Gun-Toting Boy In Facebook Photo Causes A Furor

The young boy that you see above wearing camouflage clothing, smiling from behind a pair of glasses while holding his father’s gun with pride (it was his 11th birthday present) has caused more attention than the family wanted to, especially since the photo hit Facebook. While it might look like a military-style assault rifle at first glance, the weapon is a .22-caliber copy, and the confusion could be the reason behind the visit paid by child welfare case workers as well as police officers, who made their way down to the family’s home in Carneys Point last Friday.

The family believes that someone who spotted the photo of Facebook must have rung up New Jersey’s anonymous child abuse hotline. According to Shawn Moore, this rifle was his son, Josh’s 11th birthday present to use on hunting trips. What do you think would be a better present for an 11 year old? I guess when you grow up in a hunting culture, that should be fine, and one cannot deny that security measures have ramped up in recent years (along with paranoia) due to the spate of seemingly mindless public shootings. I guess one thing we can all learn from this – be careful with what you post on Facebook or other social media, it might come back to bite you later.