Police Officer's Toddler Finds Gun, Kills Self

[sksguns]

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/10677980/detail.html

Father Was Out Of Town At Time Of Shooting


HAMPTON, Ga. -- The 3-year-old son of a police officer got a hold of his dad's gun and fatally shot himself.

Images: Toddler Killed With Father's Gun

Investigators said Marcus Kitt woke up just after midnight and found the gun in a closet in his parent's bedroom in Clayton County, Ga. He shot himself and died at the scene.


The toddler’s father, also named Marcus Kitt, is a Henry County, Ga., police officer. He was out of town on business. The boy's mother was asleep and woke up to the sound of gunfire.

Relatives said Marcus wanted to be a police officer when he grew up.

There's no word yet if the gun was Officer Kitt's service revolver. He was in Dallas, Texas, at the time of the shooting

 

[sksguns]

Sad sad story.....


career goals at three?

"Relatives said Marcus wanted to be a police officer when he grew up"

 

[Weerd Beard]

Crappy gun storage, if you ask me.

Its sad whenever a child dies, but frankly I'm not gonna get all weepy untill they start reporting on all the children who drownd in toilets, buckets and backyard pools.

When I was growing up we had to walk down the street to the municipal pool to swim. Backyard pools have no constructive use to society.

-Weer'd Beard

 

[dbhn]

Very sad.

Obviously very, very bad storage with a 3-year old in the house and you out of town. Mom slept through her 3-year old waking up and poking around her closet?

I think in some of these cases (swimming pool accidents included), where it is absolutely an avoidable situation if the parents were doing their job of parenting, that they should be prosecuted and made examples of.

Just leaving a loaded gun where a 3-year old could access it is criminal in my mind. No matter what GA law states.

 

[Admin]

Backyard pools have no constructive use to society.

-Weer'd Beard

I'm hoping that was sarcasim...

 

[sksguns]

Very sad. they should be prosecuted and made examples of. Just leaving a loaded gun where a 3-year old could access it is criminal in my mind. No matter what GA law states.

So the cop would be negligent in this case and not that the mother slept through the kid rummaging around but wouldn't you think that she obviously knew the gun was there since it was loaded? Perhaps hubby left it for her for self defense while he was away? Which if true would bring up another issue of illegal posession(if she wasn't licensed or whatever is required to posess in GA.)? I don't know.....what are one's thoughts on that view?

 

[Twigg]

I had a feeling this would be bad news.

Another reason to insure everything is locked away from little fingers, and a d*mm good reason to speak to my son (again) about gun safety.

 

[dbhn]

Yes, there are a lot of unknowns.
The bottom line is a kid got the gun and killed himself and it seems (from the info given) that it was totally avoidable and could very well be one, if not both, parents fault(s).

I mean, to leave a loaded weapon within reach of 3-year old is just plain stupid. The kid was likely less than 3' tall. That thing had to be on the floor or on a very low shelf for that kid to get it. Most parents move all kinds of much-less-lethal things like glass picture frames, vases, etc. to higher ground with little kids in the house. I know I did.

These stories really strike a nerve with me....

 

[Lugnut]

Crappy gun storage, if you ask me.

Its sad whenever a child dies, but frankly I'm not gonna get all weepy untill they start reporting on all the children who drownd in toilets, buckets and backyard pools.

When I was growing up we had to walk down the street to the municipal pool to swim. Backyard pools have no constructive use to society.

-Weer'd Beard

They do report on these other things. I also don't understand your point on pools.

 

[adweisbe]

So the cop would be negligent in this case and not that the mother slept through the kid rummaging around but wouldn't you think that she obviously knew the gun was there since it was loaded? Perhaps hubby left it for her for self defense while he was away? Which if true would bring up another issue of illegal posession(if she wasn't licensed or whatever is required to posess in GA.)? I don't know.....what are one's thoughts on that view?

No license is required. The absence of safe storage laws in other states does not give parents license to store their guns unsecurely when children are around. They are still required to take "reasonable" precautions to prevent their children from getting access to them. If they do not then they risked being prosecuted for being negligent. It is usually up to the DA and the police to decide whether to charge and/or prosecute. In this case he will not be charged or prosecuted like a peasant would, but he will lose his job.

 

[sksguns]

No license is required. The absence of safe storage laws in other states does not give parents license to store their guns unsecurely when children are around. They are still required to take "reasonable" precautions to prevent their children from getting access to them. If they do not then they risked being prosecuted for being negligent. It is usually up to the DA and the police to decide whether to charge and/or prosecute. In this case he will not be charged or prosecuted like a peasant would, but he will lose his job.

Thank you for this information. For clarification purposes, even though the parents may have felt they took reasonable steps in hiding/securing the firearm, would it be safe to say because of what occured they would be found to not have taken "reasonable" precaution?

Could one conclude that no matter what preacuation was taken that if a child gets posession of a loaded firearm that the precaution was not reasonable?

 

[Weerd Beard]

I'm hoping that was sarcasim...

You should know me well enugh.


My point with the Pools is they aren't trying to ban swimming pools or toilets. But always there is talk of a handgun or assault weapon ban on the horizon, though one kills far more than the other.

-Weer'd

 

[Admin]

I thought so.

 

[adweisbe]

Thank you for this information. For clarification purposes, even though the parents may have felt they took reasonable steps in hiding/securing the firearm, would it be safe to say because of what occured they would be found to not have taken "reasonable" precaution?

Could one conclude that no matter what preacuation was taken that if a child gets posession of a loaded firearm that the precaution was not reasonable?

It's a catch-22, there are few exceptional circumstances where reasonable precautions could be defeated by a child.

A trigger lock on a loaded revolver with the lock improperly installed could allow the gun to fire, in that situation it is a pretty fuzzy and up to the police/DA. There is an element of negligence in that case but it is a human error and not lack of effort or consideration.

If robbers come into your house, break into your safe, and leaves a loaded gun behind and your child gets his or her hands on it then you would not be responsible and I doubt any court, DA, or police agency would hold you responsible.

Another gray area would be a cable lock that fails because they are frequently junk or is cut by your child. It all depends on how much of a jerk the DA/police want to be. There would also be no guarantee of a conviction, but in today's society you lose simply by being forced to defend yourself.

One significant difference between MA and other states regarding storage of firearms is that you can be fined in MA even if nothing happens simply for the way you stored it. In other states you can only be held responsible if something happens, the act of insecure storage is not a crime in and of itself. MA specializes in creating such "crimes." Laws concerning negligence with children and negligence in general are pretty broadly written and are a catch all for such behavior.

Caveats, IANAL, and law always varies from state to state.

 

[sksguns]

It's a catch-22, there are few exceptional circumstances where reasonable precautions could be defeated by a child.

A trigger lock on a loaded revolver with the lock improperly installed could allow the gun to fire, in that situation it is a pretty fuzzy and up to the police/DA. There is an element of negligence in that case but it is a human error and not lack of effort or consideration.

If robbers come into your house, break into your safe, and leaves a loaded gun behind and your child gets his or her hands on it then you would not be responsible and I doubt any court, DA, or police agency would hold you responsible.

Another gray area would be a cable lock that fails because they are frequently junk or is cut by your child. It all depends on how much of a jerk the DA/police want to be. There would also be no guarantee of a conviction, but in today's society you lose simply by being forced to defend yourself.

One significant difference between MA and other states regarding storage of firearms is that you can be fined in MA even if nothing happens simply for the way you stored it. In other states you can only be held responsible if something happens, the act of insecure storage is not a crime in and of itself. MA specializes in creating such "crimes." Laws concerning negligence with children and negligence in general are pretty broadly written and are a catch all for such behavior.

Caveats, IANAL, and law always varies from state to state.

There's a lot to think about and consider there. Thank you for your insight on this...

 

[drgrant]

Which if true would bring up another issue of illegal posession(if she wasn't licensed or whatever is required to posess in GA.)? I don't know.....what are one's thoughts on that view?

There is no such thing as "illegal posession" in the vast majority of the US.
with regards to possession of any firearm in one's home, provided the person in
possession is not otherwise prohibited by law. (eg underage or convicted
felon).

Edit: this doesn't mean, that she's not guilty of some form of negligence,
as adweisbe mentions above.... EG, many states have some laws which
hold adults accountable for minors accessing firearms and doing something
bad with them.

-Mike

 

[sksguns]

There is no such thing as "illegal posession" in the vast majority of the US.
with regards to possession of any firearm in one's home, provided the person in
possession is not otherwise prohibited by law. (eg underage or convicted
felon).

Edit: this doesn't mean, that she's not guilty of some form of negligence,
as adweisbe mentions above.... EG, many states have some laws which
hold adults accountable for minors accessing firearms and doing something
bad with them.

-Mike

Thank you for the additonal points. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I feel really bad about the little 3 year old. I have one myself. It's a shame really....

 

[KMaurer]

They do report on these other things. I also don't understand your point on pools.

I must have missed it. Could anyone give me a pointer to a recent example of the Boston Globe reporting on a kid who drowned in a backyard pool in Georgia? I'm not a stickler for specificity; I'll accept a report of any kid drowning in a backyard pool anywhere south of the Mason-Dixon or west of Pittsburgh any time over the past 25 years. [que the crickets]

Ken