I really don't want to get too caught up in this, but I will briefly respond. Although guns and cars can both achieve lethal results, a gun is a weapon, a car is a means of transportation, favored by some and disfavored by others. So, when somebody dies as a result of a gun operated by another, typically some crime or another has been committed. When somebody dies as a result of a motor vehicle accident, typically no crime has been committed. The deliberate killing of another is the same crime no matter what method is used, gun, knife, bat, car, poison. The State's job is to try to figure out if a crime has been committed and if so, what crime. I really don't think that we're such gun-haters and car-lovers that we've turned rightful charging decisions topsy-turvy.
On 10/29/07, Robbie Webber <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Since we have at least one, and possibly several lawyers on this list, > I've always been curious about the difference between accidentally (and > I'm using that in the common parlance, meaning without intent) killing > someone with a gun and with a car. > > If someone was not paying attention to what he/she was doing, and shot > and killed another person with a gun, I have to believe that that person > would face some sort of criminal charges. The teens that were playing > with a gun, and killed a friend, were charged and convicted of > something, I believe. (Sorry, I'm too lazy to look up the news stories.) > > Everyone assumes that if you are handling a loaded gun, you should be > smart and careful enough to know to that this is a dangerous situation. > If you injure or kill someone, it is assumed that you did something > wrong. Everyone knows that a loaded gun, or any gun, whether you are > aware that it is loaded or not, needs to be handled with extreme > caution. If you do not exhibit enough caution, there seems a presumption > that a serious error has been made. > > Why do people not take the same view when driving? A motor vehicle is a > seriously dangerous machine. This is why we require a license to operate > one. Yet people who do not use due caution and carelessly operate this > machine are routinely let go with no consequences. > > If you kill someone, and have made an error of some kind, such as not > paying attention, why is it serious if you shot that person, but not > serious if you hit them with a car? > > Is this a true legal difference? Or is it simply indicative of our > collective attitudes towards guns vs. cars? > > Robbie > > > -- Robert F. Nagel [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.nagel-law.com 634 W. Main St., #201 Madison, WI 53703 608-255-1501 608-255-1504 fax
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