Six Words Changed a Young Mother’s Life Forever

A young mother and her two young children were visiting the woman’s father in Elmo, Missouri while she was on National Guard duty.  She had just put her 9-month old baby down for a nap in her father’s bedroom when her 5-year-old son said, “I’m sorry, Mom, I shot Corbin.”  Bolting to bedroom, she found the baby bleeding profusely from a gunshot to the head.

It is still uncertain how the child got his hands on the loaded .22 caliber Magnum pistol or why he fired it, shooting his brother in the head.  The boys’ grandfather said he keeps the gun in a locked cabinet in his bedroom and it is used for home security and target practice.  He said the gun, with other firearms, is always locked inside a cabinet.  He also said he told the children not to play in his bedroom.

The distraught mother said she had no idea her father even kept a gun in the house.  “I don’t know why someone would have a loaded gun in the house while kids were around,” she told the news.  "When I was growing up we always had guns in the house.  We grew up on a farm and we hunted all the time. That's why I can't believe that the man who taught me gun safety — you keep guns unloaded and keep the safety on and keep them locked up — had a gun in the house with my children there." 

Again and again, we are horrified by another story of child killed or injured with a negligently stored gun. Did you know that more than two million children in the U.S. live in homes with unsecured guns?  According to a recent report from Moms Demand Action and Everytown for Gun Safety, at least 100 children were killed in unintentional shootings between December 2012 and December 2013.  The majority of these tragedies could have been prevented if the guns were stored responsibly.

Many unintentional shootings happen in the homes of the child’s relatives. Whether you choose to own a gun is a personal decision, but with it comes responsibility.  Guns themselves don’t kill; a gun can’t jump off a table, aim itself at someone, and press its own trigger. It’s when people leave guns lying around and young children can have access to them; kids are natural curious and fascinated by things.

It is not only up to adults to keep guns safely locked, but all of us must take responsibility to protect our children from the inherent dangers. It isn’t about whether you own a gun or even approve of gun ownership.  Just saying “I don’t believe in guns” or “I won’t allow my child near guns” is not enough.

Never make assumptions when a child’s safety is at stake.  Teaching your child about gun safety means that you are a responsible parent. The last thing you want is for your child to be in a gun owner’s home with a parent who has not taught their child about safe gun practices, thus putting your own child at risk of being injured or killed - only because you were negligent in instructing your child about gun safety.

We can push for laws, but it still should not relieve us of our duties as parents.  We must all do our part to reduce the number of unintentional shootings and to keep our kids safe.  To learn more about your state’s child access laws and what you can do to make your community safer, click here.