A three year old girl has died after being shot in the chest earlier today at a house on Tinsley Place of east 23rd Street. Chattanooga Police Spokesperson Sgt. Jerri Weary has not said who shot the gun.
Another report indicates that a sibling fired the shot from a weapon found in the home.
Right now, I want to let the gentle reader know that I have all the sympathy for the mother, who was home at the time. This is tragic any way you slice it.
But as Kathy Jackson says at The Cornered Cat, 'Childproof ...... isn't'. And that's the reason that I've endeavored to educate my 5 year old about my firearms (she's thoroughly uninterested in them now).
Many years ago in my hometown, a similar incident happened, fortunately not resulting in any deaths, though a young girl was injured. It seems that a young boy pulled the drawers out of a chest of drawers, stair-step fashion, and climbed up to the top drawer, where he found his mother's loaded .25 auto.
Obviously knowing nothing about the 4 Rules, he shot his sister.
But what moved me to write a fairly scathing letter to the editor was her statement to police that guns had no place in the home, and she urged other parents to get rid of their guns.
As tactfully as I could, I unloaded on the mother .... basically laying responsibility for the incident at her feet by doing nothing to ensure the safety of her children with regards to the firearms in her house.
I pulled no punches .... and no one responded that I was in any way out of line.
Read The Cornered Cat .... it's definitely worth your time. And say a prayer for the family of the little girl who was shot.
And for God's sake, teach your kids about firearms and firearms safety.
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