Official: Boy, 6, playing with gun shoots younger brother, 4

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Official: Boy, 6, playing with gun shoots younger brother, 4
Jun 25, 4:56 PM EDT

EAST ORANGE, N.J. (AP) -- Authorities say a 6-year-old boy playing with a gun accidentally shot his 4-year-old brother in the head in their home.

A spokeswoman for the city of East Orange, New Jersey, told NJ.com (http://bit.ly/28V271S) the shooting occurred around 11:15 a.m. Saturday. The wounded child was being treated at a hospital, but further details on his condition were not immediately available. East Orange is a few miles northwest of Newark.

The spokeswoman said the gun belonged to the boy's mother. It was not immediately known how the child got the gun.

No charges have been filed so far. City police and investigators with Essex County's Major Crimes Task Force are investigating the shooting.



Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_BOY_ACCIDENTALLY_SHOOTS_BROTHER?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-06-25-16-56-08

[onehandle]

1. If only a good toddler with a gun had been there. nt

[sarisataka]

2. Free gun lock

http://www.projectchildsafe.org/

[Duckhunter935]

5. I wish the gun safety proponents here

Would publicise this and the Eddie eagle program. How can they be against this?

[onehandle]

6. Because it's the NRA and Right-Wing Republican Organizations are not allowed support here? nt

[Duckhunter935]

9. Projectchildsafe.org is not NRA or Republican

It's about gun safety and free Gun locks.

Eddie Eagle might be an NRA program but it us entirely about gun safety for children, see a gun, don't touch, run and get an adult.
It really surprises me that people like you are against that.

[lark]

23. What;s wrong with this messgae?

It, to their peril, puts the responsibility off the parents and on the small child. Message should be, adults, get gun locks and use them, and keep guns locked up. Thats who's responsible for all these child deaths, the parents who are so stupid and selfish, they keep loaded guns where small children can access them. Children see guns used constantly and to little harm in cartoons, so have no idea how lethal they are.

[grossproffit]

16. Thanks for posting this.

[IronLionZion]

3. ISIS is everywhere these days

I bet that 4 year old wishes he had a gun instead of wishing the other boy didn't have a gun. 4 year olds everywhere will become 2nd amendment supporting patriots after this brazen attack by ISIS. It's the only way to fight terrorism.

[ReRe]

4. Holy Mary, Mother of God...

... where are YOU when these children pick up these wayward machines of mass destruction? Where?

[ginnyinWI]

7. Would it be too much to say

that the kids should be taken away from that mom? I mean really, she let their lives be at risk!

[840high]

8. Start charging the parents.

[justiceischeap]

17. I totally and wholeheartedly agree with this

If there were a handful of parents charged in these cases, I suspect more parents would start being responsible with their firearm storage.

It'd be like an Ophrah show, "Involuntary manslaughter for you and you and you!"

[TexasBushwhacker]

25. +10000!

Until parents are hit with prison terms and hefty fines, this shit will continue to happen. They should take all their kids away and put them in foster care. They obviously don't know how to keep them safe.

[ManiacJoe]

10. There is no excuse for an unsecured firearm.

[ailsagirl]

11. Yet it keeps happening...

time and time and time again

[doc03]

12. But what if you need your weopon and you have to fool

around with a lock? That's NRA logic.

[ManiacJoe]

13. It is all about risk management.

If you think you are going to need the gun, strap a pistol to your hip.
Otherwise, get a GunVault lock box.

[LongtimeAZDem]

14. Prosecute the mother to the full extent of the law (nt)

[cynzke]

19. WAIT TILL SHE GETS THE HOSPITAL BILL!

That will be quite a punishment, even with health insurance. On the other hand if she doesn't have insurance, we will be paying.

[SheilaT]

15. Nothing to see here. Just another day in America. Just another "responsible" gun owner.

The most unfortunate thing is that the adults who leave such guns around to be found are, so far as I can tell, NEVER prosecuted. The usual excuse is they've suffered enough. Suffered enough? No! They need to be tried and sentenced to a very long jail term, with extensive media coverage, and additional coverage every single year on the anniversary of the child's death, with a reminder of what that kid might be doing now.

There is simply insufficient punishment for the many careless gun owners out there. I'm sick of the responsible ones trying to portray all of these as minor blips on the radar screen.

[skepticscott]

18. The media needs to stop calling these incidents "accidents"

There are no "accidents" with guns. These are essentially all cases of negligent and reckless handling of firearms, in blatant disregard for basic rules of gun safety. Individual states need to start either criminalizing this, or having a zero tolerance policy on enforcing the laws they do have.

Naturally, some people will sympathize with the mother, but if she had left a live grenade lying around, and her six year old son had pulled the pin and blown himself up, a lot of the same people would be calling her a terrible mother, and calling for her to be arrested and her remaining child taken away. The only reason this situation is regarded differently is the worship and deference given to the gun culture in this country.

[ileus]

20. On your person or locked up.

My guess is another female purse carrier. Off body carry is an awful way to carry a PSD.

[mnhtnbb]

21. The child died and the mother arrested and jailed.

Apparently the article has been updated at the link.

[lark]

24. Good,

That mom should be in jail for a while. She caused the death of a child through malicious negligence.

[SoCalMusicLover]

26. She'll Be Out In No Time

These things never get prosecuted.

[Initech]

22. If you have kids, keep your guns locked the fuck up!!!

[SoCalMusicLover]

27. But.....

A gun has to be readily available at all times, in case it's needed to defend the family.

[ManiacJoe]

28. See post #13.

Yes, I am ignoring your sarcasm so that you can be educated.