The 3-year-old daughter of a Georgia sheriff's deputy accidentally shot herself in the leg in Dodge County, according to the local news channel WMGT.
The little girl, who was not identified because of her age, is the daughter of Deputy Dorian Johnson and Lakeasha Smith. Dodge County Sheriff Lynn Sheffield told local media that while moving some furniture around in the family's home, Smith had removed the gun from a chest of drawers and put it on the bed. At the time, Smith believed the girl was in a different room, but it appears that the child crawled onto the bed, picked up the gun and shot herself in the right leg.
The weapon was a personal firearm of Johnson's, not a police-issued gun. He was not at home during the incident.
I actually feel badly for this father since it seems he took steps to keep his firearm out of the reach of his daughter. However a gun in the house, by definition increases the likelihood that somebody will be shot, whether on purpose of accidentally.
The minute this firearm entered the house the possibility of his child being shot went up 100%.
Simply put guns are designed to kill. Even guns owned by law enforcement professionals.
Can't see a reason to feel sorry for the father who left a loaded gun in the house.
ReplyDeleteHe took the gun out of a drawer and put it on a bed because he thought the kid was somewhere else. This is a recipe for disaster. If he was really trying to keep it away from his kid, at least set it down somewhere a child can't reach.
ReplyDeleteThis guy is a cop. He really should know better.
Oops, I just read below, it was the wife who moved it.
DeleteStill not feeling sorry for anyone, except the little girl who, luckily, survived her parents' neglect.
HE didn't. His wife did. He was not at home. But yes, SHE should know better, and she should be charged with endangerment. Until we start prosecuting these morons, more kids will be shot in their own homes, with that 'civil' tool of the NRA.
ReplyDeleteHE should have had the gun locked up and unloaded.
DeleteTotally agree, Supreme Ruler of Room 12. If you have kids in the house or kids who visit the house, the guns should be locked up and unloaded. Sorry, Gryph. He doesn't get a pass for keeping it in a dresser drawer. A sheriff's deputy should certainly know better.
DeleteI'm pretty sure that a dresser drawer is not a safe place to keep a gun away from a preschooler.
ReplyDeleteGryphen, a four year old was shot and killed in a road rage incident two days ago, in ABQ, NM.. An ABQ policeman was shot last night during a traffic stop.
ReplyDeleteIt was loaded?
ReplyDeleteHe should be prosecuted.
You would think that a deputy would be aware of what a safety is and use it.
ReplyDeleteWhy wasn't the gun locked up? Why was it loaded? So much stupid in America.
ReplyDeleteSorry for him? The weapon was not in a locked gun cabinet, the weapon had just been in a drawer. Sorry, he had the weapon loaded and within reach of his child.
ReplyDeleteI have no sympathy for anyone. Americans and guns = stupid beyond belief.
ReplyDeleteSomeone in Europe
Well, you should have sympathy for innocent children.
DeleteWe need better firearms education for toddlers.
ReplyDeleteOur children won't be safe until embyros receive basic gun safety training.
Any woman who gives birth to an NRA uncertified baby is just gunnin' for trouble.
Once the conservatives eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood perhaps the organization could be redirected from providing basic women's health care to offering fetal weapons instruction,
The only ONLY victim is the child. I don't care if the gun was kept in a drawer, a closet, duct taped to the ceiling or velcrowed between her daddy's legs.
ReplyDeleteDoes the child feel less or more safe than she did before? The parents got lucky this time, how lucky would they feel when she finds it again and dog forbid kills herself?
Why do they make trigger locks? Christmas tree ornaments????
Wait a minute - the guy took a gun from 'a chest of drawers' (where it was presumably at least out of sight), laid it on a bed, and left the the building? Did he expect a 3 year old to NOT MOVE for hours? Really, these people MUST start getting charged, at least, with negligence or reckless endangerment or SOMETHING!!.
ReplyDelete