6 children, 2 adults dead in Florida shooting

Hope nobody's asking "why?", as it's just another day in the US. RIP to the victims.

Shooting a 3-month old infant and five other children. Horrible.

According to local reports, Spirit went to prison for accidentally killing his son in a hunting accident in 2001.

Spirit went to prison for accidentally killing his son in a hunting accident

So was it really an accident?

So was it really an accident?

He was pointing out rust on the barrel of his gun to his son when it "accidentally" went off. Florida is a state where you can pretty much murder anyone you want under the right circumstances and declare it an accident or "self-defense."

He actually went to prison because he was already a felon and thus not entitled to have a firearm in the first place -- rusty or otherwise. He plea-bargained three years for the firearms charge and the "accidental death" charge was dropped.

It wasn't the gun that killed anyone, of course.

Ah, the guy would have killed them no matter what SenseNotSoCommon. Clearly he was a bit left of center.

Poor kids! RIP.

Clearly he was a bit left of center.

Nah.... It's not lefties who believe "spare the rod (or gun) and spoil the child." We're into "group hugs" and singing Kumbaya, can you get that straight?

Yabits

I might be mistaken but I don't think MarkG was commenting on Mr. Spirit's political inclinations. I get the feeling that he was referring to Mr. Spirit being off center as in eccentric, or maybe more apt in this case, crazy. Maybe MarkG will chime in to clarify that.

Kuya 808:

I have lived in the United States for most of my 61 years. I feel I have a pretty good command of the language. There are many ways to indicate mental imbalance without using politically-referent terms of "left" or "right." This would be the first time I have encountered "left of center" to indicate crazy.

I would not be too surprised to discover if Spirit was some kind of fanatic, like Andrea Yates.

This would be the first time I have encountered "left of center" to indicate crazy.

Well I guess there is a "first time" for everything.

Well I guess there is a "first time" for everything.

Yes, it's always a first time for readers when someone wants to make up a completely new usage for something. Spirit was a WASP who obviously liked to have guns. If you can find any reference or link to indicate that "left of center" has ever been used to connote crazy, I would be very interested to know about it. Otherwise, it's a first time for you too.

And this is why I don't go to Florida.