12-year old Alabama child finds father's unsecured gun and shoots himself in leg

A 12-year old in Mobile, Alabama, found his father's unsecured, loaded .357 magnum handgun in the closet and unintentionally shot himself in the leg.

From the article:

Mobile Police Department Cpl. Chris Levy said a 12-year-old was injured by an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound to the leg. The child's injury is non-life threatening.

Authorities said the .357 magnum handgun belonged to the child's father. No charges have been filed. Neighbors are thankful the child survived but say the incident is concerning.
....
Levy said the 12-year-old found the gun on the top shelf of a closet and was inspecting it when the gun discharged.

This is the third shooting of a child in that area in only three weeks:

This is the area's third shooting incident in the past two weeks, including one on Gravine Island that has left 17-year-old Summer Moody in critical condition after she was shot in the head on April 15.

On April 19, police said 17-year-old Christopher Smith shot his step-siblings in Fairhope while handling a high-powered rifle. In that incident , 5-year-old Teela Murphy was shot in the head and killed and a 3-year-old boy was wounded.

A gun salesman then offers safety advice:

Robert Logan of Robert's Gun Rack said, keeping a fire arm secure at all times should be a priority for gun owners.

Logan highly recommends placing firearms in a gun safe that requires a fingertip lock to open it up. Gunvault.com sells the unique safes that are specially made for this purpose.
He also suggests that if you don't know how to clean your gun, don't try. Take it to a professional to learn how.

Logan said to always unload your gun if you're handling it — even for a second — and keep your finger off the trigger unless you're ready to fire.

"You want to make sure you have it pointed in a safe direction. You don't want to point it at anybody, yourself or anybody you don't intend to hurt," said Logan.

Here's a better safety tip:  don't have a gun in the home with a child.


Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.