4-Year-Old Kills Self With Babysitter's Gun

[Nithavela]

A young child died yesterday in an accidental shooting in Houston. Codrick Beal, 4, had spent the night with a babysitter and family friend while his mother celebrated her birthday, when he got hold of a loaded firearm in the house yesterday morning and fatally shot himself, reports the Houston Chronicle. "My baby is gone," Codrick's mother, Ashley Beal, lamented outside the house. The babysitter, meanwhile, fell to the ground convulsing as she sobbed outside her home; paramedics later returned to pick her up. "It's just a terrible accident," a cousin of Codrick's mom tells the Chronicle. "We see it all the time on the news but you never think it'll hit home. It's the most horrible thing." Investigators are still trying to determine how the boy got hold of the weapon, reports ABC 13. An average of 62 kids under the age of 14 die every year in accidental shootings in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, though other figures suggest these numbers too low. Authorities did not divulge what type of gun was fired, to whom it was registered, or where Codrick died. (Last year, a 3-year-old accidentally shot his 18-month-old brother to death in Arizona.)

4-Year-Old Kills Self With Babysitter's Gun

 

[JustMeSee]

Time to find a new babysitter.

I am not sure about considering it an accident. Neglect is more like it.

 

[KitKatMatt]

Time to find a new babysitter.

That's... kind of a really dark thing to say, considering that they don't have a child anymore.

 

[Nithavela]

Time to find a new babysitter.

Dude...

 

[Vylo]

Time to find a new babysitter.

Thanks for trying to lighten the mood?

 

[jacknife]

Time to find a new babysitter.

daaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggg

 

[Celticflower]

I'm getting so tired of these stories. When will "responsible" gun owners learn to secure their guns, esp when there are children around? Safeties, gunlocks/blocks, trigger locks etc are easy to obtain and a lot cheaper than a life.

 

[Nithavela]

I'm getting so tired of these stories. When will "responsible" gun owners learn to secure their guns, esp when there are children around? Safeties, gunlocks/blocks, trigger locks etc are easy to obtain and a lot cheaper than a life.

Well... Looks like she is only one out of three children shooting themselves in the last week.

In the Houson area, that is. Not in the whole USA. Just in Huston.

Three Houston-area children in four days accidentally shoot themselves | US news | The Guardian

 

[dogs4thewin]

I'm getting so tired of these stories. When will "responsible" gun owners learn to secure their guns, esp when there are children around? Safeties, gunlocks/blocks, trigger locks etc are easy to obtain and a lot cheaper than a life.

It is a sad state of affairs to have to say, but to SOME people not saying this particular person is among them). Life is CHEAP. There have been cases ( thank goodness not often) where people have been killed over a darn pack of CIGARETTES.

 

[pgp_protector]

I'm getting so tired of these stories. When will "responsible" gun owners learn to secure their guns, esp when there are children around? Safeties, gunlocks/blocks, trigger locks etc are easy to obtain and a lot cheaper than a life.

The thing is, you won't hear stories about that.


News Report:
"Gun owners had guns locked up, nothing happened"

Just doesn't make good news, and this is going on every day in the majority of homes that have responsible gun owners.

 

[rambot]

I would have had something to say about it but
""My baby is gone," Codrick's mother, Ashley Beal, lamented outside the house. The babysitter, meanwhile, fell to the ground convulsing as she sobbed outside her home; paramedics later returned to pick her up. "

PErhaps not yet.

 

[cow451]

Time to find a new babysitter.

I am not sure about considering it an accident. Neglect is more like it.

When someone is killed by a firearm, there are four possibilities:

1. Self-defense
2. Suicide
3. "Tragic Accident"
4. Homicide

We can exclude # 1 and # 4 since the child was not shot by someone else.

Re: #2, did the child leave a note or make suicidal statements?

That leaves # 3 because the babysitter or parent had probably taught to child not to touch the loaded weapon.

 

[Billnew]

Every babysitter must baby proof their house if they are keeping the child in their home.
Every gun owner must consider every house guest that comes into the home, changing how and where you keep your firearm, when not worn, may be needed.

You can sit a firearm down on any table if you trust the people you live with, but when visitors come, the firearm needs to be stored safely. Age of visitors does not matter, ignorant people come in all age groups.

Safe carry and storage is a must. Most gun stores sell guns with trigger locks just for this reason. Even just clearing the firearm and removing the magazine goes along way to preventing this kind of disaster. (I dislike carrying locked and loaded, but some people are afraid that split second it takes to chamber a round might be to long.)

If you carry a firearm, or even if you just have a firearm at home, learn how to carry/store it safely. To prevent accidents.
Above all, think of the surroundings where your firearm is at all times, who has access to it, who can be harmed if the wrong person gets it.

Unless the firearm is safely away and locked up, you can't stop thinking about it.

 

[Billnew]

You can teach a child not to touch a firearm without an adult around, but you have to know that that child will listen.
My daughters handled my pistols and rifle twice before they were 10. They weren't interested in them, but I told them they could see them any time they wanted just by asking. I kept a trigger lock on my pistol, even though my wife at the time couldn't chamber a round with it, so the girls wouldn't either. Because we had "visitors" that might find them when I wasn't looking.

I took my daughters shooting a couple years ago, neither liked shooting, to loud.

 

[cow451]

You can teach a child not to touch a firearm without an adult around, but you have to know that that child will listen.
My daughters handled my pistols and rifle twice before they were 10. They weren't interested in them, but I told them they could see them any time they wanted just by asking. I kept a trigger lock on my pistol, even though my wife at the time couldn't chamber a round with it, so the girls wouldn't either. Because we had "visitors" that might find them when I wasn't looking.

I took my daughters shooting a couple years ago, neither liked shooting, to loud.

Obviously this was a disobedient child.

 

[JustMeSee]

When someone is killed by a firearm, there are four possibilities:

1. Self-defense
2. Suicide
3. "Tragic Accident"
4. Homicide

We can exclude # 1 and # 4 since the child was not shot by someone else.

Re: #2, did the child leave a note or make suicidal statements?

That leaves # 3 because the babysitter or parent had probably taught to child not to touch the loaded weapon.

I spill antifreeze on the floor. My cat licks it up. Negligence.

Teaching a four year old not to touch a firearm is great, but it is not satisfactory. Loaded or unloaded, young children should be secured from probable danger. We just disagree.

 

[cow451]

I spill antifreeze on the floor. My cat licks it up. Negligence.

Teaching a four year old not to touch a firearm is great, but it is not satisfactory. Loaded or unloaded, young children should be secured from probable danger. We just disagree.

I was being a bit tongue-in-cheek. Gun-rights folks seem not often consider the idea of holding people accountable for "accidents".

 

[keith99]

The thing is, you won't hear stories about that.


News Report:
"Gun owners had guns locked up, nothing happened"

Just doesn't make good news, and this is going on every day in the majority of homes that have responsible gun owners.

And not just guns, just about anything. Guns are hardly the only thing that can kill a child.

One should think twice about leaving their child in a home for long periods of time if it is a home not frequented by children. I know mine is not child save. I'm lucky, in my case I have an obvious reminder. I do some leatherwork and I have a large cutting board on the floor. Often with one or more very sharp cutting knife on it. No kids, no problem.

I'm lucky, one obvious danger reminds me there could be others, like those cleaning supplies under the sink or that one closet so full that opening the door invites an avalanche. Other have no obvious danger and never think twice about the not so obvious ones.

If you are leaving your kid, always think twice and ask if stuff is secured.

 

[Nithavela]

Obviously this was a disobedient child.

A four year old not following their parents word to the letter? Hold the presses.

 

[Inkachu]

So horribly sad... poor little angel... I hope he didn't suffer

Leaving a loaded, unsecured gun in the house with children is not an "accident" though. It's a tragedy waiting to happen. I know that these people are going to torment themselves enough over this, so there's no need for me to blast them as well.