This happened close to where I live. Tragic, no matter how you look at it.

[tattedupboy]

4-year-old boy shot, killed in Merrillville : Merrillville Community News

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[Banjarmon]

How did the kid know where to find the gun???

 

[BC1]

Gun accident? NO! It's pure negligence. I'm charging the parent.
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While none of us want laws requiring we lock the gun, it only makes sense to do so with a four-year-old running around the house.

 

[Paul_of_TX]

Another good thing to start doing with children is to teach them boundaries and then actually enforce them. Climbing a shelf in a parents closet should be beyond acceptable boundaries. I have run into some bad parents and some bad kids and I'm sure there are some out there that allow their kids to climb all over anything the kids chooses to climb but this just sounds a bit suspicious. I just have a bit of suspicion that the gun was not "in the back of a top shelf." Seems like these parents could have chosen to be responsible with their firearms, the raising of their children or both and could have avoided this.

 

[JCliff]

Horrible tragedy, easily predictable and preventable. I agree with BC1. A four year old child has not reached the age of reason, and will get into things regardless of the level of guidance provided by even the best of parents. This is negligence on the part of the gun owner, pure and simple. It is absolutely your responsibility to ensure your firearm is stored in such a manner that it does not get into the hands of anyone who's not supposed to have it, period. If you have little kids in and about your house, your firearm needs to be locked up in some fashion or on your person.

 

[dogshawred]

How does a 4 year old climb down shelves in a closet with a hand gun in one hand that is going to weigh, what maybe 20 oz. or more. I have a great deal of difficulty buying this scenario. I hope that my instincts are wrong, the parents are going to have enough trouble dealing with the lose as it is without their negligence being more involved than what it is already.
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Toddlers DO NOT know what will hurt them, that is why they are call innocents.
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My heart goes out to the family, this will be very hard to live with no matter the circumstances.

 

[Steon]

This is in my area as well...

I have to say, when my son was young, I didn't have an actual handgun safe. But when I didn't have my gun on me, it was still kept secured... In a $10 Cash Box.