A good kid. His father, a respected school teacher. An odd incident in the night. Mix in a handgun and you get the son killed by the father.
This story from a small town in Connecticut last week is just the latest in the gun insanity that is sweeping the nation, and it is being ignored by virtually every politician who might do something about it.
Here's what happened.
By all accounts, fifteen-year old Tyler Giuliano was a well-adjusted kid. But one night last week he dressed in black, found a knife and was prowling around the home of his aunt, who happened to live next door. His aunt heard something and called her brother, Jeff Giuliano, Tyler's dad. Jeff owned a handgun.
So, instead of calling police, Jeffrey Guilano went to investigate, gun in hand. When the masked Tyler turned at him holding the knife,the elder Guilano shot and killed him.
No one knows yet, and we may never know, what Tyler Guilano was doing prowling around his aunt's home with a knife. But one thing seems clear: the easy availability of the handgun is why a fifteen-year old kid is dead.
Had his aunt or father simply called the police, a professionally trained officer might have dealt with the incident without any need for deadly force.
Once again, guns kill people.
