Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have lived in Colorado Springs for almost 7 years. I moved to this beautiful town from Pennsylvania. I enjoy the atmosphere and the people. Recently though my 10 year old daughter found a gun in the bushes beside the basketball court at the Summit Creek Apartments. Unfortunately I never had a conversation with my child on the proper protocol when finding a gun. She picked it up believing it to be fake and the gun went off.There were several children around her but thank the heavens no one was hurt. My daughter and I however were not only asked to move out but we're told we are not allowed on property to visit (my parents live there). When I asked the reason I was told "a gun accidentally going off is an accident we can't have on property"
I have lived in Colorado Springs for almost 7 years. I moved to this beautiful town from Pennsylvania. I enjoy the atmosphere and the people. Recently though my 10 year old daughter found a gun in the bushes beside the basketball court at the Summit Creek Apartments. Unfortunately I never had a conversation with my child on the proper protocol when finding a gun. She picked it up believing it to be fake and the gun went off.There were several children around her but thank the heavens no one was hurt. My daughter and I however were not only asked to move out but we're told we are not allowed on property to visit (my parents live there). When I asked the reason I was told "a gun accidentally going off is an accident we can't have on property"
The only place it matters whose fault it was is in a court of law if you choose to go there imo.
Sure, its a good idea to teach a child not to touch a gun and most people who own guns or expect their children to visit friends whose parents may own guns will teach them this. Whether or not that would stop all curious children from the temptation to pick up a gun they find outside or not who knows.
A case could be made that the apt complex is at fault because they didnt keep the common grounds free of what could be seen as an attractive nuisance that would tempt a child into danger. Like a swimming pool not fenced so wandering children can go in unattended and possibly drown.
That might be a hard case to make if they regularly keep the grounds up.
Best bet imo is if you want to stay there talk to a lawyer and see what your rights are as a tenant. Maybe just contact from an attorney would make them back off. Who knows if they are under pressure from the parents of the other children to evict you or do something.
As far as visiting your parents, not sure they have the legal authority to enforce that without going to court to get a restraining order against you.
Time to lawyer up! Unless your tenant contract specifically states such scenario is reason to evict, you may well have grounds to contest the eviction.
Sorry this happened, but any 10 year old with a tv and internet access knows what a gun is. She shouldn't have picked it up. Hopefully you have discussed this with her.
Good luck, Rg
Children play with toy guns. If she doesn’t know anything about guns she probably couldn’t tell it wasn’t a toy.
Children play with toy guns. If she doesn’t know anything about guns she probably couldn’t tell it wasn’t a toy.
I grew up with toy guns, not the ones with an orange tip, but ones that actually looked like real guns. I also grew up with real guns. Real guns have a look and feel that modern toy guns do not have. She should be taught the difference, it isn't that hard to tell the difference.
That being said, I hope this encourages parents to teach their children not to pickup ANYTHING that is not theirs.
The NRA has a very good program for children that is essentially,
Stop
Don't touch
Leave the area
Tell an adult
Their program is geared from kindergarten kids and up. Might worth a good review for every parent.
Edit: looked it up...more details here including a nice cartoon for kids who found a gun...at a playground. Sounds familiar!
Like RG the Kentucky mountain man, I've had guns since I was about 6 years old. In fact, I still that very gun. I wasn't allowed to even touch it until I could recite the rules of safe shooting to my dad. Kids who grow up hunting know exactly what a gun will do to a human being since they've seen what it does to squirrels, doves, deer, etc.
This is a parenting forum. Guidance from that perspective.
I no more would educate my child on the proper way to hold and inhale on a crack pipe if found, vs the educating them on awareness to handling a weapon . The parent in this scenario admits to not addressing the keep away education on this item. It thus snowballed into eviction.
Since the OP has yet to come back I'll simply state in a general way..that when opportunity such as these come up it's not always necessary to go on a mission. A simple, NO we did not touch suffices.
The gun did not “go off” she shot the gun
However stashing you’re dope and your gun when you see a cop coming is pretty common doing so will keep you out of jail
I bet money your kid knows about this and was Easter egg hunting
Status:
"I don't understand. But I don't care, so it works out."
(set 5 days ago)
35,620 posts, read 17,953,728 times
Reputation: 50641
I strongly believe this is a very whitewashed version of the story.
OP, if you're still around, can you post back?
This apartment complex is Section 8. Yes, they can kick you out for stuff like this.
My guess is, the child found the gun outdoors, picked it up, and pointed it at another child and fired the gun? (although perhaps believing the gun was a toy at the time).
They can't risk that happening again. This isn't like a 3 year old finding a gun - a 10 year old should be old enough to know not to find a gun, point it and shoot.
If that's indeed exactly what happened, I wouldn't raise too much stink about this, OP. The parents of the shot at children might come back with criminal charges.
And can I ask - has your daughter been involved in a number of difficult situations and this was the last straw?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
