2013 America (and Friends!) Gun Violence Thread No Plows Allowed!

[Ksandra]

Kids gonna kids =/= kid ends up in an Gorilla enclosure. I doubt the kid managed it in an instant. Any responsible parents should have enough of an eye on their kid to make sure they don't manage to bypass whatever security measures were in place to keep people out.

Losing sight of a kid may mean you don't know they were trying to get through security measures in the first place.

I just get irritated there is a petition to have CPS take the kid away from his parents. I mean, if we are going to set the precedence that parents lose their kids if the kid runs and hides from them, our nation is fucked.

Hell, I'll admit it. Once in a Target, my daughter ran off. My mom and I ran through the store trying to get her, but she was running up and down the aisles. Probably only lasted about 45 seconds, but felt like forever until I caught her.

Now, you may be saying, "That's only Target." But really no. The place is irrelevant. A zoo is full of sights a kid is eager to see. It's more likely to happen there. And when you have multiple kids to keep an eye on?

Parents who never lost sight of their kids are either a. very lucky or b. insane helicopter parents. I refuse to be b, but fuck anyone who would want to take my kids away. I can't blame another parent for that type of situation.

Old as fuck article but I think it may shed light on just how common this is:

http://articles.latimes.com/1994-06-..._lost-children

During the summer, as many as 30 children are sent to the facility each day. On a recent Fourth of July--traditionally the busiest day of the year at Disneyland--more than 200 children were in and out of the room.

It really does suck that this happened. But I think in tragedies we want to blame someone. And I don't think anyone is to blame in this scenario. This is the zoo's first incident, so it's easy to believe they thought the barrier was safe enough. Gorilla could have crushed the boy's skull in a second. Parents lost their kid which happens. Onlookers shouted in fear which just helped to terrify the gorilla.

Just a shitty shitty situation. But not one to blame anyone.

[Salodin]

Kids gonna kid, but it's the parents responsibility to keep an eye on their kid. I'm not blaming her, but lets be honest it really is her fault this endangered animal is dead. She's not Cecil the Lion hunter bad, but that's only because the intent isn't there.

[archibaldcrane]

We simply don't know if she left him alone for 5 minutes or she turned her back for 15 seconds.

[Tyrath]

We simply don't know if she left him alone for 5 minutes or she turned her back for 15 seconds.

Something tells me it took the kid closer to 5 minutes than 15 seconds to get into the enclosure.

[Blubbartron]

Something tells me it took the kid closer to 5 minutes than 15 seconds to get into the enclosure.

Did you see the reports of their "fence"? It's 1 foot high. That's it. And then like 3 feet of shrubbery before the fall over a cliff. If it takes a child 5 minutes to cross that, they're either retarded or crippled.

[Lyall]

You'd think a mother would see the shitty fence involved and be wary, though. Animals are dangerous.

[Byrthnoth]

The only things that can honestly stop a kid from breaching the kind of defenses they had on that enclosure would be a harness+leash or constant physical contact.

[BerenTebogo]

The only things that can honestly stop a kid from breaching the kind of defenses they had on that enclosure would be a harness+leash or constant physical contact.

Or parenting style. I know as a kid I wouldn't have done it because if my dad or mom turned around and I wasn't there I would end up wishing the gorilla took me in to live in his little gorilla society with only mild waterboarding.

[Tyrath]

It was a 3 feet barrier. Obviously not that high, but get out with the 1 foot shit.

You'd think a mother would see the shitty fence involved and be wary, though. Animals are dangerous.

And this. Part of your responsibilities as a parent are to be aware of not only your child, but also their surroundings. Shitty low looking fence near animal enclosure at the zoo? Keep constant watch on your damn kid.

[archibaldcrane]

Did you see the reports of their "fence"? It's 1 foot high. That's it. And then like 3 feet of shrubbery before the fall over a cliff. If it takes a child 5 minutes to cross that, they're either retarded or crippled.

This is how tons of zoos are now. The LA Zoo has similar "barriers" for all sorts of dangerous animals, Lions, Hippos, Gorillas.

The 10+ foot drop is the real deterrent, but there's not much preventing a determined 4 year old from getting to that dropoff.

[Lyall]

This is how tons of zoos are now. The LA Zoo has similar "barriers" for all sorts of dangerous animals, Lions, Hippos, Gorillas.

The 10+ foot drop is the real deterrent, but there's not much preventing a determined 4 year old from getting to that dropoff.

Again, you'd think a parent would be aware of this fact better than the rest of us and be on their guard. The zoo definitely should have had a better barrier in place, but it is a parent's responsibility to keep their child safe. These were unsafe conditions that went unnoticed or just didn't warrant extra supervision.

[Blubbartron]

It was a 3 feet barrier. Obviously not that high, but get out with the 1 foot shit.



And this. Part of your responsibilities as a parent are to be aware of not only your child, but also their surroundings. Shitty low looking fence near animal enclosure at the zoo? Keep constant watch on your damn kid.

3 feet my ass. I watched a video on the news of one of the guys from the zoo standing next to this fence, and it didn't even come up to his knee.

[Tyrath]

Everything I've read has said 3 feet so feel free to provide the video.

[dasva]

Losing sight of a kid may mean you don't know they were trying to get through security measures in the first place.

I just get irritated there is a petition to have CPS take the kid away from his parents. I mean, if we are going to set the precedence that parents lose their kids if the kid runs and hides from them, our nation is fucked.

Yeah it's exactly that kind of attitude that leads to those ridiculous stories like CPS taking kids away because the parents let them play at the park down the street or because when the kids got home after school the door was accidentally locked so they had to endure the horrible dangers of their back yard till parents got home.

You aint gunna be able to watch your kid 24/7 and you don't want to live in a society that expects it. It's much more effective to make your kid afraid you might be watching if you get the bright idea to act the fool. Or just teach them they shouldn't do such things...

[Blubbartron]

Everything I've read has said 3 feet so feel free to provide the video.

I can't find the exact video, and googling pictures of the fence is proving to be a monstrous difficulty. You'd think the fucking fence would be in every goddamn news report, as it's the most obvious critique against the zoo, but no, fucking shitass journalism these days means all the reports are "look how sad people are that a gorilla got shot." This is the best I've found, with bonus little boy standing next to it to show relative size. Obviously that kid's older, but he fucking towers over it, so it's obvious that a toddler could flop over/wiggle through.

[Tyrath]

He's also leaning up over it. Just the bottom part is at least a foot and the whole thing is clearly at least 3 feet.

This is honestly perfectly fine for a zoo. Parents need to be aware of the area and keep their kids safe.

[Byrthnoth]

That barrier is low enough that even a child young&dumb enough to want to jump into the exhibit could clear it at a running pace. Do you think you're going to catch a running 4 year old in a crowd unless you already have physical contact with him?

ps. is this kid 3 or 4? I've seen articles saying either.

pps. I'm sure half of you were impulsive hellions at that age, because that's how 3-4 year old kids are. They haven't figured out how to tell you no, but the more adventurous ones start just trying things without clearing them with an adult.

[Tyrath]

Considering this is the first incident of this type the place has ever had, I think you guys are overestimating how much kids are going to bypass that barrier.

Also lol at clearing that whole thing at running pace. Do you even know how tall 3 or 4 year olds are? At best he lumbered over the fence and crawled through the bushes. Which, once again, should have long since been prevented by the parents.

[Lyall]

As has been mentioned elsewhere, even at 4 I knew that if I was going to jump into a live animal exhibit, that was safer than facing my parents after doing it.

Look at that picture, consider what everyone is saying about a 4 year old, and think again why a parent wouldn't explicitly be keeping an eye on their child there? Maybe I'd be an awful parent, but I wouldn't trust my kids for a fucking inch to not do something dumb there.

[chazzyphizzle]

itt: a bunch of people with no experience parenting telling parents how easy parenting is