# Man Left Granddaughter, 5, in Desert With Loaded Gun **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 3, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545 "2015-11-03T18:42:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![katpohl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b782af/32.png) [@katpohl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/katpohl)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/1 "2015-11-03T18:42:43Z")
> [@](#): > > "She was given [a] gun and told to shoot any bad guys > > It’s unclear whether the truck broke down or somehow became stuck; Rater says he didn’t have his cellphone on him, couldn’t call for help, and started walking. The 53-year-old says his granddaughter started to complain she couldn’t go further, so he left her under a tree with a .45-caliber handgun that was both loaded and cocked > > Workers at the equestrian center (a bar/restaurant/feed store) say when Rater arrived he did gripe about having to walk out of the desert but made no reference to the girl. [URL=“[Arizona Man Ditched Granddaughter, 5, in Desert With Loaded Gun](http://www.newser.com/story/215470/cops-man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=united&utm_campaign=rss_home)”] The question begs to be asked ‘Would grandpa have left her if he didn’t have a gun to leave with her? I’m convinced he would have , with instructions to hide and be really quite if any bad guys showed up . The fact that after he got where he had access to a phone , he had "a cheeseburger and a handful of drinks " before calling his wife and demanding she come get him . The gun being added into the mix of his abandoning the girl makes an already F\*\*KED UP situation worse . Before I read this story , if someone had ask me ’ could something like leaving a 5 year old in the desert be made worse ?’ I would have answered with conviction ’ that it would be humanly impossible to do’. Damn ,I sure would have been wrong! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/2 "2015-11-03T18:53:27Z")
[A link would be nice.](http://www.newser.com/story/215470/cops-man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun.html) [More details here.](http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/southwest-valley/breaking/2015/11/02/mcso-says-man-left-granddaughter-5-desert-loaded-gun/75060252/) ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/3 "2015-11-03T19:47:49Z")
America’s deserts are probably full of robbers, rapists, thugs playing loud music, and fear-instilling persons. If a 7-year old boy is encountered, he’s likely to be armed – it would be sexist and ageist to suggest a 4-year old girl should be left defenseless. (Unlikely, but the girl might even feel called upon to do her duty to defend America from foreign aggressors or domestic Leninists.) _ **The right granted in the Second Amendment has no age or sex limits but is granted to “the people” without qualification.** _ Her uncle, or whoever he was, is to be commended: he set her up with “one round in the chamber and the hammer locked back” … and mentioned her to someone, eventually leading to her rescue. Yet wouldn’t you know it? The libtards show up, making the uncle look the villain, and suggesting the young woman should have been denied her Second Amendment rights. :smack: :eek: ---
**Author:** ![vd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b19c9b/32.png) [@vd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vd)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/4 "2015-11-03T19:54:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Sheriff Joe Arpaio tells Reuters. “I don’t know how a 5-year-old can tell a good guy from a bad guy, but that’s what she said she was told.” I guess 5-year-olds can’t profile well enough. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/5 "2015-11-03T20:02:39Z")
Grandfather of the year! I’d never let my daughter near him again. He had a cheeseburger first before notifying anyone! And just how many bad guys are there, lurking in the desert, waiting to pick up a 5 YO girl? Even the pedos are smart and hang around in CITIES. ETA: And four beers! Motherfuck! ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/6 "2015-11-03T20:05:03Z")
If she’d have accidentally killed herself, he’d likely have blamed her for it. Man, if this guy was in my family - really anywhere in the tree - I would completely disown his sorry ass. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/7 "2015-11-03T20:07:46Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > … and mentioned her to someone, eventually leading to her rescue. As far as I can make out, he had nothing at all to do with her rescue. I have the impression she was reported missing before he mentioned it to anyone, and she was found without his help. From one of the links above: > [@](#): > > An off-duty firefighter and the girl’s grandmother, who along with others had been scouring the desert by ATV, eventually located the girl Sunday night after hearing a small voice respond to people calling her name about five miles east of State Route 85 and south of the Gila River. > > The girl was reported missing Sunday evening, approximately four hours after she left with Rater in his new pickup truck, officials said. > [@](#): > > The firefighter drove the girl out of the desert on an ATV, and she was reunited with her mother at about 7:15 p.m. > > About an hour earlier, Rater’s wife reported that he called her from the South Buckeye Equestrian Center and demanded that she pick him up. He ordered a cheeseburger and drank up to four alcoholic beverages before making the call, according to the Sheriff’s Office. > [@](#): > > “While he was looking for help, he came across multiple people and never thought he should call 911,” deputies allege in a probable-cause statement. “He said he did ask the people to look for his granddaughter because he left her in the desert.” > > Equestrian center employees said Rater showed up at about 5:30 p.m. He never mentioned his granddaughter, they said, but he did complain about having been stuck in the desert and walking for ten miles. It sounds like Rater didn’t call his wife until several hours after the girl was reported missing. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/8 "2015-11-03T20:26:23Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > America’s deserts are probably full of robbers, rapists, thugs playing loud music, and fear-instilling persons. If a 7-year old boy is encountered, he’s likely to be armed – it would be sexist and ageist to suggest a 4-year old girl should be left defenseless. (Unlikely, but the girl might even feel called upon to do her duty to defend America from foreign aggressors or domestic Leninists.) _ **The right granted in the Second Amendment has no age or sex limits but is granted to “the people” without qualification.** _ > > Her uncle, or whoever he was, is to be commended: he set her up with “one round in the chamber and the hammer locked back” … and mentioned her to someone, eventually leading to her rescue. > > Yet wouldn’t you know it? The libtards show up, making the uncle look the villain, and suggesting the young woman should have been denied her Second Amendment rights. :smack: :eek: septimus, I do worry that one of these days your tongue is going to poke all the way through your cheek… As for “grandpappy”, he could use a good smack…I wonder if Mike Tyson is doing anything…🆒:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/9 "2015-11-03T20:29:00Z")
Presumably if she was reported missing before he told anyone she wasn’t with him, he wasn’t supposed to have her in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/10 "2015-11-03T20:49:49Z")
You know what’s truly amazing - that Sheriff Joe is not the worst person in the story! I’m not sure I can handle that… ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/11 "2015-11-03T20:51:41Z")
He’ll probably shoot the kid in the face once he figures out she’s half-Mexican. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/12 "2015-11-03T21:00:23Z")
Okay, this just broke my heart: > [@](#): > > I don’t know why papa left me," a deputy reported overhearing the girl tell her grandmother. “He took me by some bushes, gave me a gun and left me.” Throw him in the deepest part of the jail and throw away the key. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/13 "2015-11-03T21:12:32Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Presumably if she was reported missing before he told anyone she wasn’t with him, he wasn’t supposed to have her in the first place. [Here’s a TV report.](http://www.abc15.com/news/region-west-valley/buckeye/mcso-grandpa-paul-rater-left-5-year-old-with-gun-alone-in-desert) Evidently the family knew they were together and reported them both missing when they didn’t show up after four hours. > [@](#): > > According to MCSO, 62-year-old Paul Rater and his granddaughter left his home in Buckeye on Sunday to go for a ride in the washes. Four hours later the family reported the two missing. (Other reports give his age as 53. Either way, he wasn’t so ancient that he couldn’t have tried to carry her if she couldn’t walk any farther.) ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/14 "2015-11-03T21:21:44Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Either way, he wasn’t so ancient that he couldn’t have tried to carry her if she couldn’t walk any farther. He may have had a weak or missing spine. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/15 "2015-11-03T21:46:59Z")
I saw this movie! It was called _Hanna_, except it was in the Arctic, not the desert. Good work, Gramps! You can’t have an adolescent assassin if you don’t start 'em early. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/16 "2015-11-03T21:53:24Z")
I blame Obama. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/17 "2015-11-03T22:09:24Z")
If I didn’t hear about this before I’d assume that this was Florida. But because I heard it was in the desert, I now safely assumed that it was Florida West, Arizona. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/18 "2015-11-03T22:18:35Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > I blame Obama. This. Clearly Obama has failed, as usual, in his “Give Everyone a Free Obama Phone” program. If Grampy had gotten his GEFOP phone he could have called for help instead of leaving the little child. BTW, I still haven’t gotten my GEFOP phone either. Thanks Obama! ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/19 "2015-11-03T22:36:20Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > You know what’s truly amazing - that Sheriff Joe is not the worst person in the story! > > I’m not sure I can handle that… ^^^ That ^^^ ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/20 "2015-11-03T22:56:58Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > This. Clearly Obama has failed, as usual, in his “Give Everyone a Free Obama Phone” program. If Grampy had gotten his GEFOP phone he could have called for help instead of leaving the little child. BTW, I still haven’t gotten my GEFOP phone either. Thanks Obama! Now I have [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIiZ3vvZ78s) stuck in my head, with slightly different lyrics. "Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring, Obamaphone… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545.md?page=2)