This week, a 5-year-old in Cumberland County, Kentucky accidentally shot and killed his 2-year-old sister. It’s an all-too-common accident involving children across the U.S., where misfirings and problems with guns results in 600 deaths on average and thousands of injuries each year.
The boy had been playing with a .22 caliber, single-shot Crickett rifle manufactured by the Pennsylvania-based firearm producer Keystone Sporting Arms when the gun discharged a single round, striking his younger sister. The 2-year-old, later identified as Caroline Sparks, was rushed to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.
“The terrible punishment has been that they have lost their child. I don’t think that can anyone punish you further,” Mylan Masson, director of the law enforcement program at Hennepin Technical College, told Mint Press News
“It’s just tragic. It’s something that you can’t prepare for,” said David Mann, speaking about the death of his 2-year-old niece.
The children’s mother was reportedly outside the house when the shooting took place, saying she didn’t think that the gun was loaded.
“Just one of those crazy accidents,” said the Cumberland County coroner, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. The autopsy results have not been released, but the case is being investigated as an accident.
Twenty-eight states, including Kentucky, have child access prevention laws, holding parents liable if their children use a firearm willfully or accidentally to inflict harm on others. There have yet to be any arrests in the ongoing case and the police have said they are unsure if there was any neglect or misconduct by the parents.
“A five-year-old is not responsible for the gun, the parents can teach them as much as possible to keep [children] safe,” Masson said. She elaborated on safety procedures that gun owners should follow, saying that parent’s should “keep guns in a locked case” and storing bullets in a separate location that can cut down on children’s access to firearms.
“It’s too early to know,” said Trooper Billy Gregory. “I think there is still some information that we don’t fully understand. As the investigation continues and when we finish, I’m sure we’ll present the totality of the circumstances to the commonwealth’s attorney and then he’ll make a decision whether or not to present to the grand jury.”
“I think what they will do is bring it to court. The more you bring this issue up, the more people are going to review their procedures for how they have their guns stored,” Masson said.
Gun control advocates have also decried the Pennsylvania-based Keystone Sporting Arms for marketing rifles to children, producing a line of guns with the slogan, “My First Rifle.”
Since opening in 1996, the company has expanded production considerably, producing 60,000 rifles a year, including a line of pink rifles to appeal to young girls. The company has declined media requests for comment in regard to the ongoing case.
The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and other groups have blamed this type of marketing for increasing the number of firearm fatalities for children. The Law Center says 606 deaths were attributed to firearm accidents in 2010, along with numerous non-fatal injuries. Between 2005 and 2010, almost 3,800 people in the U.S. died from unintentional shootings.
More than 1,300 victims of unintentional shootings for the 2005-2010 period were under 25 years of age.