(GA) Aunt: Girl, 4, finds gun, kills self

Oatka

New member
If it happened as reported, another preventable tragedy. I wonder how long it will take Clinton/Gore to jump on this one.


STORY

Aunt: Girl, 4, finds gun, kills self

A Lawrenceville woman heard a gunshot in her home Friday evening, and found that her 4-year-old niece had been fatally shot, police said.

The child's three young cousins were also at the home when Antoinette Mone Jackson found a loaded handgun in the bedroom of her aunt, Gwinnett County Police spokesman George Gilson said.

Mary C. Hutcherson, 36, the child's aunt and legal guardian, told police the girl accidentally shot herself.

The shooting occurred about 5:30 p.m. at 2240 Camptown Way.

Investigators were still trying to determine Friday where the gun was being kept in the bedroom. Authorities did not release information about where she suffered her injuries.

Antoinette was rushed by ambulance to Gwinnett Medical Center where she was pronounced dead, said an emotional Gilson.

"You'll have to excuse me," Gilson said, as he began to choke up. "It's tough."

An uncle of the child, Milton Sanders, came to the scene after receiving a call from his brother about the shooting.

His brother told him, "It was an accident in the house. My niece was shot. . . . She didn't make it," Sanders said.

A woman leaned on the railing on the front porch of the two-story brick home, located in the neatly manicured and shrub-lined Waterford Downs subdivision. She covered her face with her hands as detectives interviewed the family inside. The oldest child is 7, authorities said.

"It's a nice family," said neighbor Tim White, 45.

White, a post office employee, was at the neighborhood swimming pool and heard the sirens and thought it was just another wreck.

He and several other neighbors including small children gathered on the fringes of the yellow crime tape to watch the investigation unfold.

"Everyone in here is quiet, to themselves, but neighborly," White said.

© 2000 Cox Interactive Media
 
Another tradgic death that could have been avoided with a little forethought and planning. I wish people would wake the hell up and realise how important safe handling and storage of a gun is.



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"Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property...Horrid mischief would ensue were the law abiding deprived the use of them" --Thomas Paine, 1775

www.2ndamdlvr.org
www.2ndamdlvr.homestead.com/secondamendment.html
 
I think WE all need to emphasize this. We sound like we place the loaded handgun in the child's mouth when WE protest trigger lock laws. I think we need to start stating that safe storage is EXPECTED, not useless laws to enforce.
 
This is so sad. And, so easily preventable.

If you have kids, please ... secure your firearms. Or, if there is a child visiting, then take the extra care to secure them as well.

There are so many great products out there. The quick access safes aren't cheap, but they're so much cheaper than the loss of a little girl.


Here in Phoenix, we tragically see many child drownings. I am always struck by the failure of people to call for the banning of pools when another child dies. But, take a firearm accident like this, and it brings out the anti-self defense crowd.

Live and let live. Regards from AZ
 
Jeff, I live by the ocean, and every year or so somebody drowns & the first thing out of the mouths of relatives is, "he never learned ta' swim; he wuz so a-feared o' water!"
I grew up on the Atlantic, and I can't recall ever NOT knowing how to swim-- my parent's idea of "protecting" me was to make ME safe around the water, rather than keeping me from it.
Likewise, when I was a little as this unfortunate girl, firearms were kept away from me-- I knew we had some, but not where ( they were locked up then )-- but once I was old enough to handle them, I got a single shot .22 rifle.
My folks "made ME safe around firearms," rather than trying to make something inherently dangerous "safe."
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by johnr:
Jeff, I live by the ocean, and every year or so somebody drowns & the first thing out of the mouths of relatives is, "he never learned ta' swim; he wuz so a-feared o' water!"
I grew up on the Atlantic, and I can't recall ever NOT knowing how to swim-- my parent's idea of "protecting" me was to make ME safe around the water, rather than keeping me from it.
Likewise, when I was a little as this unfortunate girl, firearms were kept away from me-- I knew we had some, but not where ( they were locked up then )-- but once I was old enough to handle them, I got a single shot .22 rifle.
My folks "made ME safe around firearms," rather than trying to make something inherently dangerous "safe."
[/quote]

Amen john...

I have 3 nephews and a niece..plus my brothers Gf has an autistic kid. Know what? When they show up, i immediatly take my handgun out of it's camo-fanny pack which is stored in a backpack...and I unkoad it, stick the gun on a top shelf in the closet and lock that door. The mag stays in my povket till they are gone. Not hard to figure out this reduces the chance for an AD by 1000%. I also keep an eye on the kids and especially if they head towards my bedroom.

It's just not that hard to do.
 
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