Preschoolers

4-year-old shoots babysitter

January 6th, 2009 by | Permalink

Looks like these parents won’t be going out to the movies again.

Police say a 4-year-old boy shot his babysitter Sunday because the 17-year-old stepped on his foot.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that the boy “retrieved a shell from a drawer in a back bedroom, grabbed a 20-gauge single-shot shotgun from a closet and loaded the weapon … returned to the living room, and in front of another 17-year-old boy and other children, shot [Nathan] Beavers.”

Beavers was treated for wounds from the birdshot, the paper says. The blast also injured another Jackson County, Ohio, teen, according to the Associated Press.

Information from: http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/200...

Full Story: http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/200...
Filed under: Preschoolers
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  • http://www.myspace.com/davidkirshmusic David

    There’s no way a 4 year old could handle a 20 gauge. The recoil would be enough to throw his shot WAY off, and probably throw him to the floor. Pics or it didn’t happen.

  • John h
  • jenni

    How did the kid even know how to load it? I’ve never even loaded a gun myself–I can’t imagine it’s as easy as it may seem for a child or a first timer. It’s hard not to want gun control when people are this irresponsible.

  • Dave

    @Anonymous.

    Such a big guy you’re too afraid to post with your name? I bet you hide behind your gun too you big man you!

    “These are isolated incidents and dont happen very often in the grand scheme of things”

    But there are incidents, sometimes fatal, that happen and wouldn’t with stricter gun control. Other countries manage without guns in the home, why not the US?

  • andy

    This is not a gun control issue. This is a stupid parent issue. I had guns in my house as a child, but not the ammunition. Gun laws are enforced to not store your gun where a reasonable person would say the firearm is not accessible to a minor. The parents will be charged with this crime.

    Good thing it was only bird shot or someone could have died.

    *shot a 12 gauge at age 6. Knocked me on my ass and bruised my shoulder, but I hit the target.

  • Clayton

    @ David

    A 4yr old would be completely capable of handling a single shot 20ga. The fact that it is a single shot is what makes this very plausible, it was probably a youth model if it was a single shot and a 20ga, so it is most likely smaller than average and kicks a whole lot less than one would normally assume.

    @ Dave

    The thing with gun control that your suggesting would be punishing the majority of innocent and safe gun owners. I have been around guns since I can remember and I have yet to shoot someone accidentally or intentionally. Matter of fact no one that I personally know has been involved in a shooting incident, this says a lot because I come from a rural area which is big on hunting and sport shooting. Making gun control stricter because of an incident like this is comparable to making computer ownership stricter because someones kid looked at porn online.

  • Super Bad

    Plus, if the parents were so irresponsible as to show how a child how to handle a gun and load it and then leave the gun and ammo completely accessible, well, if it wasn’t the gun it would be something else.

    One thing that rings suspicious though. Didn’t the babysitter see the child getting a shell, loading a gun etc.??

    WTH?? Are there any responsible people in this child’s life? Geesh.

  • John

    He’s lucky I wasn’t his babysitter, I would have beat him until the paramedics came.

  • our_world

    It just goes to show you guns and civilians donot belong toether…. Bring on gunn control soon, please….

  • Cody

    I’m with Clayton. I’m from the deer hunting capitol of the US and the about and hour from the duck capitol of the world. I’ve been hunting since I was 8 and have had guns every since. My family teaches gun safety at a young age. After you learn how to handle one safely, you learn how to shoot well. The only gun “incident” I can recall after 14 years of hunting involved a kid I went to school with getting whacked out on drugs and shooting his friend (on purpose?) because they had a disagreement. Agreed, if we had gun control this MAY not have turned out THIS way….but he’d have probably stabbed him. Whats next? “Knife control”? Improvised weaponry will always be an option, and those that chose to do harm, will. I personally enjoy a knife when I’m eating steak and a gun when I’m hunting. I’m sure that many others feel the same way. So why punish “us” when we mean no harm and do no harm?

  • http://http:windowslive.com leigh

    A 4 year old lifting a shot gun?he must be a big boy for his age.

 
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