Should 5-Year-Olds Own Guns?

A Kentucky boy accidentally shot his 2-year-old sister to death with a gun he got for his birthday.

Two-year-old Caroline Sparks loved playing outside, singing, and her 5-year-old brother, who accidentally shot her to death last week with the .22-caliber rifle he got for his birthday. CNN reports the children's mother had stepped outside for just a few minutes when the accident occurred. It was the third time in about a month that someone was shot to death by a child under 6. The boy's gun was a Crickett rifle marketed specifically for young children as "my first rifle," the CNN story said. The gun stocks come in colors such as pink and blue. Officials in Kentucky noted that gun ownership among young children is common in the area. “It’s a normal way of life, and it’s not just rural Kentucky, it’s rural America – hunting and shooting and…

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Racer X

10:36 pm on Saturday, May 11, 2013

Logan,I have two questions: Why did you shoot your brother 7 times (I am thinking it possible your brother needed shooting)? Why did your dad wait until 5 years after that to send you to an NRA Safe Hunter Class? Just hafta ask, thanks.   more ›

Gwinnett Increases Efforts to Protect Children on Internet

The county has started Operation Escape Key to better inform the public of dangers.

Law enforcement and child advocates know something the public may not be aware of. That Atlanta is one of the main hubs in the nation for sexual exploitation of children. It used to be that children in metro Atlanta were victimized by pimps who posted them on street corners and passed them around to friends. Now, predators have stepped their methods up, using the Internet to find young girls for sex. Facebook has also been a driver, officials say. Just a few weeks ago, a Snellville man was arrested in Murray County for allegedly traveling there to have sex with a child, whom he became aware of from a fake Internet posting by the FBI-led Northwest Georgia Safe Child Task Force. On August 17, Gwinnett County announced a plan to step up its …

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Parenting Corner

How to Not Raise a Spoiled Child

Teaching your kids to be thankful for what they are given--even if they don't get exactly what they want--can be a challenge, to say the least.

Last week several people sent me a link to a video of a little boy getting a book for a Christmas present and having a less-than-thrilled reaction. It was from last year, but evidently it went viral as we approached the big day.  The set-up is familiar: The little boy opens his gift, a book, and flips out saying, "A book, a book for Christmas? What the heck is that?... I don't get books for Christmas. I hate it."  Right next to him is an already opened pile of gifts, including a Wii video game system.  My first reaction was to laugh. My second reaction was to pass judgment on the parents, of course.  I am sure that most people had that same holier-than-thou attitude for about a 10 seconds then, if they're like me, reality settled in and …

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