From foxnews.com: “A Florida boy who was accidentally shot in the head by his teen brother with a BB gun last week died Wednesday night from his injuries, MyFoxOrlando.com reported. Investigators told the station that the boys were recently given Daisy Powerline 880S BB guns. They were firing at targets when Skyler Richardson’s 13-year-old brother accidentally shot him at close range.” That’s 750 feet per second, folks. Meaning any air gun bigger than a Red Ryder ain’t an N-Strike Elite Rampage. The four rules still very much apply. BB guns are fun and cheap to shoot. Perfect for kids from 8 to 80. But please, teach your children well.

 

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46 COMMENTS

  1. Accidents happen and im sorry for this families loss but this falls on the parents of the child for not supervising while they were shooting and not properly training them with the BB gun i have a godson who since a young child has been taught to respect all firearms and treat every single one as if its loaded at all times and to never PLAY with guns

    • I completely agree with you, Spencer. Kids, are prone to accidents sometimes, what kid isn’t. It’s the parents responsibility, but adults are promitted to make mistakes too. I used to play guns with my little brothers all the time, they weren’t be guns, but we knw we weren’t supposed to point them at each other, whether plastic or whatever, u knw. But we were kids. We used our imaginations, and the best way we did tht was…..to just play, man. We never thought twice about it. We got older and got bb guns and still pointed them at each other, loaded and everything. There’s always two sides of the story. We see one thing. But what really happened? It really cud have been a huge accident. But, like I said, I agree. Kids need to be taught all tht stuff at a young age so they knw.

  2. One of the reasons I flinch at the thought of airsoft, too easy (I think) to think that a bb gun or pellet rifle are not lethal. Come to thing of it, didn’t TTAG post a story last year about a dude who got shot in the heart with a pellet rifle and die?

    • Don’t worry, all airsoft fields I know of strictly limit the fps. Under 400 for everything but “sniper” rifles wich are still limited to under 500. And they enforce the rules well.

      • There is also a significant difference in mass between and airsoft BB and a Copper BB/Pellet, and a significant difference in surface area between a Copper BB/Pellet and a paintball.

        I can reliably hunt squirrel and dove with and air rifle. You cannot do so with an airsoft or paint gun under any circumstances other than shear luck.

        • I remember reading a story about a guy who hunted elephants with an air rifle…

          Add in the fact even Lewis and Clark brought along the assault weapon of their day, which was a 30 shot air rifle, and you have to admit BB guns and Pellet guns are dangerous if used incorrectly.

        • I remember reading a story about a guy who hunted elephants with an air rifle…

          What were the elephants doing with an air rifle?

        • Ralph-they had an air rifle because their trunks got in the way of the blowguns they were trying to use

    • Understand, my issue with airsoft isn’t with the guns or the fields, it’s the issue of people thinking bb guns and airsoft are equitable. Airsoft isn’t lethal, bb guns and air rifles can be (as evidenced). As far as the game goes, it think it’s a wonderful way to get a little practical training in concealment and tactics.

  3. I agree Spencer, but wouldn’t call the shooter a “child”. He is 13, a young adult, and is old enough to be responsible with guns. He certainly should know to not point (and shoot) at his brother. Obviously, as you said, the young adult does not have an adult level of maturity, and should have been supervised.

    I can’t imagine how horrible he must feel though, having his brother die after shooting him in the head. He will never forget the image.

      • He is officially a child by the law of the state, but not everyone believes in the state.

        A good portion of homicides reported as being carried out by children are carried out by teenagers, not four to twelve year olds.

        Young teenagers are sometimes tried as adults in homicide trials.

    • Having grown up with brothers I’m always suspicious of these accidental brother shootings, and thank god my parents didn’t provide my big brother with such an elephant gun. The King of Spain accidentally killed his younger brother with a pistol, a gift from Franco. I’ve long wondered if it was the gift he’d asked Franco for, or if Franco was just playing a hunch.

  5. My heart goes out to the family, but come one people supervise your children and teach them gun safety. Start out with an airsoft gun and teach them the fundamentals of gun safety and explain to them you can’t take a bullet back.

  6. Ban BB guns, by golly. And sue the crap outta Daisy for making such an obscene weapon of death. Someone get Feinstein on the phone, stat!

    Okay, all kidding aside. This is a tragedy, indeed. Like many who have opined already, I wonder where the parents were when this happened. However, I must admit, m folks didn’t watch over me like a worrisome hawk 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and I had not only 2 BB guns (Crossman 760 being my fave), but rifles and shotguns at my disposal. Still…it’s a shame.

  7. Airsoft guns shoot plastic BB’s and they are firm but not exactly hard. You could probably do some serious eye damage with one but most are not going to be able to penetrate the skin even if you didn’t limit the FPS.

    Pellet guns are a whole other ballgame. Some, well most, pellet guns can also shoot pointed pellets in addition to the standard blunt pellets. These are NOT BB’s. The Powerline rifles they were shooting, if I recall, has a reservoir for BB’s but can do pellets single shot. The one I owned as a kid was plenty powerful and you could easily bag birds or smallish snakes with it.

    That is a tragedy but there was an opportunity to teach their kids proper firearms safety and if they had taken that opportunity it is likely this would not have happened.

    • “Foolish mortals. They bring upon themselves twice the suffering we intend for them.” –Zeus

  8. At 13 I was afield with my brother and our buddies with shotguns, rifles and in some cases handguns without adult supervision. We were raised different and expected to become men instead of staying teen agers into our 30’s like some of the youngsters today.

    I was earning money at 13 and had some adult responsibilties in my dailey life. We all did. I think a large part of the problem with our kids today isn’t video games or movies or rap music. It’s the nanny state mentality that won’t let them grow up.

    regarding bb guns and air rifles. Back in 2008 when the greatest gun salesmen in history was elected I bought a crossman .177 springer from walmart. Nothing special, just something to practice with. I was amazed at the power of this thing. We had trouble finding household items that this thing wouldn’t shoot clean through. I would not hesitate to use it to bag small game in a SHTF scenario.

    I could easily see this .177 inflicting a fatal injury on a person if it was at close range.

    • Jwm, you win the internet today because of your first two paragraphs. I wish I was around in thoes days.

      • Indeed – just think of what you could have achieved if you were put to work cleaning chimneys at age 8. Halcyon days indeed.

      • Memphis, you would have loved America when it was a free country. I actually bought guns at yard sales and rode them home on my bike. prior to 68 you could still mail order guns right to your home.

        It wasn’t just the guns tho. You were free to live your own life and make your own choices. Something refugees like hmmmmmmmer will never understand.

  9. RIP.

    Age 13 is young adulthood. Most people have already gone through or are going through puberty at that age (no, I don’t keep up on the latest puberty age findings). If the bb didn’t first ricochet off something when it hit the younger brother or if the younger brother did not jump out in front of the older brother’s gun then it was probably stupid macho-boy horseplay on the part of the older brother.

    This is probably the result of the parents, local community, and society failing to hold kids accountable, teaching them mature behavior, and teaching them with work chores to learn responsibility.

    • From article:
      “The older son told investigators that he pumped the gun several times and pointed it at his brother”
      yet
      “brother accidentally shot him at close range”

      Maybe he wasn’t planning on pulling the trigger, but he certainly didn’t keep his finger off of it.

      FYI gun-grabbers: Guns don’t decide to shoot on their own.

  10. We know they were give the BB gun, we don’t know if they were properly shown how to use it safely. 13yrs old does not mean much because some kids are not responsible or careless.

    Its a sad story but I am willing to bet the parents are partly to blame for not giving proper supervision or training.

  11. “Yes, BB Guns Can Kill, Too” And so can pretty much any object you can think of, if you are willing to put your mind/imagination/effort into it.

    My favorite quote from Starship Troopers (the book, not the movie) is “There are no dangerous weapons; there are only dangerous men.”

    • The Caracal C comes to mind…

      M’self, I don’t like grenades with two millisecond fuses.

  12. Speaking of air guns, weren’t you guys (RF et al) talking about reviewing some? Like, for a long time now?

    I’m interested in adding an air rifle to my collection and would love to have some perspective on various models at various price ranges from the good folks here at TTAG.

  13. I’ve a 1950s era Crossman .22 caliber pellet pistol and it’s a serious, ableit single-shot, rifled weapon. Small game at 50 yards, no problem and no bang.

    No doubt it’s illegal in N.Y…

    • In New York State, you cannot own an air gun if you are younger than 16. An air gun is defined as a weapon in which the propelling force is a spring or air. A BB gun falls into this category. If you are caught with an air gun and you are not of age, you can be charged in juvenile court.

      In NYC, they are banned without a license which is impossible to get.

      Exception to the 16yr old rule is if you are at a range or hunting and in both cases supervised.

      In the case of this post, parents and children would probably be going to jail or fined in NY.

        • When I was in California, CO2 was classed as a firearm for all intents and purposes.

          The rationale was (relatively) rapid fire and (relatively) high power.

          My pump-up Crossman will bury a .22″ pellet 1/2-3/4″ in pine at 30 feet, and merits the 4 rules.

  14. Hmmmmmmer, haven’t seen you in a while. And as always you miss the point. I did not say there was anything wrong with the kids. I believe I was pointing out the failed system that tries to keep them children past their time to be adults.

    But as you’re from the trailer park of europe, england, I shouldn’t expect too much from you. Or would it be caravan park?

    What just happened? I was responding to hmmmmmer’s comment and she just dissapeared.

    • I would imagine my comment was removed because somebody with a chip on their shoulder and an axe to grind against me pulled it, despite it not being rude in the slightest. FLAME DELETED

      • LOL – it seems the emperor is getting mighty tetchy about the state of his new clothes!

        I wish the site would go back to how it used to be – anybody here remember actual gun reviews rather than hollow political opportunism and misguided bile?

  15. This is not a new issue, back in the 80’s in Lake Elsinore. CA 2 guy’s were drinking and playing with a BB gun one shot the other, it went between his ribs in into his heart and died.

  16. Psychologically, BB/pellet guns are always regarded as toys. A bad way to start teaching kids about guns and how to shoot in my opinion. I say start with the 22LR and go on from there. Establish the seriousness of real bullets mentally right from the start. My prayers go out to the family.

  17. My Dad would never let me have a BB gun. He got me a .22 when I was 8 or 9 and a shotgun when I was 12, but I never owned a BB gun until I bought one myself when I was in my 20’s. Dad always felt that people (me) didn’t respect a BB gun as a firearm and that they (I) would get into bad habits. I kind of felt the same way once I had kids. My kids have never touched my BB gun, but my oldest (10) has a .22.

    I feel for this family, I can’t imagine what its like to lose a son and a brother this way.

  18. In my part of the world, BB guns and air rifles are Category A firearms (air guns, rimfire rifles, and single-shot centerfire rifles). And ANY firearm requires the 4 rules at all times.

    A tragedy, and the boy will have to live with this for the rest of his life.

  19. that happened a couple towns over from me and they said they was pointing the guns at each other to feel the burst of aur. still teach kids bout guns.

  20. I’m 12 and am always telling my friend and my sister treat it like its loaded, and always making sure the safeties on until they are aimed.

  21. I play airsoft weekly and have never heard of anyone dying from that. I think those can be disregarded from the conversation. As far as BB Guns… Even our lungs could be lethal if you outfit them with a barrel. Don’t blame the equipment. Use your brain…Support the NRA. They help make gun safety classes available to youth all over this great country, and more importantly, NEVER point ANY gun at a target you don’t intend to kill (this means never at a human being). It’s that simple to avoid tragedies like this.

  22. I personally have a cousin who lost an eye from BBs. Another lost her life from a resulting infection. They’re no joke.

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