little girl was shot by sister

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/de...-and-shoots-her-sister/ar-AA9nHLL?ocid=HPCDHP


Deputy leaves gun on bed, daughter picks it up and shoots her sister
Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
Veronica Rocha
10 hrs ago
A 10-year-old girl accidentally shot her 8-year-old sister with her father's service weapon Friday morning after he left it on the bed while getting ready for work, police said.

The girl's injury does not appear to be life threatening, Fresno Police Lt. Joe Gomez said.

The girls' father is a deputy with the Madera County Sheriff's Department, Fresno Police Lt. Joe Gomez said. The man was getting ready for work about 7:48 a.m. and placed his service weapon on the bed before heading into the bathroom, Gomez said.

There was one bullet in the handgun's chamber. The magazine had been removed, he said.

While he was in the bathroom, his daughters entered the bedroom.

The older girl picked up the handgun and accidentally shot her younger sister, Gomez said.

Officers arrived at the home in the area of Bullard and Cornelia avenues and found the injured girl.

The girl suffered one gunshot wound to her lower torso and was taken to an area hospital, where she was in stable condition.

Gomez, who also has two young daughters, said that as a police officer, he worries about keeping his weapon out of reach of his daughters and younger family members.

The question for law enforcement officers who take their guns home with them is, "What do you do with your weapon?" he said.


This article hit a nerve with me. So I bring it to your attention to maybe help out another kid.

The officer in this story did a few things in my opinion, that were unsafe and wrong.
But I will not talk about coulda,woulda, shoulda,

What I want to talk about is how your guns are represented in your home.
Do you keep them locked up? Telling your kids they are not to be seen or touched?

That to me is the wrong thing to do.
A child is curious, inquisitive, And they SEE everything, Hear everything.

IN MY Opinion, You should sit down with your kids and tell them all about your weapon, let the hold it, talk about it.
The whole time, you should be explaining safety in handling, while you explain how it works.
they will become familiar with it, it will not be the exciting "thing" hid away.
In my opinion, iIf you lock your weapon away, keep it hid, you are waving a curiosity red flag at your child and he/she will pick it up the first chance they get.

Take the mystery away from it, they will see it and shrug. "oh that is JUST daddys gun" :2cents:


I hope the little girl heals 100% and her sister's mental psyche heals 100% also

As a little tyke, my father allowed me to shoot his guns whenever we had a chance to go out in the desert. However, that never stopped me from pulling out his loaded snub nose .38 from his sock drawer and playing with it. You are correct, kids are inquisitive.

When my kids were little, I would show them my guns, and allow them to touch them (unloaded, of course), and if we went out into the desert or the range, they got to shoot them whenever they wanted. Once I got home, all the guns were locked up, away from their little hands, all except for my duty weapon, which was secretly placed high on the grandfather clock just within my reach.

My neighbor, who also was a cop for an adjacent city, left a gun within reach and when his kid was alone with a neighborhood child, the gun was grabbed and it killed the neighborhood kid. This ruined the entire family. The son was prohibited from entering our county for the next 8 years, forcing the family to move away. The move caused the dad to seek different employment, closer to his new home, and so on and so fourth. I'm also sure the victim's family settled a large lawsuit, but was not privy to the outcome of the suit.

Bottom line....lock up those darn guns.

I also need to add the fact that this was before the quick release, push button gun lockers were made available to the public. I now keep my carry weapon locked up in a quick release locker in the closet. I can get that thing out and shoot it within 3 seconds.

The mag was ejected but there was a round in the chamber. I don't know how much the kid knew about guns, but to most people a pistol without a mag looks like an empty gun. That's why they say more people are killed by an empty gun. When the cop cleared his weapon, he should of done it properly.
Also, the only way you're getting a gun out of a lock box and shoot it in 3 seconds is if you already have your hands on the box, in a lighted room and you remember the combination. Try it in the middle of the night, from a deep sleep, after someone has kicked in your front door. Fear, adrenalin, panic and confusion come into play. Easy in practice but totally different under any type of aggressive attack.

I was taught from when I can remember. over and over..A gun is loaded. I dont care if you think it is empty, ITS loaded and will be treated as such.

do not point a weapon at anything you do not intend to kill
do not put your finger on the trigger until you are ready to shoot

beachguy, I was not going to go their. but you are correct, he took the magazine out, but left a round in the chamber
1st, he should not have a round in the chamber, until he is ready to shoot...[hypocrite, i do the same thing ]
2nd, when he removed the magazine, he should have cleared the weapon.
3rd, the firearm should have been in the gun safe till it was time to holster it..should never had been on the bed unattended

I taught my children and grand children from the time they could understand do not touch without me being present, my son had to test that but I got to the seat of the problem, no repeat offender.

When they got old enough to hold it we would go out and target shoot, every thing from a 22 short to a 12 gauge at this time they learned to consider any gun as loaded unless it was taken apart. I never kept any thing loaded but they did not know that, today is different, 2 are loaded at all times.

My dad was in law enforcement as well. He didn't keep the guns locked up though. He just taught us that the guns were always loaded and to never ever point a gun at someone. I think I was 11 or 12 when he first let me fire his gun. He set up a target and stood behind me, showed me how to do everything and such. Then he caught me when I flew backward because that .357 magnum revolver had a major kickback. It was very loud.

Anyway, we were taught that guns were not toys and that we were not to play with them, so we didn't. We saw the damage that guns did. We heard the sound they made, etc.

Of course, I don't know if that approach would work with all kids. I think it depends on the kids and the dynamics. Some kids just don't listen.