2 year old boy shoots his 16 year old cousin

KaylynnCouture

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A 16-year-old boy is hospitalized in the West Texas city of Midland after his 2-year-old cousin shot him in the chest.

Midland police Sgt. David Garcia says the teen was visiting his cousin and his wife at a Midland apartment complex about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday when the couple's toddler son picked up a loaded handgun and fired.

Garcia says detectives are trying to establish to whom the gun belongs and why it was within the tot's reach. But the spokesman says a toy gun was sitting beneath a Christmas tree and that the toddler "had obviously been playing with the toy gun that looks like a real gun." He added, "It's tough for a 2-year-old to distinguish the difference."

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/texas/091202-midland-teen-shooting
 
This is similar to another incident, I can't quite remember the details, but I believe the toddler shot and killed his uncle.

Why would they just have a loaded gun lying non chalantly around the house? Are they drug dealers? Is someone schizophrenic? The stupidity, it burns!
 
I think his parents will be charged.

Who buys a 2 year old a toy gun? it has been so many years that I have not seen a parent do that...GESHHHH...
My grandson is 7 and while he is looking at them at toys R us, he gets other toys.... he did get one as a gift, but time to play with it is limited; after some time, they redirect his attention to another toy and he does forget about it quickly..
 
My son has numerous toy guns. He is 7, but started getting them around 3 or 4 years old.He actually has quite the collection and when his friends come over it all about cowboys and indians/cop and robbers ect. The typical childhood games I am sure we've all played in our lifetimes. However most of the toy guns my son has are brighlty colored. I thought that was a regulation with new toy guns. I know you can get bb and paint guns and they look realistic. My son has a couple that are black and look like old school cowboy guns, but he does not take them outside of the house. I don't see a problem with toy guns as long as they look fake or the parents have some rules about them. Besides kids use their fingers to similate gunfire as well.
 
I think we've all played versions of cops and robbers, cowboys and indians. We never shot anyone, we know the difference. Of course, a loaded real gun was probably never available to us when we were so very young, and had no means of knowing the difference between real and toy. My son made imaginary guns out of household items because I wouldn't allow him a toy gun. He is the most compassionate person I know, even cried over "my favorite squirrel" when we discovered one that had been hit by a car. The toy gun was not the problem, the parents leaving loaded guns lying in the grasp of a toddler who cannot grasp the concept of pooping in the potty, let alone toy v.s. real gun, was.
 
. The toy gun was not the problem, the parents leaving loaded guns lying in the grasp of a toddler who cannot grasp the concept of pooping in the potty, let alone toy v.s. real gun, was.

Agreed! My sister has three small boys. I asked her once about allowing them to play with toy guns--she said that they'd make play guns out of anything, so they might as well have toy guys to play with. Her husband is a big hunter, and they have several guns in the house--that are *always* very carefully locked up, and the kids (including the two-and-a-half-year-old) know not to go *anywhere* near the real guns--but the kids love to pretend-shoot grouse and deer in the living room, with toy guns. They also know to never pretend-shoot a person with a toy gun.

Although with that said, I *hate* the thought of having guns in my house (and I don't have kids). When my dad offered my sister and I old guns that belonged to his father and grandfather, that weren't even operational, I wouldn't take them. I was on pistol team in college, and enjoyed shooting handguns on a range, but would never, ever have a real gun in my house, especially if I had kids around.
 
You wouldn't imagine the protest I displayed when my husband brought his grandfather's passed along guns into this house. They were all antique and there were no bullets, but I was soooo afraid over it. My kids won't even look at any of them directly,they know I will fuhlip out if I EVER caught one of them handling them...
 
Growing up my Dad kept a rifle in his bedroom. I know it was there, I know it wasn't locked, but I don't know if it was loaded. He used the gun in hunting. The only time I ever saw the gun out was when he was either coming or going from hunting. When I first noted the gun, I was told in no uncertain terms what would happen to me if I even so much as touched it. It was also explained to me that the gun was dangerous. LOL, after he died I saw it in my Mom's house and I still wouldn't touch it! And I have shot guns before and have even owned a gun.

To have a gun laying out in any room, I see as pretty ridiculous. To have a gun out in a room with a child (of any age) in the room is asking for trouble IMO. Kids are curious, and they want to play with what they see the adults play with. Leaving it out and unattended must have seemed like an invitation to this kid.
 
My very first reaction before I even opened the thread was: 1) Why was there a gun within the toddler's reach, and 2) WTH was it doing loaded?

I grew up in a house with guns. They were not loaded, but I was told in no uncertain terms that I was not to handle them by myself. If I wanted to see them or touch them, all I had to do was ask. I knew where the ammo was, but the punishment I would have received had I disobeyed this rule...well, lets just say shooting myself would have been less punishment, lol. It taught me to respect guns, but not to be afraid of them.
 
ITA, I will be really suprised if an adult doesn't face some charges.
 

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