Ohio boy, 3, shoots self in head

[Meiko]

From the article.

Knox County Sheriff's Capt. David Shaffer says a firearm was recovered from the house. He says the shooting is an "unfortunate accident."

With all due respect to the police officer quoted in the article, he is incorrect. This is clearly a case of negligence and whoever owns the gun that was involved should be prosecuted. Enough already. This is exactly the kind of crap that sheds a bad light on gun owners in general. If you are going to own guns then you must be responsible enough to know you can't leave a loaded gun lying around the house when small children are about. Now we have another child that in all probability will die or at the least be handicapped for the rest of his life because some moron left a loaded gun lying around.

I have been around guns all my life and when I was old enough to start a collection I bought a safe and that's where the guns stay, not on top of a television set.

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (AP) — A 3-year-old boy is in critical condition after shooting himself in the head.
WBNS-TV reports (http://bit.ly/KBZKiC ) that the shooting happened shortly before 6:30 p.m. Monday at a house northwest of Mount Vernon. The boy's grandfather, parents and two younger siblings were at home when it happened.
The station says that family members say the gun was sitting on top of a television.
Knox County Sheriff's Capt. David Shaffer says a firearm was recovered from the house. He says the shooting is an "unfortunate accident."
The incident is being investigated.

http://www.onntv.com/content/stories/apexchange/2012/05/29/oh--boy-shot.html

[Art_from_Ark]

1. I remember going to the neighbor's house when I was 4,

and the kid who lived there, who was a couple of years older than I was, opened up a drawer in a living room end table to show me his father's gun. I wanted to touch it, but the father entered the room and started screaming and yelling so loud, I ran out of that house as fast as I could.

[msongs]

2. everything has a cause, no such thing as an accident with a gun nt

[DontTreadOnMe]

3. guns don't kill people, babies do

I like shooting guns... but I never had the urge to actually own one. Kind of like a bowling alley.

[Glaug-Eldare]

4. R.I.P., poor kid

What a tragedy. Another life cut short no damn reason at all. I definitely agree, guns, even home defense guns, should be stored securely so that children cannot access them without permission, period. There are plenty of reasonably-priced safes that allow for effective home defense as well as safety, and no good excuses for not investing in kids' lives.

This also highlights a pressing need in our society for children and adults to both take gun safety (and curiosity) seriously. Kids are smarter than a lot of us think, and just keeping secrets is no way to deal with children and firearms sharing a home. Kids deserve to know how to deal with finding a gun, and parents are obligated to keep their gun secure until their child is ready to learn about their operation. Otherwise, you're leaving it up to TV and movies.

[Skittles]

5. EXTREMELY negligent parenting

[Diclotican]

6. Meiko

Meiko

I smell a rat here - and it looks like it is a elephant in the room too...

At age 3, I doubt a child is able to put a gun to his head, and shoot - I doubt I was able to do it when I was 3...

I better hope this wil be investigated..

And even I know better than to have a gun on top of a TV.. By the way, I doubt my TV would be able to have anything on top of it, as it is rather slim....

Diclotican

[Meiko]

7. You may very well

be correct. I don't know what type of gun was involved, some are easier to manipulate than others. Let's hope the situation gets looked at and if someone is found negligent then that person needs to face the music..My guns stay in the safe except for my home defense weapon but I don't have any children at home. Even at that I wouldn't leave guns lying around.

[Diclotican]

9. Meiko

Meiko

This case, and others like it, is just tragic... And even if this boy survive it, he will always be damaged in on way or another for the rest of his natural life.. Because someone though it was a smart move to have a gun on top of a TV...

Most people I know, who have gun, have it in safe conditions, where no one, without key and lock is able to even touch the weapons, and even then, they often split the bits of the weapon, so no one can get out the weapon and start using it right away... And they also use it to hunt animals - not to hunt humans... Usually they are not even out in the "open" when not used...

You americans have some issues with your weapons policy - and even though on the books the laws is there, it could be more strict enforced than I believe it to be today... One thing is to have a "good armed militia against enemies" but even the old 1800s citizen soldiers was able to understand to take care of their weapon a way, so not a 3 year old cold shot himself... Why can not americans of today do the same?.. Weapons is far more dangerous today, than it was when US deiced to have a well armed militia in the late 1700s.. THerefore the laws should be strict - to have at least a safe, to have the weapons... And also a lock and key to the safe...

And I have never had any need to have a home defense weapon, thankfully enough..

Diclotican

[AtheistCrusader]

13. Groan.

In 2006, there were 642 accidental firearms deaths in the US. (30% of those were aged 15-25, and some are certainly mis-classified suicides, for insurance purposes.)

Even if we assume EVERY one of those deaths was a child, that's 0.00024% of the total deaths that year. Within the context of a 300+ million person population, this is an INCREDIBLY RARE event.

Firearms don't even make the top 12 in methods by which children 0-15 are unintentionally injured or killed.
http://www.cdc.gov/SafeChild/ChildhoodInjuryReport/index.html


So, with the United States Department of Justice finding between 60,000 and 100,000 lawful defensive gun uses per year, I'd say we've struck a decent balance between availability, and keeping firearms out of the hands of our kids.

By all means, keep up the PSA's, and keep people aware of the issue, any death or serious injury avoided is a good thing, but this is so far removed from a serious issue, it's not even remotely a concern.

[2on2u]

10. Dust? That's the only thing that will fit on top of mine. n/t

[Atypical Liberal]

14. You are wrong.

I am the father of a 3-year-old and a 6-year-old.

My 3-year-old could easily pick up a handgun and shoot himself in the head, particularly if it was a smaller model or a semi-automatic in single action mode ready to fire.

I doubt he could double-action stroke a revolver like my S&W .44 mag, or my S&W .32. He might be able to double-action stroke my Ruger P90, if he used both hands.

[Diclotican]

19. Atypical Liberal

Atypical Liberal

I might be wrong - but I doubt I would have been able to do it when I was 3.

On the other side - to have a gun on top of your TV, so a little kid could get it, and shot himself is beyond "just another accident with tragically outcome".. Some should pay for being that stupid, to just have a gun on top of a TV..

I have never own a gun in my 35 year old - and hopefully I would never own one - but even I know that you keep your gun from small kids who might believe it to be a toy gun..

The sad part is, even if the kid survive, he would have damage for the rest of his natural life, maybe he need to have help from the rest of his life, on medication and so one.. And in US, you need to be rich if you have grave handicaps it look like...

Diclotican

[DesertDiamond]

8. ON TOP OF THE TELEVISION???????? That's so negligent I don't even know what to say.

[Hoyt]

11. Unfortunately, a big percentage of the 80 million gun owners are similarly challenged.

Yet, we like to assume they are all pillars of society and use good sense around guns. At least those afraid of losing access to more guns want us to believe such folly.

[SGMRTDARMY]

12. Instead of throwing out wild accusations

why don't you prove you allegations with some proof, like some statistics that show a large % of us are negligent gun owners.

If you can prove your wild allegations, I'll apologize.

[ileus]

17. Remember to some every gun owner is a hidden criminal.

[Atypical Liberal]

15. If you have children, you should lock up your guns.

It's as simple as that. If you need quick access to a home defense firearm, there are quick-access safes for that purpose.

Leaving loaded firearms sitting out on top of furniture with toddlers running around is asking for death.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

18. +1 here! n/t

[ileus]

20. I always though it odd that my LEO BIL tossed his duty belt on the fridge.

I keep everything of mine locked up. Or I carry it with me...besides if it's out of your reach is it doing you any good?

[ManiacJoe]

22. Easy access for the adults.

Out of reach of the little kids. Not bad as far as unsecured locations go.

[Glaug-Eldare]

23. Secured is still far, far better than unsecured.

Assuming that kids remain at ground level is asking for trouble. They use ladders, climb on furniture, get bigger friends to help, etc. Besides that, if leaving the gun there becomes a habit, it may not change when the kid is big enough to reach it by themselves. If there are children around, it is nothing less than a moral obligation to separate them from firearms when you're not there to supervise them.

[ManiacJoe]

25. It is good that you see the dangers of the situation.

[slackmaster]

16. Basic gun safety should be taught in public schools

Anyone who is old enough to become a parent should have had some instruction in firearm safety, including the importance of safe storage.

[GreenStormCloud]

21. An extremely rare event.

CDC says that there are about 50 children age 12 and under who are killed, annually, accidently, by guns. The US has about 50 million children aged 12 and under. So that works out to about one in a million per year.

BTW - Over three times (165) that many children aged 12 and died from accidents while walking. Since over three times a many children die from walking as from guns then surely you must really be doing some major hand wringing over it.

Source: http://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate10_sy.html

[Meiko]

24. I am aware of the stats

but thanks for posting the info. Hand wringing? I don't think so. I just don't like seeing innocent children killed or injured because someone is stupid enough to leave a gun lying around. I have been around firearms all my life so I tend to get involved with nonsense like this. I actually have a selfish motive, this type of thing puts gun owners in a bad light, some people tend to paint us with a rather large brush and accidents like these just hurts the image of the responsible gun owners.

Living in Phoenix I get to see similar stupidity on display every summer. I don't know how many kids are baked in cars or allowed to drown in pools because their loving parents are too busy with more important things...and the sad thing is that you always see the same response about the parents when the question of prosecution comes up..."haven't they been through enough already?"