Cops Probe Death of Boy Killed By Toy Cannon
EmailUtah cops are trying to determine what happened when a small replica cannon fired into the face of a 14-year-old boy, killing him.
“We’re waiting for the autopsy,” said Joyce Hansen, administrative assistant to the chief of police in Tremonton, Utah. She said it might take weeks, depending on the workload of the state medical examiner’s office in Salt Lake City.
Robby Ostberg died Monday when the replica 18th century cannon he was holding fired accidentally, a police press release said.
According to the release, Ostberg had been playing video games with his 16-year-old brother when the cannon went off. He was dead when police arrived, the release said.
The release said the cannon was a .50-caliber weapon designed to be fired with black powder. Police did not know what type of propellant may have been in the cannon Monday or if there had been a projectile in it, police said.
Robby Ostberg often filled the cannon with black powder and fired tinfoil balls out of it, Cameron Kunsman, who called Robby his best friend, told the Deseret News.
Trevor Steinlicht, a neighbor, said cannons like the Ostbergs’ could send a projectile through a wall or kill “small game,” ABC4 said. They are known to go off accidentally, he said. “All it takes is for something to slip and the hammer to drop on it and it will go boom,” Steinlicht said.
There is legal confusion over whether the miniature cannons are decorations, toys or firearms, according to a blog post by legal scholar Jonathan Turley.
“Utah laws are silent on replica firearms and antique firearms,” he notes. If the cannon that killed Ostberg was designed to fire a .50-caliber round, Turley asks, should it be treated as a firearm, and should it come with warnings and a safety lock?
Ostberg’s father, Allen Ostberg, was home at the time of the accident, the release said. A relative told ABC4 Salt Lake City that Ostberg was an Army veteran who had guns in the home, but he locked them and taught his sons gun safety.
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
Guess he didn’t teach them very well.
Posted by: Bryan | January 24, 2012, 9:38 pm 9:38 pm
Too many questions, too much misinformation. 18th century cannon don’t have ‘hammers’ that can fall and set of a piece prematurely. Cannon locks are rare on rare on 18th and 19th century cannon and practically unknown on miniature replicas. Why a neighbor’s comments, full of speculation and misinformation, were added to this story, other than to demonise cannon, is unknown. That said, firing blackpowder cannon takes a special set of skills, different from regular firearms, and not something that should be practised by 14 year olds.
Posted by: Sociallibfiscalcon2 | January 24, 2012, 10:01 pm 10:01 pm
I guess since the thing didn’t come with lawyer glued to it to personally tell the user not to put it to their face and pull the trigger the sue everybody thing is about to start. I’m sure that if the lawyers discover the company that made the box the thing was shipped in has the most money they will sue the paints off them…..
Posted by: Bruce | January 24, 2012, 10:26 pm 10:26 pm
I love how they quote a neighbor as if he’s an expert on replica firearms.
.50 caliber means that the projectile is one half inch in diameter. Half inch Tin foil balls rolled tightly could be dense enough to be lethal at close range. Even a gun loaded with blanks is dangerous at point blank range.
I don’t understand why it was loaded when there was no intention to shoot it at that time. The only explaination would be that 14 and 16 year old boys do stupid things. Sometimes it gets them killed.
My condolences to the family and friends.
Posted by: cloud | January 25, 2012, 12:54 am 12:54 am
Stupid parents for giving these kind of “toys” to their children…now you must suffer the consequences of your stupidity forever!
Posted by: jane | January 25, 2012, 6:41 am 6:41 am
I had a friend who died after a piece of the barrel of a “toy cannon” pierced his adomen during a 4th of July celebratory shoot. These things are more akin to firearms than toys and should be sold, bought, and used with that degree of respect and care. Minors should neither possess nor be allowed to shoot them off. Even so, my friend was in his 40′s and it took him three days to die.
Posted by: Mike | January 25, 2012, 8:14 am 8:14 am
My sympathy to the family. Black powder anything is dangerous and requires extreme caution. Barrels can blow up if too much charge or incorrect charge is used, it can go off from a previous leftover cinder, etc.
Posted by: MZ | January 25, 2012, 8:20 am 8:20 am
A misleading title, since this is a “replica” WEAPON – not a “toy” at all
Posted by: yeah.i.said.it | January 25, 2012, 9:29 am 9:29 am
YEAH.I.SAID.IT – “A misleading title, since this is a ‘replica’ WEAPON – not a ‘toy’ at all” True enough. But did you know that black powder handguns which can kill don’t require Federal checks or firearm permits in some places?
Posted by: MyTake | January 25, 2012, 9:55 am 9:55 am
1) Gunpowder is not a toy. 2) After 1 shot there can be red hot remants still in the barrel. pour in more powder for another shot and the powder can ignite prematurly. as with most old guns you add the powder to the gun by pouring down the muzzle. if you are careless and/or there are hot embers in the barrel, things go boom!
Posted by: Mike | January 25, 2012, 10:55 am 10:55 am
For the record, any thing that is considered a “muzzle loader” is not considered a Firearm under Federal Law. In most instances, they are regulated much the same way pellet guns, sling shots and bow & arrows are.
It is inaccurate to refer to guns that fire “black powder” as not requiring background checks. There are many older rifles and revolvers that are designed to fire black powder that use metallic cartridges.
The key to a gun not being considered a Firearm under Federal Law is whether or not it is a Muzzle Loading gun or a gun that uses metallic cartridges and is breach loaded.
In the case of this poor kid, it is a moot point whether the replica cannon is a Firearm or not. What matters is that there was a lack of parental supervision which ultimately cost this child his life. Unfortunately, those afflicted with gun aversive dyslexia want to immediately make it into a gun issue.
The bottom line is very clear, minors should not have access to explosives such as black powder, fireworks, etc. The cannon itself is more of a paperweight than anything else. Without access to black powder or equivalent like pyrodex or if crazy enough, smokeless powder, the cannon is non functional.
Posted by: Michael | January 25, 2012, 4:02 pm 4:02 pm
Replica naval cannons most likely do have hammers and who cares anyways if it was not an exact replica that may or may not have had a hammer. The point is these are not toys and because they are marketed as such some people don’t take the danger very seriously.
Posted by: Paul | January 25, 2012, 4:28 pm 4:28 pm
It is a regrettable accident. Apparently, the replica fired a projectile? One of the most important functions of muzzle-loading cannon crews was the “swabber,” whose job was to run a wet cloth, on a wooden pole, down the muzzle to the fuse or touch-hole to extinguish any lingering sparks.
Modern blackpowder muzzleloader shooters run a dry patch in and out, prior to dropping down the powder charge and tamping in place, prior to ramming the bullet to the powder.
Posted by: JCR | January 25, 2012, 4:31 pm 4:31 pm