Comments about ‘2-year-old Sandy boy dies from self-inflicted gunshot wound’

When I got my carry permit, I mentioned to the instructor that I keep my gun in the house with the clip fill, but no bullet in the chamber. He said this was the 'wrong' way to keep a gun for self defense.

I respectfully disagreed and stuck to my of doing things. I considered keeping a bullet in the chamber to not be safe with kids in the house and it doesn't take that long to put a round in the chamber and then fire it if need be.

My sincere condolences to the little boy's family.

Please everyone, keep guns locked away. Little ones don't understand.

That is so sad. We don't realize how important it is to child proof a house and easily forget things. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you.

My sympathy and prayers go out to everyone involved. This is a horrible tragedy that all involved will never forget, nor forgive themselves for.

Everyone who owns a gun needs to review their gun storage practices and when they should be loaded or not. What may be entirely appropriate under normal daily circumstances may not be when children visit. Change things when necessary.

Some would say "we need a law" but does anyone think that even a conviction for violation of some obscure statute after the fact would have prevented this, or inflicted a punishment any worse than what they will live with? If this was the result of criminal negligence, that can be charged under existing law.

Accidents like this are as heart wrenching as the much more frequent "kid run over in the driveway" accidents. But accidents do happen, even to nice families where everyone is trying their best to keep kids safe and just one distraction or overlooked detail changes everything.

Cjb.
Your instructor is one of those type of people, who see things black and white.
I am a huge gun/hunting guy. I love guns.
But I am totally in agreement with you.
I've been around LOTS of guns my whole life.
I had a gun store guy tell, he carrys his gun while mowing the lawn.
That dude sniffed to much gun powder.

Where is everybody who, over the last two days, has been gloriously trumpeting the story of the Florida grandpa who stopped would-be robbers at an internet cafe by shooting at them? That story prompted endless lectures on how great it is to have a personal weapon. This is the more likely result, statistically speaking. If the guy in Florida doesn't have a gun, the robbers get away with some money. If this grandpa doesn't have a gun, the kid is still alive. The fact of the matter is, we sweep real discussion around these stories under the rug out of "respect for the family." I can't imagine the very real heartache they must be feeling. But the paranoia surrounding guns has an awful cost...one that most often adversely affects children.

Re OHBU

I haven't seen the statistics you refer to that it is safer not to have a gun in the house. But I want to say to you that if a gun is stored properly, with common sense, this is not true, if you keep a gun properly, a family is safer to have a gun.

If a gun is stored properly, there is no danger to little kids. Then when the kids get older you teach them proper gun handling. Once safe gun keeping is in place, there is no danger to the family from the gun, and you now have a means to defend yourself if invaders come into the house

Re: OHBU Columbus, OH
"But the paranoia surrounding guns has an awful cost...one that most often adversely affects children"

The death of any child, for whatever reason, is tragic. Why don't we hear about the deaths of each and every child killed by a drunk driver? Is one death somehow more tragic or newsworthy than another?

Why the paranoia about the 2nd Amendment ..... and not the 1st or 5th amendments?