)

I have a shitload of guns, and they're all in safes except a couple of black powder arms (which they couldn't arm and fire if their lives depended on it).

Everyone wants "common sense" gun laws? Most ideas are silly, ineffective or run afoul of the 2A (which the courts uphold, like it or not). I see nothing stopping us from draconian storage laws.

Make the laws, it's on the owners to abide. Make an exception for one gun out for home defense, which some caveats. Hell, owners don't even have to pay attention! But if a child lays hands on your gun, concrete and steel box for you.

[-] MagicShel@programming.dev 41 points 3 months ago

Mostly because they have brains.

I'm fucking jealous. Don't get me wrong, my kids are bright, but my ten year old got expelled for taking a steak knife to school - something I'd never in a million years have suspected she'd do. But one of her friends thought it would be funny, and you know how you or I might joke about telling our boss to go fuck himself, but we'd never actually do it? My daughter knew better, but in that moment all she thought about was clowning around.

She is already the most independent, hardest working kid I've known. I raised her to be that way and I'm damn proud of her. Some day she's going to be a force to be reckoned with. It's just like most children she's a fucking idiot sometimes. It's not her fault. I was a fucking idiot when I was a kid too. And based on stories I've heard, so was my dad. And then you look at the science and it turns out nearly every kid is a fucking idiot because a child's brain isn't an adult brain. And for some reason us parents tend to be the last to know.

You and I feel similarly about what sane gun laws should be and I don't really look to argue about that, but damn as one parent to another every time I hear someone say their child would never do some stupid thing or another because they are smart or raised right, I just think to myself that person either hit the jackpot or they are naive about how kids' brains work. I've raised five kids. Every damn one of them has done at least one idiotic thing I never in a million years believed they would do.

So don't ever rely solely on your kids' intelligence or adherence to rules to keep them safe. You don't ever want their moment of idiocy to involve a firearm. Best of fortunes my friend - to you and your kids.

[-] prole@sh.itjust.works 9 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

but damn as one parent to another every time I hear someone say their child would never do some stupid thing or another because they are smart or raised right, I just think to myself that person either hit the jackpot or they are naive about how kids’ brains work.

It is simply an extension of their narcissism. They see their child as an extension of themselves (at least for now, the child will inevitably leave them when they see how toxic they are), and in their mind it isn't possible for them to do wrong.

[-] shalafi@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

Are you talking about me? That's one hell of a pile of assumptions if so.

load more comments (1 replies)

[-] ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com 28 points 3 months ago

The kid who bought it had almost 3oz of weed, 74g. Some weird shit is going on in that neighborhood wtf.

[-] theangryseal@lemmy.world 14 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I grew up in a neighborhood like that. By 9 the older kids had us bringing “sunflowers” that my friend’s dad smoked for whatever reason, and we’d trade a pocket full of buds for snacks and pocket change. By 11 one of the older kids decided to make a coke can pipe and show us why the sunflowers were so great. We sold pills and weed for some older people not long after that, that is until we all inevitably ended up trying those pills and becoming addicted.

I remember one time, a walk that should have taken about 10 minutes ended up taking two hours or more because I couldn’t get my brother and our friend to move. They mixed Xanax and alcohol, I didn’t have the alcohol so I was able to drag them slowly up the road. Older folks were sitting on the porch shaking their heads at us. It was terribly obvious we were into something. I was about 12 when that happened.

Those two slept for more than a day. My dad said, “I’m telling you, they’re on drugs!” And my mom said, “how could they be on drugs? They’re just babies!”

I ended up getting arrested for pills in the 9th grade and put on probation. That turned me around for a while. It took a whole lot of bad shit before I finally got my life together, but I’m clean now. My brain developed on weed, alcohol, Xanax, and opiates.

What a world.

[-] AtariDump@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago

Congrats on being clean. Seriously.

[-] theangryseal@lemmy.world 7 points 3 months ago

Hey, I appreciate that.

My brother did even better than me. He faced the threat of losing his wife who he had somehow managed to hide his addiction from for 5 years. She wasn’t having it. She told him to get clean or get lost.

He went to my mom’s, got in bed, faced the withdrawal with no assistance, left her place clean. He was immediately hounded by everyone offering him drugs or asking for drugs. He relapsed, went back to my mom’s place, went through the horror again, and then left for police academy.

His logic was, “not only am I the right kind of person for that job, but I dare anyone to offer me drugs when they know what my job is.”

He hasn’t looked back and he and his wife have been happily married for 14 years.

I actually required rehabilitation. I went through withdrawal intentionally one time and that was enough for me. Once I relapsed I just couldn’t do it again. I am in a permanent medication assisted program. I don’t like it, but I like it better than being a junkie on the outskirts of society, one bad moment away from being locked in a cage.

I wish I had his strength. I really do. He was always stronger than me though, physically, mentally, spiritually. I don’t do religion, but I wish I had that whole larger purpose thing going on.

For me, my purpose is simple. I have to guide my kids through this world better than my parents did. Not that I’m saying anything bad about my parents. They were a mess but they did the best they could with what they had.

load more comments (2 replies)

[-] vaseltarp@lemmy.basedcount.com 15 points 3 months ago

which they couldn’t arm and fire if their lives depended on it

Do not underestimate children.

load more comments (3 replies)

[-] prole@sh.itjust.works 12 points 3 months ago

And when shit like this comes up, I’m screaming, “How did a 10-yo have access to a GUN!?”

Hang around here long enough, and someone is bound to respond and try to defend it. Has happened to me multiple times. Apparently thinking that children shouldn't have access to firearms, period, is a controversial take in the US now.

[-] bitchkat@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

The article says the gun belonged to his dead dad. It doesn't offer any evidence of when his dad died or how he came to be in possession,

load more comments (1 replies)

[-] SaintWacko@midwest.social 9 points 3 months ago

Even my home defense gun is in a biometric safe in my nightstand... Two of the others have trigger locks, and the other two are flintlocks

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 10 points 3 months ago

Most gun owners, despite all the talk of "responsible gun owners" are nowhere near as responsible as you. I wish more were. Good for you for understanding gun safety.

[-] vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works 7 points 3 months ago

Hope those are some damned good trigger locks cause you can get past some with a hammer and screwdriver. My uncle lost his keys at some point and that was his solution.

[-] SaintWacko@midwest.social 5 points 3 months ago

Oh, it's certainly not as secure as a safe, but they're long arms, kept unloaded, with the ammo elsewhere

[-] vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 months ago

Okay thats a tad bit more reasonable, still wouldnt trust em personally but if youre comfortable thats all that matters.

load more comments (2 replies)

load more comments (8 replies)

[-] Che_Donkey@lemmy.ml 39 points 3 months ago

Follow up story: 10 year olds' gun charges dropped after being sentenced to 55 years on the mara-juannas.

[-] Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world 8 points 3 months ago

Oh thank God! I'm glad this dangerous substance was removed off the streets. Dozens of kids could have gotten high from that. /s

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 35 points 3 months ago

I wish I had $300 when I was 10. I would have spent $150 on Star Wars figures and another $150 on G.I. Joes.

[-] Ithral@lemmy.blahaj.zone 13 points 3 months ago

I probably would have bought Bionicles, still sad they got discontinued

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

That was after my time, but I'm reading about it now. It sounds cool. I probably would have been into it.

[-] Ithral@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 3 months ago

Oh yeah, and the lore rabbit hole gets deep, read most of the comics and books, it was really cool as a whole universe with supporting toys.

[-] Zahille7@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

Fuck yeah it was.

I went back a little while ago and reread through some of the lore on the wiki and all these memories came rushing back.

[-] Emerald@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

They discontinued them? Those ********ing ****** ***** *****s.

[-] chatokun@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 3 months ago

Legos and SNES games for me. Probably more the Legos. I used to look through the catalogs longly, wishing I could afford the bigger city, jungle, and pirate sets.

Nowadays I still look longingly, but at more sets and a little less at the city sets.

load more comments (2 replies)

[-] deezbutts@lemm.ee 5 points 3 months ago

Ya but with a gun you can steal all the gi joes you want

load more comments (1 replies)

[-] babypigeon@lemmy.world 35 points 3 months ago

"The gun was later found in his backyard under a shed, hidden with a 74-gram bag of marijuana, according to investigators."

This whole story would a great opening to a film about a mob kingpin.

[-] jeffw@lemmy.world 35 points 3 months ago

It’s honestly kind of sad. What 10 year old is buying guns and 74 fucking grams of weed?

[-] babypigeon@lemmy.world 15 points 3 months ago

A future mob kingpin.

[-] jeffw@lemmy.world 10 points 3 months ago

I doubt he’ll get that far if he’s getting high at 10. Probably got a fucked up life

load more comments (2 replies)

load more comments (9 replies)

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago

Bugsy Malone II: Bugs Harder

[-] tsonfeir@lemm.ee 26 points 3 months ago

How did a 10 year old get $300, presumably in cash, and wtf was he going to do with it?!

That kid is gonna be an arms dealer.

[-] ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com 20 points 3 months ago

Presumably from selling weed, he had 2.8oz, probably down from a quap or half p. Now, who fronted the kid to get his start is the real question.

[-] tsonfeir@lemm.ee 18 points 3 months ago

Glad I can go across the street and buy weed legally at a store instead of getting it off some 10 year old with a gun because it’s still illegal.

[-] ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 3 months ago

Lucky you. Kid doesn't wanna be some washed up 12yo's lick though, he needs to keep that pole on him so his opps don't catch him lacking! Understandable really.

[-] tsonfeir@lemm.ee 5 points 3 months ago

When you put it like that, it really does make sense. Small businesses are rough.

load more comments (1 replies)

[-] 520@kbin.social 11 points 3 months ago

Kid might simply be a mule for an adult buyer

load more comments (1 replies)

[-] capital@lemmy.world 17 points 3 months ago

There are some seriously fucked up parents on both sides of this transaction.

[-] psycho_driver@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago

Floridaman's origin story.

[-] sramder@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago

Seriously! I was just thinking this was the most Florida headline I had heard this year.

[-] TIMMAY@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago

Capitalism.

load more comments

this post was submitted on 31 Mar 2024

271 points (97.9% liked)

News

21687 readers

3028 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil

Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.

2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.

Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.

3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.

Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.

4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.

Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.

5. Only recent news is allowed.

Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.

6. All posts must be news articles.

No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.

7. No duplicate posts.

If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.

8. Misinformation is prohibited.

Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.

9. No link shorteners.

The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.

10. Don't copy entire article in your post body

For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

rjc@lemmy.world

Thekingoflorda@lemmy.world

gedaliyah@lemmy.world

Blackbeard@lemmy.world

little_cow@lemmy.world

jeffw@lemmy.world