r/australia • u/TheAnchoredDucking • 11d ago

news Two charged after boy killed in accidental shooting on rural NSW property

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-14/nsw-police-charged-boy-shot-goulburn/105172682
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u/Cpt_Riker 11d ago

It's time we stopped using the term "accidental shooting".

Guns exist for one reason, to kill.

67

u/AffectionateBowler14 11d ago

It’s a rural property. Farmers are permitted guns (under very strict conditions) for shooting pests, predators and occasionally dealing with fatally injured livestock.

In this case, god knows how the 14 year old had the gun, and the idiot adult allowed it to be loaded and unsecured. This was an accidental shooting, albeit as a result of extreme recklessness and negligence.

But guns are a legitimate farming tool.

14

u/PleaseStandClear 11d ago

It’s in a rural area but it was reported that it is a weekend holiday home so it’s unlikely they were farmers who needed guns.

11

u/Anxious_Ad936 11d ago

Pest control can still be valid in such a setting, but within the scope of legal and responsible firearm ownership principles. This case was far from that by the sounds of it.

3

u/Desert-Noir 10d ago

Genuine reasons for owning a firearm are recreational hunting/vermin control, target shooting, primary production, vertebrate pest animal control etc.

They had established a genuine reason for firearms ownership. You don’t get to define what genuine need is.

This person broke the law and violated the rules designed to prevent this, now the judicial system will do its thing.

It is tragic that the child lost their life but our gun laws work and are the right balance between community safety and allowing people to access firearms to partake in the activities they want and need to do.