One afternoon while Israel LaSalle was making Kool-Aid for his grandchildren,(6 yrs. old and 3 yrs.old) he heard the sound of something popping downstairs. The police said that the boys were playing cops and robbers when the older boy(6) grabbed a gun that was wrapped in a pair of pajama pants on top of the fridge. The gun went off and shot the toddler(3) in the head. LaSalle tells reporters "I never knew there was a gun in the house." LaSalle comes down the stairs to find the younger brother laying on the ground, in a pool of blood. Clutching Eian(3) in his arms he ran to the nearest hospital which wasn't far at all, but by the time he got there he was dead.
Now the boys' father who is 25 years old, (Michael Santiago), faces felony child endangerment charges. He was released from jail after posting bail. Authorities are now saying that the charges can grow.
Police said that while interviewing him, he confessed to buying the gun illegally from a gang member to use as protection. He also said that about a week ago, he showed the 6 year old the gun and told him it was for adults to use only. At the time of the shooting Michael was at work and their mother was at the store.
Researchers show that children know where weapons are hidden and say that weak state laws don't stop anyone from carelessly storing a gun. The National Rifle Association has argued that mandatory storage laws are unnecessary.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
69 children under the age of 14 died from accidental gun shots in 2013. 30 of them were younger than 5 years old!
Why would/wouldn't you want tougher laws based on how a firearm should be stored?
I believe that accidents like this could be avoided if the owners of guns had requirements on how to store their guns. If the gun was in a lock box or vault it could've prevented this accident.
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Replies
Well done Kenzie!
First of all if I had a gun for protection and I had children then I would tell my child a lot more then just "Its for adults only". They would know that it is bad to touch it and have it also I would not have it on top of my refrigerator. Like it should be commen sence that children will get up there at some point ansd then find I would put it were no children could get it.
I agree with you. I would properly educate my child about a gun and tell them "stay away don't touch and things,"But you do know that kids are curious and leaving a gun in reach of a child is a disaster waiting to happen. The dad was being very irresponsible
I think there should be just a few regulations on firearm storage for households with children. I believe that there should be laws in place for a certain household if there is a child under the age of 15. I think situations, such as this, could be prevented with one law. I believe that the guns, at the very least, shouldn't be kept loaded, or in the reach of children. This accident could have been prevented with just one regulation.
I agree completely! it only takes one regulation. one law and it could easily prevent something as tragic as this from happening.
I think that there need to be more rules regarding the possession of guns. I agree that people should be able to bear arms, but in a responsible way. The parent should keep it in a gun cabinet, hidden away, or anywhere out of the reach of the children. This is very scary and very sad for this family.
I agree with you, There is so many ways you can properly store a gun and keep it out of the reach of young children.
I think tougher gun laws would be a really bad idea. It would make a lot of people that use guns for protection upset. I think people like this shouldn't be allowed to have guns. Some things like this happen once in a while, but I think it would be a terrible idea to punish those who use guns correctly just because of a few irresponsible gun owners. Don't get me wrong, it was a terrible tragedy, but the owner is the problem, not the gun.
I do agree with you it isn't the guns fault it's the irresponsible owners, But I don't think the government can really stop someone from illegally purchasing and having a gun unless they were to see it for themselves, so for them to be able to stop an irresponsible gun owner could be pretty tricky.
I would want tougher laws on storing the gun because it is not safe just to have it laying around. It needs to be locked up and unloaded. I also think that guns should be kept away from guns or any weapons at all.
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