The Ventura County Star (CA) editorialized about the nine-year-old victim of a local accidental shooting and reminded us all about the dangers of having a gun in the home, especially ones that are not properly secured:

Although he may not realize it yet, a 9-year-old Camarillo boy is extremely lucky to be alive today after being shot in the face with a .45-caliber pistol… Police are looking into whether the gun was secured and how the 13-year-old got his hands on it. Under the law, a loaded firearm in the home must be secured in a locked container, disabled with a locking device, or otherwise reasonably secured.

What happened in this Camarillo home will certainly serve as a warning and a lesson that this family and the two boys will never forget. It is also one that other parents, guardians and children would do well to note.

The latest U.S. data available show 3,184 children and teens were killed by gunfire in 2006. Of those shootings,154 were determined to be accidents, says the Children’s Defense Fund. A study last year found that more than 1.7 million children in the U.S. live in homes with loaded and unlocked guns…

Another recent study revealed these sobering facts: In homes where a gun was present, 39 percent of youngsters knew where it was stored, and another 22 percent said they had handled it despite an adult warning to stay away.

Clearly, the decision to keep a handgun or a rifle in the home is not one that should be taken lightly. It’s one that demands adults be extra vigilant in making sure children can’t get their hands on these weapons.

Learn more about unintentional shootings, the risks of having guns in the home, and kids and gun violence.

Every year, more than 17,000 people are shot unintentionally in this country.  Some 600 of those victims die from their injuries. Even when considering those grim statistics, Monday had more than its share of accidental fatalities.  Here are three that were reported in the news:

The Associated Press reports on a 10-year-old who died in Texas:

Brazos County authorities say an apparent accidental shooting has left a 10-year-old boy dead after a .22-caliber rifle held by a 12-year-old neighbor discharged.

Another AP report, this one about a 15-year-old from California:

Oakland police are investigating the death of a 15-year-old boy who accidentally shot himself while he and his younger brother were playing with a gun.  Officer Jeff Thomason, a police spokesman, says the brothers were handling the gun when the 15-year-old shot himself in their aunt’s bathroom around 7:45 p.m. Monday.

And, from WTRF – TV on a 21-year-old in Ohio:

According to Sgt. John McFarland, David Yoho, 21, died Monday after shooting himself in the head with a gun his family said he had just purchased over the weekend. McFarland said that witnesses reported Yoho was playing with the gun, putting the safety on and off, and pointing the gun at them and then himself before the shooting.

Learn more about unintentional shootings, the risks of having guns in the home, and kids and gun violence.

Members of Michigan Open Carry have badgered and bullied the Royal Oak (MI) City Commission into changing its no guns policy at the annual Arts, Beats, & Eats Festival that is being held over Labor Day weekend. It seems they are afraid to go to the festival without conspicuously displaying their firearms.  As the Oakland County Daily Tribune reports, the Open Carriers feel the need to have guns on their hips “for their own protection”.  (The Daily Tribune did not report which of the festival’s arts they were most afraid of: visual, musical, or culinary.)

What Open Carriers don’t seem to realize is that their guns detract from public safety.  Just last year in Michigan, a man accidentally fired his gun while attending an Open Carry sponsored picnic.  Thankfully nobody was hit, but there were hundreds of people nearby, many who were frightened away by the shot.  The Kalamazoo Gazette reported on the incident:

“Was his intention to fire the gun? No,” [Police Chief Rod] Somerlott said. “At least, I don’t believe so.”

However, police said they believe about 150 beachgoers left the area voluntarily after the shot was fired.

Learn more open carry and accidental shootings, and how to get involved with the Brady Campaign.

Accidents happen.  Add guns to the picture, and accidents turn into tragedies and curious kindergartners become killers.  This week, the Sun-Times reports that a Chicago five-year-old shot and killed his twin brother, as they were getting ready for their first day of school:

…On the eve of the start of school, while they played “cops and robbers” alone in their bedroom Monday night with what they thought was a toy gun, Jonathan Jackson was fatally shot in the chest by his identical 5-year-old brother, police and relatives said.

Also this week, a Florida father was charged with culpable negligence stemming from a February shooting involving more small children.  The Tampa Tribune reports that in their home, there was one gun under a pillow, one on a bookshelf, three in a safe, three in cases, and one in a bag.  And two small children.  Not surprisingly, the six-year-old boy got hold of one of the guns and accidentally shot his three-year-old brother in the chest:

On Feb. 20, at 1781 N. Fort Harrison Ave., 6-year-old Goivanni Carpio found an unsecured semi-automatic firearm in his father’s bedroom, underneath a pillow, according to court documents.

The boy racked a round into the chamber by pulling back the slide and accidently discharged the firearm, said Elizabeth Watts, Clearwater’s public safety spokeswoman. The round struck his 3-year old brother, Gabriel Carpio, in the chest, according to documents.

The bullet went into the middle of the boy’s chest and exited, the documents say. It pierced his lung, but he survived, the documents say.

To learn more, see our fact sheets on unintentional shootings and the risks of having guns in the home.

This morning at least 11 people lost their lives in two incidents of mass gun violence, one at a Connecticut workplace, another at an Indianapolis party.

The number of people killed and injured at a Manchester, Connecticut beer distribution warehouse continues to rise.  The Associated Press is currently reporting that nine people were killed and more were injured:

“A warehouse driver who was asked to resign his job at a beer distributor went on a shooting rampage Tuesday morning that left nine people dead, including himself, and others wounded, company and state officials said.”

In Indianapolis early this morning, a masked gunman opened fire with an assault rifle at a party, shooting eight people, including two fatally.  CNN reports:

“Unfortunately, two people were killed,” [Indianapolis police Lt. Jeff Duhamell] told WISH. “We’re talking at least 25-30 rounds from a high-powered rifle, so although eight people were shot, it could’ve been a lot worse.”

These two mass shootings are examples of the continual tragedy of gun violence in our country.  Every day in the United States, 300 people are shot and 85 die from gun violence.  We must do better.