A 4-year-old little boy fatally shot himself on Wednesday. It appears to have been an accident. Police believe Kyrell McNeil shot himself with a loaded gun he found in the family car -- and that gun is believed to belong to a family member who works as a security guard.
Apparently Kyrell climbed into the back of a truck and then crawled through the sliding back window into the cab, where he found the gun. And then, because he's a 4-year-old with no reason to believe anything in the world could hurt him, he shot himself. His grandmother says she doesn't blame anyone for the horrible accident ... but she feels like there are just too many accessible guns out there.
I agree with her. The family member who owns that gun obviously needs it for his job -- but shouldn't have left it loaded and accessible to a curious little boy. He probably never thought Kyrell would find it. But regardless, he should have been much more careful and not made it so available.
When we talk about gun control -- especially after the Aurora shootings -- people get hysterical over the idea of "taking away" guns. But gun control isn't about just making guns go away. It's about remembering the "well regulated" part of that "well-regulated militia" phrase everyone likes to pull out. And that needs to start with families who already own guns. Regulate yourself! Don't let this happen to another child.
Should Kyrell's family member have had "a" gun at all? Yes, if it was part of his job. But he should have been drilled in gun safety. No one who handles guns regularly should be this careless. Kyrell was supposed to start school this fall -- I can't even fathom the pain his family must be feeling at this time.
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How do you think that gun should have been stored to prevent Kyrell from finding and using it?
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Comments 55
Anyone with half a brain knows to never leave a loaded gun anywhere. The person who left the gun out is to blame, and you can't regulate someone leaving or not leaving a loaded gun around their house or car. So the point of this article is what exactly?
I thought guns have safety on them? This is just too freakin' heart breaking! I have a 4 yr old, and he is very curious, I make sure all harmful stuff, like cleaning chemicals or knifes are up high, where his little self cant reach at all! not even with a chair!
This is simply bad parenting. I have a 10yo and a 40yo (and #3 on the way) and we ALWAYS have guns in our house. Our children are trained in safety and respect for them from the time they can hold up a BB gun and are shown the destructive power they represent. They NEVER touch the grown-up guns without adult supervision (which we often provide in order to demystify the guns and give them an outlet for their curiosity). Calling for more gun-control because of incidents like this is stupid. The kid could as easily have released the parking break and rolled into a tree. He simply shouldn't have been in the truck. It is a fact that people are killed in car related accidents nearly 10 times more often than they are killed in gun-related accidents, and no one is calling for "car control". Parent your kids people!!
*4yo