The 7-year-old daughter of a Marysville police officer who was shot accidentally on Saturday by her brother died early Sunday morning the Snohomish County (Washington) Sheriff’s Office said.
The parents were away from their van when this girl’s brother found a loaded handgun in the glove box. Both the van and gun belong to the cop.
Here in Texas, when a child gains access to an unsecured gun via non-criminal means, and “causes death or serious bodily injury to himself or another person,” the adult gets charged with a Class A misdemeanor (Texas Penal Code Title 10, Chapter 46, Section 13). The penalty is a fine of up to $4,000 and a year in jail (Texas Penal Code Title 3, Chapter 12, Section 21).
Interestingly, Washington is currently considering a bill that, if enacted, would make an adult “guilty of reckless endangerment” if a child gains access to their unsecured gun, a gross misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and 90 days in jail.
In both cases, if the child gains access via criminal means (e.g. unlawful entry), the gun owner isn’t liable.
No doubt Brady Campaign is celebrating Sunday’s tragedy, because this increases their “child gun death” numbers so they can better sell civilian disarmament.
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