I don't know. If the gifts are dropped off at the church pre-wrapped, then someone may have made a mistake and dropped off the wrong package. She called the police and turned it in, she doesn't have any way to make this a "damages" type of case so she won't be getting any money. Why do you find it fishy?

Every gift drive I have ever heard of asks for un-wrapped gifts. Probably for this very reason.

Mother should have kept the gun and turned it in at one of these cure-all buy-back programs. I'm sure that gun would have been worth at least a $50 gift card.

Doesn't sound fishy to me, sounds deliberate. This gun might have a "history" and whoever did this wiped it clean of all fingerprints, damaged it, etc., wrapped it up and "donated" it along with a pile of other gifts.

yeah, this goes beyond fishy, no way to trace the gun and without a firing pin. This is someone trying to run the flow of "gun control" issues in the media. Look at Chicago which has the tightest gun laws in the country and they only get a break from the gun violence is during bad weather.

Well, ya never know, huh? Maybe the woman who reported the gun is the one who put it in the package. Who's to know if the wrapping had been replaced. How does anyone really know she actually got that particular package from the donator? Maybe, just maybe, the WHOLE story isn't being told yet. Might be she got rid of it for a boyfriend, or just had it at the house, which, according to the article, would have been illegal. Any number of scenarios arise without all the facts.

Its fishy because its poorly written. The gift was prewrapped when the person picked it up but was probably wrapped at the donation center. The donation center is probably not responding because they don't want to be attacked by the freaks that will say they don't care enough for the kids to inspect every gift like its common place to get a gun in a toy. I know there are crazies out there but not everyone who donates to kids is out to harm them. Its pretty rare. This person was probably just creating drama trying to expose a potential tragedy as if we should all be scared of it and do something! do something! DO SOMEthing! Sigh! I'm so tired of everything having to change because of the actions of one whacko.

I agree, this smells to high heaven.

The Post reported there were no visible serial numbers on the gun and the firing pin had been removed.

Who is going to remove the firing pin? and how many people know how to do that, it is not a simple procedure in most cases. (It is relatively easy if you know what you are doing, but it is not simple)

So, I am with Abby on this one, sounds like a plant. A media stunt. to garner attention

“To paraphrase Chairman Mao. “Freedom and Oppression are dispensed from the end of a gun. Which end are you on?” Robert Reedy 2008

This story does sound a little fishy to me,as well.

Charities should not accept pre-wrapped gifts. The Marines Toys for Tots requires donations to be unwrapped specifically for this reason, so the gifts may be inspected to ensure they are safe and appropriate.

This story does sound a little fishy.

Weird, not nearly enough information, and like Scubasteve58001 said, every toy drive I have ever heard of requests new unwrapped toys. I smell a rat, depending on how much NYPD uses in resources this gun is traceable, unless it was old enough to be from before guns started being serial numbered. It had been intentionally disabled, I think Miss Sheeba is going to have some very difficult questions to answer.

I don't know. If the gifts are dropped off at the church pre-wrapped, then someone may have made a mistake and dropped off the wrong package.

With the serial numbers and firing pin removed? Yeah right, more like someone dumping a gun that was used in a homicide. It's at least as good a good a way to dump it as throwing it in the river!

Really stupid way to get rid of a hot gun, it will be found, guaranteed, also then why remove the firing pin. I think it is more likely miss Sheeba is looking for a payday.

One of the ways to trace a gun is by the firing pin. Besides the rifling marks left on the bullet, the firing pin will leave a mark on the primer of the spent case. Without the firing pin, it would be hard to trace back to cases left at a crime scene where the bullets were not found.

Really stupid way to get rid of a hot gun, it will be found, guaranteed

Yeah but with no firing pin or serial number there's no way to positively match it to the crime or the criminal. Striation marks without the firing pin marks aren't able to tie a gun to a crime because the striation marks vary too much over the life span of the gun, together with the firing pin marks it can be matched to a casing but not without the firing pin. With no serial number and anonymously dropped off there's no way to match the gun to the criminal who used it either, and even if they could the criminal could argue that someone else must have gotten ahold of it from the time he "accidentally" put it in the donation box to the time it was discovered and committed the crime with it, so dumping it this way is a tripple-roadblock to prosecution.

The pin was removed because forensics can trace it to a crime if a spent shell casing was left behind. The lab would shoot a round thru it and examine the microscopic marks left from the firing pin on the spent casings primer and see if it matches any spent casings found at the scene of any crimes in the past.

Looks like someone had a gun that they didn't want any more and they figured by removing the firing pin it would make a great toy. Hey, it's Harlem.

I'll personally guarantee this is a liberal plot. Gee, this is fun, and so easy.

This is impossible. Everyone knows guns are illegal in NYC.

Why would they investigate the foster home? The foster mother called the authorities. If she were involved in any other way, all she would have needed to do was toss the gun in a dumpster or the river and be done with it.

On the other hand, I can't fathom how an anonymous donation should contain anything untoward in it. It would serve no purpose. If someone was passing the item along to another person, this wouldn't be the way to do it. If the gun was hidden a long time ago, and someone found the package and just donated it, that might be the answer. But again, who knows?

I'm glad no one was injured or hurt. However, I do believe a closer inspection of future donations should be order.

uhhhhh........this is a bs story and then some.....paaahleeeeezzz

i had to get that mint cream to put under my nose this stank so bad....

if you are going to ditch any type of weapon used in a crime, you do so it will not be discovered. removal of fireing pin, destroying ser#'s, but what about the grooved barrel? (ooops forgot about those) plus if you dont want to draw attention to a crime, you dont give it as a donation, especially to a 6 kid foster mom who would obviously be on the taxpayers dime.

my bet, Ms. Sheebaaaahh wanted a bit more attention, took her ol mans piece he used to keep with him while selling crack, and pulled the stunt herself. we will not hear the end result of the investigation here on msnbc of course. sometimes, the most innocent looking, are the most guilty....

How to make money off of free gift program.

1. Wrap up gun you bought off street.

2. Shreek like little girl to media.

3. Photo-op

4. Lawsuit.

zapper45701

Why would they investigate the foster home? The foster mother called the authorities. If she were involved in any other way, all she would have needed to do was toss the gun in a dumpster or the river and be done with it.

that is unless she wanted the "media attention" from a gun owned by someone she knows, that she didnt want, or need she somehow obtained. could have been her fathers, brothers, even found in a dumpster as you would have thought her to do. yet this gun my guess will not lead to solving a crime of murder, or other. but see... how many other people would have taken this step?

1) immediatly call police, and securing all wrapping materials that were included with the gift, to include the gift while waiting. (this can be done without further contamination of evidence).

2)exsplain in full detail to police the events, and so on leading to the discovery.

3) the media shows up on your doorstep, tell them to f^ck off and get a life, leave me and the kids out of this issue and informing the media there is nothing to tell them.

i dont see nor have i read any of the follwing responsible actions being taken. actually all but maybe wrapping paper was to the contrary, yet we know nothing of it.

its up to police/law enforcement as to if they want to find the true owner of the gun. being no harm was done at that moment, my guess it will be tossed in an evidence locker and tossed into a smelting pot as recycled material. thus another belt to responsible gun owners nation/world wide, and another kick to the balls of our constitution so some pos can get a little attention.... not just sad, but sic.

no one is saying sheepaaah used the gun for a crime and was trying to throw off a trail. most are saying she obtained it, (illegally by guess), and wanted to make the front page, if not a spot on the Vue or other crap hard core liberal agenda show. 6 foster kid, struggleing mom (joke) finds handgun with kids gift... the terror! the fear! the humaity! (yes terror and fear are the same, but while we are going to add media lib, toss it in there!, lol.

douglas oates

DAMN ....why couldn't a WHITE CRACKER KID have gotten' the gift? there is no GOD!!!!!!!!!!

also reported for racial slures

I guess I follow my own rule of thumb, I judge people innocent before I have evidence to the contrary. I try to think the best of people. I know it's difficult at times, but at least I try. Some folks prove themselves guilty on a regular basis, and I won't cut them any slack, and admittedly, this is very oddball. However, I have no background on this woman, so I don't know all the details. Until then, I follow my rule of thumb.

zapper45701

I guess I follow my own rule of thumb, I judge people innocent before I have evidence to the contrary.

as well do i.... however.. i know just by reading this article there are stupid people out there. but lets weigh in on the possible of who would be more stupid, Sheepaaaah, or a gift wrapper at a church? i am going to go with Sheepaaah...

the gift wrapper upon seeing the gift would have noticed right off the gift was abnormally heavy for its contents. even if it was a .25cal an idiot would have noticed right off the bat. because it was stuffed (as mentioned in the article) into the package, i would go with a larger calibre than a .25. these are made of steel components, and unlike airsoft, or even CO2 style, they are considerably heavier. So now we are in pre-wrapped condition correct? then the person(s) who were doing the wrapping would be less likely to do so, because it would be narrowed dow to a few people. (anyone for a bulls-eye taped to their back?) thus also talking about church member(s) who donate their time to do this out of wanting to do something nice for someone else, not to ditch a hand gun.

looking at Sheepaaah on the other hand... well just look. if you or anyone really feel the need for me to go into a drawnout detail, i will by all means do so, but feel this story tells its self.

Just a gold digger looking for her "15 minutes" of fame. Probably takes in foster kids merely for the money the state pays her to do so. Wonder how well the kids are being taken care of??? Am I being a bit cynical? Sure, but ya see these "stunt pullers" all the time these days. There is more to this caper than what we know at this point.

I really pity those of you coming up with the conspiracy/false flag bullsh*t. You live a sad pathetic existence if you truly believe the nonsense you just spouted.

Some people are absolutely vile during the holidays.

And I'm willing to bet the gun was used in a crime. Why do people do this!?

It's no wonder more and more people collecting toys request that they be dropped off--unwrapped.

This is all the church needs to do--all gifts are to be donated--unwrapped.

Mom was right--the entire family narrowly averted what could've been another huge tragedy!

hey it was a disabled weapon...so it was a bad gift choice...got to give them kids something to defend them selves with ...these days...sad indeed is there's a lot of truth in that...made me think what a bad world we have...

Here is an idea.

Instead of demanding more security and all that crap, why don't you actually buy your gifts yourself for the kids lady? They are foster kids, so you took them under your wing with the assumption you could actually provide for them. Instead, you go get free gifts and then when something goes wrong...you point the finger.

Probably just another mooch, adopting kids so she can get a check from the government every month (and free presents) instead of actually getting a job and paying taxes.

Sgt W, if someone knows how to remove a firing pin they would also know how to alter it, I have removed mine for extensive cleaning and this can even change the placement on the primer, I have also noticed they wear and are not necessarily perfectly straight, but meet a minimum allowed tolerance. They are also easily replaced.

Normal for Harlem.

i would have just kept it and concider it a gift !

Next year I guess she should buy her own Christmas gifts for her children. That way she can be sure they are safe. But I guess when you only rely on the government and charity handouts to exist in this world you have to learn to deal with certain things. I do not think finding an inoperable gun is a good thing, but these charities have been doing their thing for many many years with no real incedents. Next year they will have to spend thousands of dollors to check everything twice, which will mean less toys for the children because they have to spend the money on security. Maybe next year the lady will only get 2 toys for the whole family instead of several.

Sorry Tom but most Foster parents are wealthy in heart but not in pocket!

HOwever, true or not this country has grown obsesed with guns! Kids carrying guns into schools has grown common in some places.

And Utah has forced teachers to leave their vacations and learn how to use a gun in a classroom. Why not install Metal detectors instead of promoting violence. A gun by itself is a violent weapon, some students may try to steal it or see if a teacher would actually use it! Violence only promotes more violence and evidently Utah has some weird positions.

Yet Utah aside, guns cause much harm and even death! So why does this country promote guns when we seek to take them away from other countries!

Who in their right mind would go off giving gifts to their own children, which were pre-wrapped, without bothering to inspect the gift themself, by unwrapping it, looking at the thing, and re-wrapping it. The potential problems are many.... This said, I wonder if someone donated a box of condoms and Playboys, and this self same mother noticed her kid unwrapping those, if we'd see the same news story now about this. And yet for many a teen or college aged individual who wanted pull off a prank (perhaps as part of a fraternity initiation), such could just as likely happen. It'd be like the joke in South Park where the kids went to rent Lord of the Rings from the video rental store, and got a porno tape which had been placed in the LotR tape enclosure. In fact I've heard from people who worked at Blockbuster in the past that they have in fact got someone's porno returned to the video store in place of the tape they rented out...

Gee, it wasn't even that recently when I was in school, and people had the discussions about stranger danger and not accepting candy from strangers who would come driving up in their car, not answering the door for strangers when they're home alone, etc. People in fact had stories of razor blades in apples, tampered bottles of Tylanol, windex sprayed on candy, and the like. People knew back in the 70s and 80s that this sort of stuff could happen; so why would they go giving pre-wrapped gifts to their kids without first looking to see what they are? In the transpiring of a few decades, had some like this mother suddenly forgot to be careful themselves?

@sillyshrinks - Wow, more with the anti-gun agenda.

First of all, Utah didn't make every teacher leave their vacation to attend gun classes. The classes were voluntary.

Secondly this whole article is only on the front page because of recent events and discussions about gun control, it's people like you who blow this out of proportion and make it something it is not.

Thirdly THE STATE OF UTAH didn't do anything as you posted. The gun safety classes were held by gun rights advocates.

Forthy If you don't know what the hell you're talking about, stop spreading what you believe to be truth.

For those of you who say "all toy drives ask for unwrapped gifts" ... the "Angel Tree" asks for WRAPPED gifts to be given. If the foster family received gifts from the Angel Tree or a similar effort, the gifts would have been wrapped when they were turned in. I know this because I PERSONALLY bought gifts for a 14 year old boy in my community through the Angel Tree this year. They had to be wrapped before they were turned in and the "ornament" from the tree listing the particulars (age, gender, what they wanted) was to be taped to the present. The tree in question was in the lobby of my son's elementary school and the gifts were brought to the school and placed in the charge of the guidance counselors. That's why I posited that it was possible for the present to have been wrapped and given in error - the person who gave the donation may have been trying to pass the gun to someone and had the firing pin wrapped/hidden in another package.

Just a thought for anyone still reading this a few days later...

The article states that a handgun was discovered, which bore no visible serial number, and was described as having the firing pin removed. That being said...

...they did not state which type of handgun was found. Most people are probably assuming it was an automatic pistol, however, it most certainly could have been an antiquated revolver, more than likely a .22, .32, or one of the lesser .38 caliber chamberings. Prior to 1968, firearms were not required to bear serial numbers, and many of the inexpensive, low quality 'Saturday night special' types of handguns were not numbered. There were a number of these types of handguns available, mostly through mail order as a dealer typically wouldn't touch that kind of junk. Older revolvers very frequently featured a firing pin attached to the hammer with a tight steel pin, unlike most in the past 50 years which have the firing pin in the frame for improved reliability and safety. Improper hardening and tempering of a fixed firing pin could very easily cause it to break, specifically, if it's too hard, it will chip, crack, or fracture. Depending on how it might split, it could break and fall out of the hammer, which would look no different than if someone had intentionally removed it. If too soft, it would peen over on the end from firing a limited number of cartridges. One could typically replace such a damaged pin by driving out the retaining pin, inserting a fresh firing pin, and driving the pivot pin back in place. However, replacement parts for off brand firearms are often very difficult or impossible to obtain and need to be fabricated by a qualified gunsmith who has the knowledge, skills, and tools to do the job correctly. It is possible that a damaged firing pin was removed, but then the replacement was never obtained or fabricated, and the gun remained non-functional for a number of years before someone looked to dispose of it.

As far as whether the gun has ever been used in a crime or not, I'd say yes, it has been. Since possessing a handgun in New York City has been all but illegal since 1911, just having it without the very difficult to receive permit is a crime in and of itself. I would venture to guess the odds are very good that no one was ever shot with this gun, but it probably had been in the possession of someone who wasn't exactly an upstanding citizen one or more times during its existence.

If they'd explain exactly what was found, I could offer a much better guess as to exactly what happened, but knowing what I do know, what I just offered is more likely than not what's going on.

As far as whether the gun has ever been used in a crime or not, I'd say yes, it has been. Since possessing a handgun in New York City has been all but illegal since 1911, just having it without the very difficult to receive permit is a crime in and of itself.

That assumes the donations came only from New York, which I'm not sure of.

Why? because the people live in Harlem?

Here is a fact-filled reality check for anyone who doubts that this could happren or that Harlem is synonymous with crime. I have lived and worked in NYC and New Orleans, preferring my native East Coast (coastal CT and RTP NC descent). You are more likely to have a lost item returned in Harlem than anywhere else in NYC. Harlem was mostly white until the 1930's and a mobster haven long before drugs and crimes of the 1960's and 1970's made headlines. Due to gentrification, Harlem is becoming very diverse and upscale, which means more police presence. Unfortunately, 911 calls from the Upper East Side get the most prompt NYPD attention, other research has shown (yet where O wallets in the study were returned), causing tragedies.

By the way, I was an NYPD parent until my child left the state for graduate school. We are Catholic, with Protestant family, and both through volunteering at a church and being a retired archivist and educator, I have seen the gamut of strange donations. This is not everyday, yet memorable enough to note.

As for New Orleans, the Treme are is one of the poorest, yet the people there are the most generous tithers to both the Catholic and Protestant churches of any in the city before Katrina. In fact, a former Chicagoan peer opted to only work part-time at her school there then have full-time by being at an Algiers lower middle class school the rest of the week. The Treme school had great parental support, which meant school students and staff were off limits to criminals. Every year, the community cleaned, painted and refurbished the school. Parents responded to disciplinary problems and learning concerns about their children immediately. Since the 2005 hurricanes, the community has been displaced and in decline.

I smell lawsuit scam!

Lawsuit scam indeed!

but if you knew by reading where the gun was found, and where the gifts that were wrapped at the gift center was located, i am sure you would have said some other trash?

Maman, you are extremely delusional about Harlem.

i agree... the first thing i did after reading this article... was roll a doobie...happy new year...

As one who grew up in northern Jersey, and not all that far from NYC, who had been there several times in my youth, who currently lives in Trenton, NJ; what has me stunned is that this mother would have picked up a pre-wrapped gift from a location where people can donate by anonymous drop off, and without checking the gift out for herself and then re-wrapping the thing, would have just given it to her kids. Potential exists? Well then what of what some could term "street smarts"? I wonder if she went taking a midnight srrollall through Battery Park, or down some dark alley way in that "certain part of town" without giving it a second thought, as well... Dart Man, or the Zodiac Killer weren't recent phenomina either, something people were aware of, well....

What individual, who would live in a city, where crime is known to exist (and tbh since 9/11 NYC is now one of the safest cities due in part to just how large, advanced, and sophisticated the NYPD has become in response to the terror attack the city got hit with) would just go out casually doing this things, without so much as a second thought on the matter? When I was a kid, some 30+ years back, WE WERE WARNED about stranger danger, by the grown ups in our lives...

Considering that she lives in the projects, this gift sounds appropriate.

It said the woman got the gift prewrapped from the gift center, not that they were dropped off prewrapped. But be that as it may, even if the church group did the wrapping, I doubt that they opened all the boxes and checked to see what was inside. What happened was terrible, but I don't see how increased security at the drop-off place is warranted. I guess they'd just better more closely inspect all gifts before they wrap them.

I do not think there is any beef on michelle's pie chart. Perhaps that is why. Like coal-"we will make it too expensive to have". I do have my moments of paranoia-or clarity.

look, Miss Sheeba......

15 minutes of fame for a crazy women.

Ban free gifts!!

Ban being a whacked out crazy women making up stories for attention!!!

You must get regular concussions from banging your head on the ceiling while jumping to conclusions. 

It would explain some of your nonsense posts.

-god,

if all knowing, then you would know the statement is true, lol... anti-gun nut. if it were a pro-gun nut, this never would have made news, because it never would have happend. pro gun people are more likely to turn the weapon in without a ruckus being made.

if an anti-gun person were to come across a pistol they shreek like little girls just at the sight, to draw attention, like at the end of the movie "body snatchers". this gun i have no doubt was put there by Ms. Shebaaaahh. like others before her, its an attention issue that should be dealt with by the law, and with jail time as her reward.

what? more white trash?

but if you knew by reading where the gun was found, and where the gifts that were wrapped at the gift center was located, i am sure you would have said some other trash?

however.... going by the names of those involved, and location, will you dare say "black trash"? dont by any means act like there is no such thing, because trash comes in all sorts of forms, colors, and religion....

maybe take you and your little troll for a walk while the grownups talk for a bit......

douglas oates

what? more white trash?

seriously, put the crack pipe down and slowly walk away from your keyboard.... slowly... put the little troll on a leash, and take a nice looooong calming walk.

never give up your crack pipe...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acWqqn19x0g

@plain bob.... too dam funny!

maybe you'll get one with the firing pin installed, loaded, and with a hair trigger? one can only hope...

lapierre...french gave up their guns...without much fight...hope history doesn't repeat it's self...

That's spelled too stupid...

Fortunately the gun was inoperable though the foster mother had no way to know that while the child was waving it around, probably thinking it was a toy. Most gift charities do ask that gifts be donated unwrapped but if the gun was in a box for a toy it is unlikely the staff would open each box to check the contents. The reason to ask for the unwrapped donations is not security but so the staff can determine if the toy is appropriate for a certain age or will fulfill a special need. Its a shame such charities may need to arrange for donations to be screened with metal detectors or xrays.

And why didn't she know? Because she took it on faith that all would be OK, even though the gift is no doubt dropped off anonymously, without anyone seeing what is given; and this mother didn't do the responsible thing herself and check the gift out before giving it as her own. Now had she unwrapped the thing, and out comes a gun, and she told the church that she doesn't think this is appropriate for her child, I don't think they'd have any problem with providing a more suitable gift, as the gun is then turned into the police.

Instead she takes it home, doesn't accept any accountability on her own part, and instead would put it on the church, while totally side stepping the issue that she gave it, without knowing, because she didn't check the thing out herself, prior to giving... I really don't think the church would have objected to giving a different gift, instead of a gun, for the child had they been made aware of this from the outset...

And if it was a package of sex toys or pornographic, even kiddie porn , it would not have made it to this strata in the news.

It's called a agenda. Out a population of over 200 million people, they are looking for EVERY incident , to make those incidents seem the norm.

Exactly Scar. Exactly. This is not the norm people. This is the exception. That's why its "newsy."

To..Scar"""

Really....

Family in tears after finding porn on gift from Santa

NBC News | Aired on December 27, 2012

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nbc-news/50304667/#50304667

If they didn't have a six shooter, I could see some present homes made bombs instead. The way the stories get played, all the issues with terrorism and whatever else comes out of the Middle East, even though we know that terrorists have arisen from elsewhere. But even while people are now on a gun scare, there's this thinking that without guns people wouldn't kill, and as to other stuff, well that only happens in the Middle East.

Are we really all that different from the people there, as in would it all be impossible here at home? I'm not convinced that we don't have nuts who would not resort to the same methods, and for one such nut I can put a name to it, Timothy McVeigh. Take the guns away, and one might see some here resort to molotov cocktails and the like, if they're determined. Craziness, extremists, fanatasism knows no racial or ethnic divisions, it can exist among all people. And people that can get deluded or brain washed, we've had our own share as well, for instance Jones Town. It's sad but true, that Jim Jones could convince those people, to drink the cool aid... It isn't just "somewhere else" or with "other peoples" that this stuff can happen... Oh and people rioting when infastructure goes down, when they're out of power, out of water, etc? Well we have had riots in LA, etc...

Even if one took a knee jerk reaction to all these stories, and just up and banned guns or what have you, it wouldn't deal with the intent, or the consciousness of these people who do these shootings (like we saw with the firefighters a few days back) in the least. Those determined, would just devise another means, as has already happened in some Middle Eastern countries where they're not supposed to up and have guns, and live without freedom of any kind. Selling off all our rights to the government, for a little more security, would not necessarily result in these crazy people acting any better here, then extremists do, in Middle Eastern countries where they are without the self same freedoms, themselves...

Thank you. If she wasn't concerned enough to check herself, she shouldn't blame the agency either. We don't always think the worst when we're getting gifts for kids. The person who put the gun in there is just trying to force society to live by a "worst case scenerio" lifestyle at all times. So tiring.

Sometimes some of you post knee-jerk bizarre posts. So this lady gets a bit of help with Christmas and you make her into some cheap greedy witch looking for money???? Yeah, you really should apologize. You know nothing about her at all and you made up crap based on your personal biases. Geez.

And no, I can see why she wouldn't think to unwrap and thoroughly inspect every single gift inside and out from a CHURCH who has a contract with a children's services organization. Wow. Amazing..and you both assume she doesn't care, is lazy, greedy, and doesn't care about the kids in her care. Wow.

If anyone wants to know one of the big problems in our society today just consider the biases you both had when you read the article and how you made up nonsense you had no clue about to further your own agenda. Amazing. How do you know she didn't take them from abusive homes and give them love? I don't have all the answers, and you know what? You don't either.

concerned-memphian

Just how many foster kids do you raise?

How many are you willing to raise without any financial assistance?

How many donated gifts have you distributed to the needy this year?

It's always best to be real negative and judgemental first and then apologize "...If I am wrong..," because everybody is greedy and out to get whatever they can for free.

MORON

From reading this post i too rolled my eyes. We are sick and tired of the people with their own agenda. All she had to do was turn the gun in and leave it there. No now she want to reform the gift giving process and guess what the changes they make people will not donate. We are sorry the child found the gun but the way its being handle. Come on.

That was my first thought! If you givin me this for free, you need to inspect it first! Typical...

I believe that gun registration in New York is a serious issue. It sounds to me like somebody wanted to dispose of a handgun then had the brainstorm to disable it and dump it in a charity drive rather than at a police station. That said, there must be a better way to get rid of a handgun without risking prosecution. What would you do if you found an old weapon in some desk drawer and wanted to dispose of it? Charity drive seems like a bad idea.

Umm, no earl, it's not a toy. It's an inoperable tool. A gun is never a toy.

There are parents who themselves BUY a hunting riffle for their 9 year old, who is taught matters of gun safety, hunting, and the like, and you never hear anything about it. About the only "one" that might have issue is Bambi, when the kid gets a buck, and he and the father bring some venisen home for dinner that night.

There really is no issue there. The issue here is that the mother didn't bother to check out the gift herself, before giving it; aka take a little parental responsibility herself. So not every show on TV is age appropriate to a 7 year old, nor should they all have to be. Full grown adults shoudn't have to spend their days watching shows like Barney, because everyone in the world isn't a grown adult. But does it then become the cable companies responsibility that the kid, who was left unattended, with the TV as their baby sitter, turned on HBO, watched an R rated movie, and learned some 4 letter expliatives? Or was it the parents responsibility for chosing to leave the kid alone, with no one but the TV to babysit them, and who further failed to use the parental control options present within the cable box, to restrict the TV viewing on channels they didn't want their kid to see?

It shouldn't have to be up to society, to be the parent, to set the rules in the house, or make all the decisions as regards how one's kid is raised. That's part of a parents parogative, and part of their responsibility...

False. All purchases from a licensed dealer require the purchaser to have a backround check performed. That purchaser MAY NOT gift the firearm to anyone they wish legally. Laws vary from state-to-state, but in PA, I can gift a long-gun to anyone I have no reason to believe is not leagally permitted to own a firearm. I can gift a handgun to my wife, child, parent or grandparent as long as they live in the same state and as long as I have no reason to believe it is illegal for them to own a firearm. A straw purchase is when someone leagally able to own a firearm purchases a firearm with the intent to either resell it immediately to make a profit while not having a license to do so, or with the intent to give or sell it to another individual who is not legally allowed to own a firearm. And no, the NRA does not believe as you state.

bet that will fetch a good buck on ebay!

I spit my coffee on that one john. Kudos...

Your girlfriend Bloomberg will ban church giveaways.

You're a very troubled person and I woudn't be suprised if you owned an arsenal of military weaponry. GO AWAY!

jack: John's "Man Card" expired. Give him the Bushmaster link.