Firearm Safety Rules Flouted At Boy Scout Camp, Hawaii Lawsuit Claims

[TrappedinCalifornia]

Firearm safety rules flouted at Boy Scout camp, suit claims...

Since the link to the original seems to be hidden behind a paywall, here's the Yahoo version... Firearm safety rules flouted at Boy Scout camp, suit claims...

...The complaint filed Tuesday in Hilo Circuit Court requests a jury trial to seek compensatory damages against the Boy Scouts of America and the organization's Aloha Council for wrongful death and gross negligence that included violating their own safety rules and allowing high-powered guns around children without adequate supervision.

The lawsuit was brought by Hilo attorney Kris LaGuire on behalf of the boy's estate ; his parents, David Sr. and Michele Carvalho ; and five older siblings. LaGuire declined to comment further and said the Carvalho family is "still devastated " by the death of young Manuel, known as Manny, and would not comment at this time...

This piece provides a bit more background... Scouts sued over boy’s death

...Manny Carvalho, an 11-year-old sixth-grader at Waiakea Intermediate School and member of Hilo Boy Scout Troop 19, was killed Aug. 28 during what was described in the complaint as a “Troop Shoot” and “Family Fun Day” at the Boy Scouts’ Camp Honokaia near Honokaa...

The suit, which seeks unspecified monetary damages plus attorney fees and court costs, comes about two months after Hilo Circuit Judge Henry Nakamoto ordered the Hawaii Police Department to turn over records of its investigation into the boy’s fatal shooting to LaGuire...

According to the lawsuit, the Boy Scouts Shooting Sports Manual limits the types of rifles allowed on camp ranges to only “.22 caliber breech-loading, single-shot or a repeater type bolt-action rifles with a box-style magazine.” The manual also disapproves of the use of “human form and zombie silhouette targets,” both of which allegedly were present at the Camp Honokaia range...

A message to Troop 19 family members included in the filing invited them to bring their own guns including “rifles, shotguns or handguns” with ammunition — the only caveat being “no illegal guns.”

Police on Sept. 20 said 18 firearms and ammunition for various guns were recovered as evidence at Camp Honokaia. The firearms are all registered to the three individuals police said are potential criminal defendants...

The lawsuit identifies one of the firearms owners as Elson Wong, father of a troop member and the alleged owner of the AK-47 that killed Carvalho. Wong is alleged to have brought numerous weapons, including an AR-15, M4 carbine, four shotguns and four Glock pistols. It also identifies Scoutmaster Conrad Dakujaku as another registered owner of firearms brought to the range, including an “AR-15 type rifle.”...

[Citadelgrad87]

How is this ambulance chaser expecting to prove “zombie targets” is a safety issue that has any causal connection to the accident?

And he also needs to prove that the “ak” killed the decedent but a .22 wouldnt have killed him or its not only irrelevant but also prejudicial.

[MJB]

I'm a RO for many youth events where they bring there own guns to shot, I never take anything for granted and have had to take the cased gun from them due to not following my directions.

This is a reminder not to let my guard down ever! It only takes one screw up

[bugsy714]

Yeah, I’m wondering what the circumstances surrounding this accidental shooting are

Negligent discharge? Ricochet? Need more info.


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[curtisfong]

given that HI has zero historical tradition of gun ownership, is it any wonder it is full of incompetents with regard to firearms safety?

[TrappedinCalifornia]

Originally Posted by bugsy714

Yeah, I’m wondering what the circumstances surrounding this accidental shooting are

Negligent discharge? Ricochet? Need more info.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

In general, the background information isn't all that hard to find. From September 2022...

Hawaii Island police say fatal shooting of Boy Scout was accidental

...Police conducted interviews with all the children and adults who were present at the time of the incident.

On Sept. 12, the Hawaii Police Department said the investigation concluded that a minor picked up a firearm and when he placed it back down, it discharged, shooting the victim. The gun was owned by the minor's father.

The shooting is believed to be accidental; foul play is not suspected in the child’s death. No criminal charges were filed against the minor.

At the scene, 18 firearms and ammunition were recovered. As a result of the investigation, 23-firearm related offenses, which include criminally negligent storage of a firearm, were sent to the County Prosecutor for review. The offenses are against three men who were at the scene of the incident and are the registered owners of multiple firearms. The police did not specifiy if the father of the minor was one of the three men...

Then, in October... Court orders police to turn over records in accidental shooting death of 11-year-old Boy Scout...

...Attorney Kris LaGuire said the family “has a right to know what happened to their boy.”...

LaGuire told the court that they have been trying to investigate the events of that day but cannot go further without the information.

The county attorneys objected.

“The parents of this child are also witnesses to this particular case. They have been interviewed as witnesses,” said Deputy Corporation Counsel Sylvia Wan.

“If they were to review them and review the other evidence... it would naturally taint potential testimony.”

But LaGuire told the court that the police investigation is already complete and the department recommended 23 misdemeanor charges against three men who were at the range that day. One of them is the owner of the AK-47.

“The Carvalhos want justice pursued both on the criminal side and on the civil side,” LaGuire told the court.

“We’ve been trying to investigate this without the benefit of the most critical evidence available, what was seen, heard and said.”

Circuit Court Judge Henry Nakamoto ruled in favor of the estate, citing the time constraints for the family to file a civil lawsuit and other reasons.

As Hawaii News Now reported earlier this week, the Hawaii County Prosecutor’s Office conflicted out of the case because staff and family members were at the Scouts event...

There's a reason Citadelgrad87 used the term 'ambulance chaser' (see above) to describe the attorney.

[Capybara]

As a BSA and NRA firearms instructor who has taught hundreds of Scouts and their parents to shoot both rifles and shotguns safely, this tragedy is purely a case of negligence and incompetence from what can be divined from the sketchy media reports.

Bringing non-allowed firearms to a BSA sanctioned event is just stupid. We only utilize single shot, bolt action .22 rifles and we only allow each clay shooter to load a single shell at a time in any of the shotguns we have (mostly semi-auto Remington youth 1100/1187s) with an instructor standing literally next to them or directly behind them.

I've kicked plenty of Scouts and a few parents off the ranges for sweeping anyone, at any time, in any capacity or simply if the Scout is too ADD to listen to the safety briefing and demonstration. Never had a mishap or ND in 10 years of instructing there.

The key is single shot with a dedicated instructor literally standing next to each kid that shoots. Pretty hard to have an ND if every gun on the line except the one firing is empty with an open action. It has worked well.

[jeremiah12]

When my brother was a BSA instructor, BSA provided the firearms and nobody was allowed to bring their own. He taught at a BSA summer camp and if any parents or boy scouts brought their own, they were confiscated and locked up for the duration of the camp. That was the rule that went out to everyone before they came to the camp. If anyone complained when they got to the camp, they were kicked out and sent home.

They also had a one strike and you are out policy. Do one unsafe thing, break one rule, and that is it, no more range time for the person, adult or scout.

They were all single shot .22 and each kid got one a single shell to shoot at a time.

[lemonherb]

Personally, I wouldn't bring a gun to such an event unless I can keep my eye on it. Wong is short 8 eyes by my count.

Wong is alleged to have brought numerous weapons, including an AR-15, M4 carbine, four shotguns and four Glock pistols.

[AdamVIP]

As an adult I wish I would have gotten my rifle merit badge when I was a kid but the rifle class took up the space of two classes so I went for archery instead because it was only one class slot. I cant remember what other badge I went for. Oh well. As an adult I got my rifleman patch.

[marcusrn]

Negligence of the terminal sort.

[TrappedinCalifornia]

For those who are interested, here's the Boy Scouts of America SCOUTING SHOOTING SPORTS page.

On that page, you will find a link to the National Shooting Sports Manual as of 2022.

[IVC]

Moving quite a bit faster than the Baldwin case. Is the "the gun fired by itself and it doesn't matter it was loaded and pointed at another person" defense going to work here too?