Pocket Artillery Cannon Kills Young Boy

[bbit]

Not sure if its related to PocketArtillery.com  but yes we have our first possible Bitcoin death ?

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/cops-probe-death-boy-killed-toy-cannon-221230562--abc-news.html

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[Coinabul]

I read about that the other day. I thought it was an 18th century toy?

[bbit]

I read about that the other day. I thought it was an 18th century toy?

Good question.   "Cannon was a .50-caliber weapon designed to be fired with black powder"  does it sound 18th Century?

[Coinabul]

I read about that the other day. I thought it was an 18th century toy?

Good question.   "Cannon was a .50-caliber weapon designed to be fired with black powder"  does it sound 18th Century?

It had a 6 inch barrel, definitely not pocket artillery.


Edit:
"Robby Ostberg died Monday when the replicate 18th century cannon he was holding fired accidentally, a police press release said."

"Investigators initially thought the 18th-century replica cannon was merely decorative but discovered its firepower after cleaning and examining it, Nance said. It has a barrel about 6 inches long and is designed to be loaded with black powder and fire a .50-caliber round, Nance said." - http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/53357446-78/ostberg-nance-cannon-kunsman.html.csp

[SgtSpike]

Must've been kept loaded on the shelf, for whatever reason...  Note to self:  Loaded black powder weapons should be fired, not stored.

[foggyb]

.. yes we have our first possible Bitcoin death ?

Shot by a bitcoin? Only use tinfoil ammo, folks.

[evoorhees]

Concerned parents calling for the outlawing of small canons in 3, 2, 1....

[kjj]

Doh.  That sucks for him and his family.

A "legal scholar" said:

"Utah laws are silent on replica firearms and antique firearms," he notes. If the cannon that killed Ostberg was designed to fire a .50-caliber round, Turley asks, should it be treated as a firearm and should it come with warnings and a safety lock, he asks.

Muzzle loaders are exempt from pretty much every firearms law at every level.  Can't be much of a legal scholar if you don't know that.

[cypherdoc]

i remember several months ago a toy cannon company starting to accept bitcoins....was it this one?

[grue]

me thinks this is a marketing ploy by pocket artillery. amirite?

[DeathAndTaxes]

Doh.  That sucks for him and his family.

A "legal scholar" said:

"Utah laws are silent on replica firearms and antique firearms," he notes. If the cannon that killed Ostberg was designed to fire a .50-caliber round, Turley asks, should it be treated as a firearm and should it come with warnings and a safety lock, he asks.

Muzzle loaders are exempt from pretty much every firearms law at every level.  Can't be much of a legal scholar if you don't know that.

Well in his defense he seems like a nanny-stater so that wasn't really a question more an interjection of his personal belief as a not-so subtle fake question.

Of COURSE the govt should be the solution to everything.  When some parent doesn't read the warning or engage the mandatory safety lock OBVIOUSLY the next step is a chip in the firearm (and all firearm like products) that reports at all times it current location, the presence of all kids with 100m (yes that will require transmitters in kids too), arm & load status, date of last inspection, and remove deactivation capability.   Then you might as well as expand the "remote safe brother program" to include other dangerous non-firearm items as determined by the Bureau of Unsafe Things & Stuff (BUTS).

See the govt "can" protect everyone from themselves. 

[LoupGaroux]

Just proof that the gene pool has a shallow end.

"Cannon" do not take .50 cal "rounds".

Only an imbecile with a death wish would clean, play with or screw around in any way with the business end of a weapon without clearing it first. Even a "replica" weapon.

The discharge of a .50 cal. round in the end of what sounds like a 6" straight tube, based on combustion of black powder seems, highly unlikely at best, and if it did happen that way, the entire mechanism would probably cease to exist, as would much of the body the projectile came into contact with.

The average length of .50 cal. rounds currently in use in the world is about 68 mm or 2.68 inches, by 12 mm or 1/2 inch in diameter. Not seeing a 2.68 x 0.5 inch shell inside a 6" tube belies belief. That this Rhodes Scholar could somehow manage to ignite enough powder inside the same tube as this shell, without pondering the consequences is preposterous.

This might be an accident, but it wasn't a "replica 18th century mini-cannon". Too bad the parents didn't go too, so they couldn't breed any more fools.

[SgtSpike]

Just proof that the gene pool has a shallow end.

"Cannon" do not take .50 cal "rounds".

Only an imbecile with a death wish would clean, play with or screw around in any way with the business end of a weapon without clearing it first. Even a "replica" weapon.

The discharge of a .50 cal. round in the end of what sounds like a 6" straight tube, based on combustion of black powder seems, highly unlikely at best, and if it did happen that way, the entire mechanism would probably cease to exist, as would much of the body the projectile came into contact with.

The average length of .50 cal. rounds currently in use in the world is about 68 mm or 2.68 inches, by 12 mm or 1/2 inch in diameter. Not seeing a 2.68 x 0.5 inch shell inside a 6" tube belies belief. That this Rhodes Scholar could somehow manage to ignite enough powder inside the same tube as this shell, without pondering the consequences is preposterous.

This might be an accident, but it wasn't a "replica 18th century mini-cannon". Too bad the parents didn't go too, so they couldn't breed any more fools.

I think you're confusing what happened... AFAIK, it wasn't an actual .50 cal round of ammunition that went off, but more likely packed black powder with a .50 cal steel ball, as is typically used with those toy canons.

[LoupGaroux]

I was confused by the second citation that referred to it as a "round". Still... if this lightbulb had been taught firearm safety by his father, as reported, chances are he would not randomly drop the hammer on a full charge of powder. Nor would the trained veteran father keep a fully charged weapon where it might fall into the hands of inattentive video game players.

This sounds like anti-gun agit-prop to me, with a fawning media looking for a cause celebre to call for more gun control.

When what we really need is better stupid control.

[SgtSpike]

I was confused by the second citation that referred to it as a "round". Still... if this lightbulb had been taught firearm safety by his father, as reported, chances are he would not randomly drop the hammer on a full charge of powder. Nor would the trained veteran father keep a fully charged weapon where it might fall into the hands of inattentive video game players.

This sounds like anti-gun agit-prop to me, with a fawning media looking for a cause celebre to call for more gun control.

When what we really need is better stupid control.

No, we need to accept that children are stupid, and accidents happen.  You can only prevent so many fatal accidents before we are all living in protective bubbles and stop learning about life.

[ZodiacDragon84]

NO cure for stupid

[Iyeman]

what a shame, that was stupid... too bad stupid things happen often

[Noitev]

Another reason to teach your kids how to use real guns, at least they won't die like this

[TheHeroMember]

Why aim it on his face? toys are supposed to be for amusement, not a killing machine.