Kids and guns: A deadly mix
Becky Seitzinger hugged and kissed her son as headed out the door. 25 minutes later he was shot in the head.
By Molly Montag, Journal staff writer | Posted: Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Becky Seitzinger talks about the death of her son Ryan Blanchard during a interview Tuesday. The 16-year-old was shot earlier this year by another teen. Seitzinger said the incident never should have happened. (Journal photo by Jim Lee)
SIOUX CITY -- This was supposed to be Ryan Blanchard's big year.
The 16-year-old Sioux City boy was going to be a senior at West High School, one step closer to the graduation ceremony he'd promised his mother he'd complete next spring.
That goal was shattered on Aug. 11, when Blanchard was shot in the head with a semi-automatic handgun by a 16-year-old girl while they were hanging out with a group of friends at a Riverside Boulevard home.
Emergency crews rushed Blanchard to the hospital, but he was taken off life support the next day. He would have turned 17 on Aug. 13, the day after he died.
Now, family members and friends who want to talk to Blanchard must walk halfway up the hill at Memorial Park Cemetery in Sioux City's Morningside neighborhood. His gravesite is crowded with flowers, candles and trinkets.
His mother, Becky Seitzinger, said she "never dreamed it would be my kid."
"I (had) just hugged him, held his hands, and hugged him and kissed him and we told each other we loved each other about 25 minutes before he was murdered," Seitzinger said.
Codie Kapaun, the 16-year-old girl accused of shooting Blanchard, is scheduled to be in court today for a hearing to determine if she can be tried as an adult for his death. She was originally charged in juvenile court with involuntary manslaughter.
Police say the gun belonged to one of the girl's relatives, who did not know it was missing.
Seitzinger, along with firearms experts, says tragic deaths such as Ryan Blanchard's could have been prevented through good safety practices and education.
According to a 2008 report by the Children's Defense Fund, 3,006 children were killed by gunfire in 2005. Of that number, 1,972 deaths were homicide, 822 were suicide and 173 were deemed accidents.
The report found 15 of the children killed were from Iowa, 19 were from Nebraska and 11 were from South Dakota.
The day Blanchard died, Sioux County authorities reported 18-year-old Derik VanGinkel accidentally shot and wounded his friend, 17-year-old Marcus Joel Koenen, in the hip with a 9 mm handgun.
Police said VanGinkel was handling the gun, which was legally owned by Koenen's father, while the two teens were in the basement of Koenen's home in rural Inwood, Iowa.
"How many kids have to die before people wake up?" Seitzinger said. "It's not a game."
Safe handling
Experts say gun safety courses are a good way to teach children and adults the proper way to handle a gun. They say all children should be told to find an adult immediately if they see a gun.
Western Iowa Technical Community College offers gun-related classes, including handgun proficiency. The Sioux City college has handgun classes for beginners as well as those more familiar with the weapons.
North Sioux City Fire Chief Bill Papas, along with firefighters Corey Trudeau and Dan Kriese, teaches safe gun-handling practices at the HuntSAFE course in North Sioux City. Although the free course is designed for children younger than 16 who want to apply for a hunting license, it is open to others.
Papas said students are taught to point weapons at the ground or high in the air, even if they don't intend to shoot the gun.
One of the most common mistakes people make is to assume the gun is empty or safe because the safety is activated. It's possible for a dropped gun to go off, Papas said, even if the safety is on.
"You still have to be safe with it and treat every gun as if it's loaded, even if you believe it's not," Papas said.
Prevention
Vic Helt, president of Hawkeye Rifle and Pistol Club in Sioux City, said anyone who's thinking about getting a gun should also consider attending a safety course. Such classes help prospective gun owners become knowledgeable about what kind of gun suits their needs, he said, as well as how to safely use and store firearms.
"You don't put a 10-year-old in a car and expect them to drive. They take driver's education, they learn the rules of the road and how to drive the car safety," Helt said. "It's the same with guns."
Sioux City police spokesman Lt. Marti Reilly said because children have a natural curiosity about weapons, which they see on television, parents should use caution when storing potentially dangerous items.
Many police departments, including Sioux City's, distribute free gun locks to help prevent accidents.
Local sporting goods stores also offer a wide variety of gun lock boxes, locked carrying cases and combination safes for storing guns. One store's inventory includes lock boxes with special features designed to allow the user to quickly retrieve a weapon at a moment's notice or in the dark.
Seitzinger says she's begging gun owners to get locks, especially for handguns. Her son was killed by a .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun.
"You can go to any police station and get a gun lock to put on it so if your child steals a gun, they can't kill anybody with it because they can't fire it," Seitzinger said.
The 16-year-old Sioux City boy was going to be a senior at West High School, one step closer to the graduation ceremony he'd promised his mother he'd complete next spring.
That goal was shattered on Aug. 11, when Blanchard was shot in the head with a semi-automatic handgun by a 16-year-old girl while they were hanging out with a group of friends at a Riverside Boulevard home.
Emergency crews rushed Blanchard to the hospital, but he was taken off life support the next day. He would have turned 17 on Aug. 13, the day after he died.
Now, family members and friends who want to talk to Blanchard must walk halfway up the hill at Memorial Park Cemetery in Sioux City's Morningside neighborhood. His gravesite is crowded with flowers, candles and trinkets.
His mother, Becky Seitzinger, said she "never dreamed it would be my kid."
"I (had) just hugged him, held his hands, and hugged him and kissed him and we told each other we loved each other about 25 minutes before he was murdered," Seitzinger said.
Codie Kapaun, the 16-year-old girl accused of shooting Blanchard, is scheduled to be in court today for a hearing to determine if she can be tried as an adult for his death. She was originally charged in juvenile court with involuntary manslaughter.
Police say the gun belonged to one of the girl's relatives, who did not know it was missing.
Seitzinger, along with firearms experts, says tragic deaths such as Ryan Blanchard's could have been prevented through good safety practices and education.
According to a 2008 report by the Children's Defense Fund, 3,006 children were killed by gunfire in 2005. Of that number, 1,972 deaths were homicide, 822 were suicide and 173 were deemed accidents.
The report found 15 of the children killed were from Iowa, 19 were from Nebraska and 11 were from South Dakota.
The day Blanchard died, Sioux County authorities reported 18-year-old Derik VanGinkel accidentally shot and wounded his friend, 17-year-old Marcus Joel Koenen, in the hip with a 9 mm handgun.
Police said VanGinkel was handling the gun, which was legally owned by Koenen's father, while the two teens were in the basement of Koenen's home in rural Inwood, Iowa.
"How many kids have to die before people wake up?" Seitzinger said. "It's not a game."
Safe handling
Experts say gun safety courses are a good way to teach children and adults the proper way to handle a gun. They say all children should be told to find an adult immediately if they see a gun.
Western Iowa Technical Community College offers gun-related classes, including handgun proficiency. The Sioux City college has handgun classes for beginners as well as those more familiar with the weapons.
North Sioux City Fire Chief Bill Papas, along with firefighters Corey Trudeau and Dan Kriese, teaches safe gun-handling practices at the HuntSAFE course in North Sioux City. Although the free course is designed for children younger than 16 who want to apply for a hunting license, it is open to others.
Papas said students are taught to point weapons at the ground or high in the air, even if they don't intend to shoot the gun.
One of the most common mistakes people make is to assume the gun is empty or safe because the safety is activated. It's possible for a dropped gun to go off, Papas said, even if the safety is on.
"You still have to be safe with it and treat every gun as if it's loaded, even if you believe it's not," Papas said.
Prevention
Vic Helt, president of Hawkeye Rifle and Pistol Club in Sioux City, said anyone who's thinking about getting a gun should also consider attending a safety course. Such classes help prospective gun owners become knowledgeable about what kind of gun suits their needs, he said, as well as how to safely use and store firearms.
"You don't put a 10-year-old in a car and expect them to drive. They take driver's education, they learn the rules of the road and how to drive the car safety," Helt said. "It's the same with guns."
Sioux City police spokesman Lt. Marti Reilly said because children have a natural curiosity about weapons, which they see on television, parents should use caution when storing potentially dangerous items.
Many police departments, including Sioux City's, distribute free gun locks to help prevent accidents.
Local sporting goods stores also offer a wide variety of gun lock boxes, locked carrying cases and combination safes for storing guns. One store's inventory includes lock boxes with special features designed to allow the user to quickly retrieve a weapon at a moment's notice or in the dark.
Seitzinger says she's begging gun owners to get locks, especially for handguns. Her son was killed by a .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun.
"You can go to any police station and get a gun lock to put on it so if your child steals a gun, they can't kill anybody with it because they can't fire it," Seitzinger said.
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Lakinn wrote on Mar 2, 2009 9:10 AM:
"getting high" doing stuff like that has nothing to do with who he was. you make it sound like he deserved it, its just a myspace.. he did NOT have it coming. He did NOT deserve it. Stop being so judge mental. i love and miss him so much. And i love you becky. "
brandon wrote on Feb 8, 2009 12:46 PM:
lunchbox wrote on Jan 22, 2009 10:51 PM:
sarah wrote on Oct 6, 2008 2:02 PM:
I personally don't see how this kids myspace page has anything to do with the article or the sad way he died. Regardless of what drugs he may have done or who he hung out with, or even the fact that he had pictures of himself holding a gun, he didn't deserve the death he got. People, take time to think if this was one of your family members or god forbid your child. There are few people that deserve to be gunned down, and a typical teen making mistakes and going throught the teenage years was not in my opinion one of them. Don't sit and talk trash about someone that isn't around to defend themselves or put Ryans family in the position to defend the relative they loved and lost. Shame on all of you..... "
get to know your kids wrote on Oct 3, 2008 11:55 PM:
Parents need to read their kids profiles, and see if they are proud parents too "