cuchulainn
Member
http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/...S&ArtNo=303250314&Ref=AR&SectionCat=FRONTPAGE
from the Wilmington Star
(edit - main thread at http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15182 )Deadly power in small hands
Shooting death leads to worries about gun safety
By Millard K. Ives
Staff Writer
[email protected]
Jeffery Tobias Shaw never kept a loaded gun in the home, his wife, Teresa, said. But on Friday, he left a loaded pistol in his truck as he prepared to go to a gun range.
It only took a few seconds for tragedy to strike.
Mr. Shaw, 40, was killed by a shot in the head by his grandson, a 3-year-old who didn't know the difference between the .45-caliber handgun he grabbed out of his grandfather's truck and a toy.
But it was an incident that few area gun safety programs are targeting.
State law does not require gun safety classes for all residents purchasing handguns, only for those applying for a concealed weapon permit.
"People have the right to keep a loaded handgun in their home. We just ask they store them in a manner kids can't get to them," said Brunswick County Sheriff Ronald Hewett.
The teaching of firearm safety to reduce hunting accidents became an integral part of health and physical education classes last year at Columbus County High and is also being taught in Brunswick, Bladen, Sampson,and Robeson counties.
Gun safety is also taught in Brunswick County's JROTC classes. Area sheriff's departments have handed out trigger locks in the past. And state law requires people with minors residing in their homes to properly store any firearms they have. But that law and those programs are not aimed at children like Mr. Shaw's 3-year-old grandson.
In a recent 20/20 television program, guns were planted in a room and kindergartners were sent in. Recorded on hidden video, the gun was their favorite toy. The child with the gun aimed it at the other kids, who would drop down, playing dead.
Ms. Shaw said her grandson didn't understand the deadly power he held in his small hands.
"We're still in shock," said Southport Manager Rob Gandy of the Shaw shooting, who added he may discuss implementing a gun-safety program with the city's police chief.
The incident was ruled accidental by the Southport Police Department.
A gun-safety program by the National Rifle Association advises children – when finding a gun – to stop, don't touch it, leave the area and tell an adult. The Eddie Eagle Program is used by schools, law enforcement agencies and other groups and organizations concerned with the safety of children, said John Robbins, an NRA spokesman.
"The purpose isn't to teach whether guns are good or bad, but rather to promote the protection and safety of children," Mr. Robbins said.
Millard K. Ives: 343-2075
[email protected]
Last edited by a moderator: