Rather than crying out for stricter gun control, is it time for us to propose stricter parenting controls?

On the morning of Aug. 25, a man was killed at an Arizona shooting range. The cause of his death was not a self inflicted gun shot, or from natural causes. He was, sadly, accidentally killed by a nine-year-old girl who he was in the process of helping. While many have said that he was, in fact, at fault for standing to the left of the girl when he should have been standing behind her and to the right, the resounding question has been this: Who in their right mind thought it would be a good idea to let a little girl attempt to fire a 9mm sub-machine gun in the first place?

The majority of the American public seem to forget one thing: firearms are not sentient. They don’t have a mind of their own. They are, for all intents and purposes, tools. Machines. Weapons. They are designed and built with the knowledge that the individual holding the gun has a brain in their head. This is one factoid that most pro-gun control advocates seem to forget. There’s no such thing as a bad gun, just the bad person that’s holding it.

Granted many professionals, including police and government officials, have gone on record saying that the victim, Charles Vacca, was in the wrong but to place the blame solely on the victim is unfair. The real question is: Where were the girls parents? In fact, they were with her. The range where the accident took place, Last Stop outdoor shooting range, requires children under the age of 17 to be accompanied by an adult.

Did the parents of this nine year old think it would be cute to get a video of their daughter firing an Israeli made sub-machine gun? Were they excited at the prospect of showing it at their next family function, maybe over Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner? Perhaps, rather than crying out for all gun owners to be licensed and pronounced as culpable for their actions, we should be demanding the same licensing and “red tape” for lousy parents. If all gun owners are, in fact, potential killers and/or killers, then all parents who are lacking when it comes to intelligence should be held accountable for their the actions of their children. It is, in fact, the fault of the parents for not taking the time to teach their children how to act like an somewhat intelligent member of society.

No charges have been filed against the family of the little girl, and Vacca’s death has been deemed an “industrial accident.” Hopefully, rather than fueling the outcry for harsher gun control, this incident will encourage an increase in common sense usage when it comes to “modern parenting.”

Maybe it’s time the government begins issuing parental licenses. You’re required to pass a background check when you’re buying a firearm, is it too much to ask that the same requirements be expected when contemplating children?