It may be twenty five years since the death of Karen Wood, but it’s still a tragedy that remains fresh in the minds of many in the community.
On November 15th, 1988 she was shot by Donald Rogerson.
He was charged in the case, but acquitted by a jury.
He was hunting that day, and shot her after mistaking her for a deer.
Some think the new mother to twin girls was gathering laundry, while others believe she was alerting hunters to their close proximity to her home.
One thing for sure is hunting laws in Maine have changed since then.
“The most significant development that came out if the Karen Wood incident is likely the target identification law,” says Lieutenant Dan Scott of the Maine Warden Service.
The law states hunters must positively identify what they are shooting at before they pull the trigger.
The rate of firearm deaths and injuries has been falling much like the rate of violent crime. CDC reports show that accidental firearm deaths dropped from 824 in 1999 nationwide to 606 in 2010. The corresponding rate dropped from .29 per 100k to .20 per 100k
ReplyDeleteAccidental injuries fell from 17,696 in 2001 to 17,362 in 2012. The rate dropped from 6.08 per 100k to5.45 per 100k.
I don't think you can reliably cite that accidental death statistic any more.
DeleteWhy do you believe the CDC to be incorrect?
DeleteThat was explained in the other posts. What, all of a sudden you have a problem with your memory?
DeleteAh, you're referring to the post regarding the study that you believe is more accurate than the CDC.
DeleteMikeb, you're forgetting that just because you claim it doesn't make it so.
Deletess, Yes, and I thought you agreed that the number of accidental gun deaths may be under-reported, that many of them are called homicides? Didn't you make a point of the fact that the total number of deaths isn't higher only that they are wrongly assigned?
DeleteNow, what are you doing, pretending we didn't have that discussion? That's the kind of tricky shit Greg usually tries to pull. See what happens when you hang around with the wrong people.
"Didn't you make a point of the fact that the total number of deaths isn't higher only that they are wrongly assigned?"
DeleteAh, I thought you might have been referring to a more recent conversation about the accuracy of CDC information. I do remember the one you're thinking of. That was an article you posted regarding child accidental gun deaths being underreported. The title from my local paper made it sound like someone had forgotten a box of records forgotten under a desk or something. But the reality was that some where classified as a homicide instead of an accident.
Notwithstanding that its mostly a matter of semantics because accidental gun deaths are actually a subset of homicides, the comment I made was that the number of gun deaths due to accidents and homicides have seen a long term decline. They also didn't mention whether the same issue of semantics didn't result in some homicides being reported as accidents instead of homicides.
The article also only looked at data from five states. I also don't know whether the prosecution doesn't have an effect on these numbers. For example, if an accidental shooting is prosecuted as a homicide (semantics again) and the perpetrator found guilty, does the ME go back and change cause of death?
Sorry for rambling, for those that want to look at it, here is that posting,
http://mikeb302000.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-under-reporting-of-accidental.html
Seems reasonable, that hunters must indentify what they are shooting at, before they shoot. Is this a misdemeanor charge if violated?
ReplyDelete