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According to news reports, two children age 5 and 17 months were taken into foster care by CPS after their father reportedly left them in a vehicle while shopping at a gun store.

Police were called to Tactical Firearms in Katy after noon Saturday. The owner of the store said the children were left in a vehicle for nearly an hour while the father was in the store.

According to the store owner, "They were sweaty, red, lethargic and crying, and just kind of in and out," A passer-by came into the store after hearing the children crying.

No criminal charges were filed.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?secti ... id=8594451" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.khou.com/news/neighborhood-n ... 97075.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is now nationwide news. Of course it is much worse that the children were left outside a gun store as opposed to a book store or coffee shop.

The internets tell us that Tactical Firearms is located at 1200 S Mason Road in Katy. Katy is a suburb west of Houston.

- Jim
[Edited: CPS, not DPS. Child Protective Services.]

A candidate for Father of the Year!

That's an interesting store. I can see how you could "lose an hour" in there...

BUT, not with kids in tow!!! This guy should be placed in a very small, very hot box out in the sun!
This makes my blood boil. (no pun intended)

It wasn't that hot in Houston Saturday—maybe 80-ish—but I'll bet doghouse took on a whole new meaning for this guy when it hit the fan.

- Jim

Lately I have been stopping at my local Starbuck's for a hit of espresso from time to time, and paying, when I have them, with $2.00 bills.

The other day I pulled in to the parking lot just as a young lady exited her Mercedes in the parking area, of course taking up 4 parking spaces. I walked over to her car with the intent of leaving one of my "You are a lousy parker" cards on the windshield, and was somewhat taken aback to note a sleeping infant in a car seat in the back of the car.

I was about to call the police when she picked up her order and exited the store, so I let it lie.

I sat and drank my espresso and read for a while, and then left, and noted the same car was still in the lot, and then saw the young lady coming out of the Chick-Fil-A across the parking lot. From the length of time that passed, I would assume she took her fancy drink in there and drank it with her meal, with the kid in the car the whole time. Made me sorry I didn't go ahead and call the cops anyway. People that park like that frost me to begin with, if you have to take up 4 spaces to keep your car from getting scratched or whatever, then park at the end of the lot where nobody else wants to park anyway, but she left the kid in the car for at least a half an hour while she did her thing, and she couldn't possibly have seen the car from inside the restaurant.

I should have called the cops.

It was cold, wet, rainy weather, which is why I didn't leave a "lousy parker" card anyway, as the ink tends to run and spoil the message, but still . . .

seamusTX wrote:It wasn't that hot in Houston Saturday—maybe 80-ish—but I'll bet doghouse took on a whole new meaning for this guy when it hit the fan.

- Jim

80 ish doesnt seem very hot but when you are sitting in a closed up car, with no air circulating, it can get to 100 easy. It was only 80 ish in Dallas last week but when I got in my car, my dash temp showed it to be 98 . "just saying"

...we think of heat because we hear a lot about hot car examples...but the law being broken is regarding child endangerment...and the weather has no bearing on guilt...just the fact that a child under a certain age is left unattended in a motor vehicle...running or not, keys, locked or unlocked makes no difference...


Sec. 22.10. LEAVING A CHILD IN A VEHICLE. (a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly leaves a child in a motor vehicle for longer than five minutes, knowing that the child is:

(1) younger than seven years of age; and

(2) not attended by an individual in the vehicle who is 14 years of age or older.

(b) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.

Leaving a child unattended in a car is also a form of neglectful supervision.


...Texas PC 22.041 says that if the child is injured, it elevates to a felony with 2 years in prison possible...that oughta be immediate...

People shouldn't leave kids in cars anyway. Aside from it being illegal, kids have been kidnapped out of cars and cars have been stolen with kids in them. Though it wouldn't have happened in this case, kids have started cars and put them in gear, making no one happy.

All I was trying to point out is that the temperature on the day in question was not such that it was life-threatening. Plenty of people live in places where the temperature is over 100° without air conditioning.

On the subject of people who take up multiple parking spaces, I've seen stickers that say "You can't park worth a [deleted]," and some people will put these right on the windshield. Probably that is malicious mischief, but it's fun to think about.

- Jim

...if some cretin comes out and catches you, it's sure to be called instigating what may well follow...

...I limit myself to calling in...and also love to call in on those who're young and healthy, yet pull into a handicapped zone and whip out a blue hanger, and go about their business...

speedsix wrote:...and also love to call in on those who're young and healthy, yet pull into a handicapped zone and whip out a blue hanger, and go about their business...

That annoys me also. Some people even steal these from relatives or buy and sell them.

But unless you see the person leave and return to the vehicle, you don't know if they might be going into a place to get someone who uses a wheelchair.

- Jim

...that's the key...is the person with them or is he picking up the person who earned the blue hanger...it doesn't take that long to be sure if you're serious about it...one day we may have our OWN blue hanger...

People parking in handicapped spaces frost me too.

I have sometimes approached them and they'll say "My placard's on the dashboard."

Sure enough - when I pass closer to the car, the placard is laying flat on the dashboard, instead of
hanging from the inside rearview mirror like it's supposed to be. Sheesh!

SIA

in this area you'll also get those with DV plates parking in handicap spots....well, those mean two different things...you can be a disabled vet, but not be "handicapped" so as to need a handicap parking space, you may have lost a finger or two and earned the plates, but not a wheel chair plate. It's a biggie with me...I drive my FIL, he earned both!

...please thank him for us all...

Certainly paints a negative image of gun owners.

There was a girl in highshool I didn't care for. I saw her car crooked in a space and grabbed a big yellow bumper sticker out of my glove box. It read, "I park like an idiot .com". She didn't find it very humorous. Neither did the principal.