Ugly: Three year old shoots self

[SelfDefense]

PHOENIX - Phoenix police say the death of a 3-year-old boy who shot himself with a handgun he found in a nightstand was a tragic accident. Tristan Dalton was with his mother and younger brother visiting the mother's friend on Monday afternoon. The mother and her friend were in a bedroom chatting while the children played.

Detective Cindy Scott says while the women were talking Tristan opened the drawer, took out the gun and shot himself. Scott says the owner of the gun was not home and the boy's mother did not know it was in the room. She says investigators have now determined the shooting was an accident and will not ask for charges against either adult.

The mother's friend should be indicted. This story is simply awful.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[socuban]

Tragic.

[retsupt99]

Simply no excuse for this accident. If you have a weapon, be responsible for it...PERIOD!

Stay armed...keep others safe...stay safe!

[lacrosse50]

Sounds like the friend had a boyfriend that left the gun in the nightstand, assuming she's not lying about it not being hers. The friend is at fault, but the idiot that left the gun in the nightstand should take the brunt of the punishment. Is this considered negligent homicide?

[falcon1]

"Either have it [the firearm] on your person, or lock it up in the safe. Compromises are pointless."--Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jeff Cooper, USMC


Prayers sent for all involved.

[dcb188]

Unbelievable. It happens so quick and it cannot ever be redone. What a tragedy, a real tragedy.

[grady]

"Either have it [the firearm] on your person, or lock it up in the safe. Compromises are pointless."--Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jeff Cooper, USMC

Excellent, especially with kids around.

[farronwolf]

Wow, what a bad deal. I don't quite buy it on the surface, but then again, it doesn't say what type of weapon it was. Someone should have to be accountable for this event.

[dcb188]

farronwolf: Is that because of the trigger pull pressure necessary and a three year old could not do it that easily and it sounds a little too convenient that it happened that way? I kind of agree with you. He just happened to be there and playing with it? But I wondered exactly what you see as suspicious? I thought you were referring to the pressure needed to pull the trigger.

[ccw9mm]

... was a tragic accident.

Tragic, yes. But, it was no accident. It was negligence that directly contributed to a death. IMO, it was destined to happen, at some point, with an unsecured firearm within reach of unknown persons at unknown times. It was only a matter of time. Cooper was correct.

Sad, indeed.

[rstickle]

I also want to ask if the gun was in the same room they were talking in? There has to be accountability for watching your children, especially in someone else's home!

[raevan]

I can't believe a parent that lets their children wander around and get into other peoples things. This is a reflection on our society that private property no longer exist. Children are Inquisitive, that is why parents are held responsible(or should be) when a child breaks somthing or takes somthing that doesn't belong to them. Children can be taught to not get into things. If they are to young to have been taught then they souldn't have been left to wander.

[dcb188]

True enough. What about the couple of posters who said it looked a little suspicious on its face? I did not know why they said that but maybe because of trigger pull required?? Anyone have any ideas as to why a couple of folks thought there might be more to it? That was all I could think of, was the trigger pull, but I think a three year old could do it.

[Fmr18z]

Having grandchildren around I know how inquisitive they can be. This may very well have just been an accident waiting to happen, never the less, gun owners should have the sense to unload their weapon if they do not have it on them...and still put them in a safe. I store my arms and ammunition in totally separate locations, not only for the little one's sake, but I don't want a BG to come into my house and find guns and ammunition in the same place.

[farronwolf]

True enough. What about the couple of posters who said it looked a little suspicious on its face? I did not know why they said that but maybe because of trigger pull required?? Anyone have any ideas as to why a couple of folks thought there might be more to it? That was all I could think of, was the trigger pull, but I think a three year old could do it.

Trigger pull is one of the factors. Like I said in my first post it doesn't say anything about what kind of gun it was. All of my double action revolvers have pretty stiff trigger pulls. All of my semi autos have some sort of safety on them, whether it is a decocker, or just regular safety. I just think that it would take quite a bit of time and energy with many of the guns out there for a 3 year old to be able to operate it. Maybe it was just negligence, but it seems suspicious to me.