Her son was stupid - Mom demands more Government for it. - Granite Grok

Her son was stupid – Mom demands more Government for it.

Snarky title aside, here is yet another example where someone demands additional Government action because someone made a rather dumb decision to do something rather dangerous, thinking he would not be in line for a Darwin Award. No, the site doesn’t list Devon Staples yet (it used to be MUCH more up to date in the past but rarely much lately) but I will not be surprised if soon.  This is the 22 year old Calais, Maine that decided he could use a mortar based firework as a helmet – and lit it even as his buddies were telling him with words to the effect “dude, that might not be such a great idea”.  It is also my understanding that liquid libations containing ethyl alcohol added to his refusal to listen (“hey, wanna hold my beer – watch this!” is a common sentence that precedes a dismal outcome). They said “No!”, he beamed broadly, and lit it off.  And died instantly.

Now, I do feel bad for his friends and family.  I, however, do have to take issue with this (reformatted, emphasis mine):

While some may see Staples’ unfortunate accident as a nominee for the Darwin Awards, his mother, Kathleen Staples, sees it as a call for stricter laws regarding who can and cannot handle explosives.  “At least it’d be a little bit more than, ‘Here you go,’” the grieving mother told the Associated Press. “That’s an explosive. They didn’t just hand me a license and put me in the car.” …

Staples’ mother is now calling for lawmakers to consider safety training courses for anyone who wishes to work with or handle fireworks. Although she said her son thought the firework was a “dud,” meaning it wouldn’t go off, State Fire Marshal Joe Thomas believes that to be unlikely because it had already been fired and he “can’t imagine someone would anticipate that it was a dud.”

Ms. Staples can call for all the training she wants but there is one thing it won’t do – instill a sense of common sense.  There is little that can be taught if it is not innate (but bad outcomes might be able to dribble some in).  The purpose is not, as this Democrat NH State Rep:

NH State Rep Kris Roberts (D): “Government has to protect us from our own stupidity.”

That’s an outrageous denial of self-responsibility.  It smacks of “I am not responsible, nor responsible for my actions and decisions”.  In essence, it says “do not treat me as an adult; I am not to be trusted with anything important”.   Like, my life?

Sorry, Ms. Staples – there is no good reason why the rest of us must suffer for the bad decision your son made.  Subjecting us to more government and more treatment as if we were mere children will not accomplish anything.  If anything, it would live on in history like gas cans – some self-absorbed bureaucrat that mandated that cockamamie nozzles now have to be on gas cans.

Did it stop jerks from lighting themselves on fire by literally pouring gas on bonfires?  No, but every time I have to fill the tractor, I get just that much closer to outright cussing.

 

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