A 2-year-old Clarendon County boy shot by a 3-year-old relative early Monday afternoon is recovering at a Columbia hospital.
Tosha Beaver said her son “has come a long way” since the shooting, which happened at a home on Paradise Road near the Jordan community of Clarendon County. According to reports, a 23-year-old woman listed as the victim’s aunt was walking with the boys from a neighbor’s home.
“(She) stated that the boys ran in the house ahead of her,” reads a Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office report obtained by The Item on Wednesday and verified by a family member of the victim. “Shortly after that, she heard a gunshot.”
“(The aunt) stated she and her husband ... ran into the house to see what happened, and (saw) the 3-year-old with the gun in his hand and the 2-year-old lying on the floor,” according to the report written by Sgt. Barney R. Dozier.
The boy was shot through both legs and was initially taken to Clarendon Memorial Hospital. The aunt told deputies the gun is always kept in a cabinet but that the older child somehow managed to get the gun. According to reports, the shooting is being treated as an accident.
If you have guns in your house and think your kids don't know where they are, or how to access them, you are sadly, and dangerously, mistaken.
Studies have already proven that a gun in the home is far more likely to injure a family member then to EVER be used to defend the home, and yet people still keep these deadly weapons unsecured within their homes.
Still some people are adamant that ANY law which might restrict their access to every possible weapon imaginable is unconstitutional, as evidence by the two Colorado Democrats who were recalled the other day for helping to pass stricter gun control laws after the rampage at Sandy Hook.
However in a bit of good news Missouri has decided NOT to make following Federal restrictions on gun ownership against the law, and arrest Federal agents trying to enforce them. So there's that.
You know I simply cannot imagine how much more devastating of an attack we must suffer at the hands of a gun wielding psychopath for people in this country to finally rise up and say that owning guns is fine, but you MUST obtain a license, take instructional courses, and pass a background check first.
To me that is simply common sense.
“Common sense"?! And here you've been busting on Sister Sarah all week for misappropriating photographs. Well, you'll be hearing from her lawyers now.
ReplyDeleteHmmm. Running they shouldn't have been able to get so far ahead that they could have entered the house, with one child climbing up and retrieving the loaded gun and shooting the other child. Two year-old and three year-old children are not that fast at running ahead. The story doesn't make sense to me. I think the gun was within easy reach and the adults were not in any hurry to get to the house. An accident, maybe, but an accident caused by reckless adults. No one should ever let children of that age be alone together anywhere unless they are in their beds asleep at night and the adults are close by.
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom
It was South Carolina - bet the "adults" were each out of shape and over 250#?
DeleteBeaglemom, what you posted here are the same thoughts that came to my mind.
DeleteThese people have no sense, common or otherwise. It is insane to keep guns where there are children. Heck, yo me, it is insane to own a gu at all, and think that you will never be shot. When is this Saturday Guns on the Lawn deal? I plan to make a tour of my area and write down who's going to die this year.
ReplyDeleteAnother day another gun tragedy caused by blatant stupidity...How i wish I could be outraged but I believe America as a society has passed the tipping point....these everyday shootings only matter to those who are directly impacted anymore. I really think we are witnessing how the "dark ages" began when learning and intelligence died out of civilization. Ignorance and stupidity sure seems to be on the winning side in the world....
ReplyDeleteWell, you can hide your handgun properly, but you have to think like a child. Our handgun is hidden in what's called a "gun clock". It's basically a deeper than average wall clock. The front pulls down to reveal a pocket for your gun. As long as you never open it around the kids, they'll never know it opens. My father gave it to us saying, "I have no doubt the thieves know about them, but I don't think a three year old will unless you let him know."
ReplyDeleteOf course, you have to be able to control yourself from opening it constantly to fondle your handgun. Even then, you have to teach your children what guns are and are not. They're there to kill something. That's the only thing they're good for. They're not cool, they're not toys. They're tools with a specific purpose.
Well, for me the solution is simply never to own a gun. I cannot imagine ever telling a child that I own a gun and that the purpose of owning the gun is to murder someone. If that endangers me, I do not care.
DeleteBeaglemom
Personally, I wouldn't trust that the kids won't get into it. I'm amazed at the things my kids get manage to rummage through and find.
DeleteThen again, your "fondle your handgun" comment makes me wonder if your comment is satire.
No, we really have a gun clock, but it stays closed. The gun is not a tourist attraction. It's a tool. That's how we treat it. If the kids don't know it opens, they won't open it. It looks like a clock on the wall. That's how we treat it.
DeleteMy youngest is now 15. He still doesn't have a clue.
So you really have to restrain yourself from taking out the gun to fondle it?
DeleteThere is the problem - "The shooting is being treated as an accident." The aunt or whomever the gun owner is should be charged with child abuse at the least, or manslaughter.
ReplyDeleteIt isn't com locked with a combination only the adults know - it isn't safe, Lisa. Get a combination gun lock on top of that.
Yes, the comment, "but that the older child somehow managed to get the gun" is very suspicious. Somehow! It's amazing how easy it is for a three year old to pick a lock.
DeleteNasty, you're tough but fair. I'll self-report my own violation to save you the trouble of busting me out, too. Also.
ReplyDeleteIn a mindless rant a couple of days ago, I mistakenly used the phrase, "You've ruined my career, Bristol. It's all your fault that people now think I suck as a politician and as a fake reality-show mother." Of course, the Quitter has used those words so much (at home primarily) that she feels they are now a part of her brand, sort of like "hard-working" and "Ronald Reagan said...".
However, I'm sure if I send a check for $50 to Sarah PAC, all will be forgiven. Plus, she might even send me a free autographed picture of her, the same 9/11/01 Special Deal ("Donations" $50 & Higher Only. Call RAM for Reward Details for donations of $50,000 or more). Be sure to visit Sarah's "new PAC website" with her most recent misappropriation of her own, "Never Forget." Oh, I get it: "Never Forget to Send Your Last Dollar to The Grifter Each Month". It's important that Alaskans and Americans alike pay tribute to a politician *** who has quit her last two political jobs before serving out her term.
*** Self-described Occupation listed on Facebook is "Politician", an interesting profile for someone whose last job in that field was more than 4 years ago.
Hopefully, the photo will be one NOT taken recently (preferably at least 4-5 ago), that would scare off the little kids who visit our neighborhood trick-or-treating each year.
A 2 and 3 year old managed to run in the house ahead of her long enough to get a gun out and shoot? Something very fishy with this story and at the very least it would end with neglect charges in most states. We'll see what happens here but I hold no hope. Sounds to me like those kids were left home alone at the very least. Poor kids :(
ReplyDeleteYeah, common sense seems so uncommon when reading stories like this. We need a new definition of "Accident" when guns and kids are involved. Are these toddlers olympic runners? The aunt is 23, and they outran her and her husband, into a house with an unlocked door and somehow figured out how to unlock the cabinet....
ReplyDeleteLOVE this part of the article-
“The nurses, doctors and everyone at the hospital have taken exceptional care of him,” McGrew said. “He’s a strong little guy.”
Beaver said the child may be able to come home in a few days.
“We’re not out of the woods yet, but we’re taking it one day at a time,” she said. “We continue to ask for prayers for our little miracle.”
_
They're giving them a second chance to test just how STRONG their little miracle guy is.
What's wrong with people? Where's the law? These poor kids deserve to be safe, and they won't get it in that environment.