Every year, nearly 3000 children and teens die from gunfire, and nearly 14,000 are injured.

Monday, April 16, 2012

4-year old boy in Texas shoots self to death with mother's gun

4-year old Jaylen Johnson, the son of a jailer, got into his mother's car in Tyler, Texas, and found her gun.  He then shot himself in the head with it, dying from the wound.

From the article and news video:
"If you've got a gun in the house," [neighbor Brenda Pogue] says, "and you've got children of any age, you need to lock your gun up where they cannot get it because kids are curious and they don't know what they're getting a hold of."
Police say the danger doesn't just lie inside your house.
"Even in your vehicle," says Sgt. Jacks. "If a child knows it's there or even if they're just roaming around, they're likely to find it. It needs to be locked up."
Pogue says it's imperative to teach your kids that guns are not toys.
"It's not like you see on TV," she says. "The person that gets shot on TV can get up, but a person that gets shot in real life cannot get up."
The consequences are very real, and in this case, fatal.
"A child can die," Pogue says.
The Tyler Police Major Crimes Unit is investigating the incident. At this point there have been no charges filed.
Leaving a readily dischargeable weapon firearm around a child can be charged as a Class A Misdemeanor.
Here's a better idea:  don't have a gun in a home with a child.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

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