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Most 11-year-olds don't know how to properly handle a gun, let alone check to make sure that it's not loaded. The real crime was a parent not teaching their child to respect a firearm as "always loaded."
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That is a possibility. But it also possible that today with our huge population there will always be a few on the lower end of the "fit to survive" scale that will eventually earn darwin awards. I mean, you see so many stupid people everyday, that an incident like this no matter how tragic should not surprise everyone.
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That, and I really wouldn't put the 11-year-old in the category of having deliberately commited a crime. There is a legal difference between an "accident" and a "crime" in many case.
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<p>There is also a legal difference between "accidental discharge" and "negligent discharge". An accidental discharge is when a firearm discharges a projectile without any input/contact from a person. A negligent discharge is when a firearm discharges a projectile in an unsafe manner with the input from a person. When you deliberately raise a gun to someone's head and you press the trigger, that is NOT an accident.</p>