Boy, 3, finds gun, kills self

This was an article I read in my Philly Inquirer this morning. It details the death of a Philadelphia toddler over the weekend when he had access to the loaded gun of his mother's boyfriend.

Here is the article in its entirety. It's fairly small, like the victim:

Boy, 3, finds gun, kills self

By Joel Bewley

Inquirer Staff Writer

Residents of West Raymond Street rushed outside yesterday afternoon after hearing a single gunshot. But the one-way street in the city's Feltonville section was quiet, until LaWanda Bailey burst out of her boyfriend's rowhouse onto the porch.

"My baby's dead, my baby's dead," she screamed in anguish. "He shot himself."

Moments earlier, Tylib Bailey-Hankerson, 3, better known as TaTa, had picked up a .45-caliber Glock handgun he found in the bedroom and pointed it at his head before squeezing the trigger, city police said.

"He was lovable, fun - anything good you could name, he was," sobbed Courtney Fleet, 17, a good friend of Bailey, 27. "Why would you have a loaded gun in the house with kids around?"

Police said the boyfriend, who was not identified, legally owned the gun. The shooting is believed to have been accidental, but the investigation is continuing and the prosecutor's office will determine whether any charges are filed, said homicide detectives, who took Bailey and her boyfriend downtown to be questioned.

Neighbors said the boyfriend lived at the house in the 400 block of Raymond Street with his young son and daughter.

Bailey and her two sons lived across the street, said neighbors, who feared the worst when they saw medics carrying the toddler into the ambulance.

"He was wrapped in a blanket, but I could see the wound," Bonnie DeVine said. "It didn't look too good."

The call to police was made just before 1 p.m. TaTa was pronounced dead at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children about a half hour later.

Four people were in the house at the time of the shooting, police said: TaTa, his older brother, 9; his mother; and the mother's boyfriend, police said.

The gun was in the bedroom on a piece of furniture next to the bed, Capt. Ray Convery said. Depending on the model, a .45-caliber Glock semiautomatic handgun can weigh nearly two pounds when fully loaded.

The older brother saw his sibling pull the trigger, said Fleet, who said she talked to him after the shooting.

"He was really upset," she said. "He's not doing too well."

Fleet was the first to talk to Bailey after she came out of the house.

"She said TaTa had shot himself in the face," Fleet said. "He was such a beautiful kid. This just doesn't make sense."

The paragraph which caught my eye most was this one:

"The shooting is believed to have been accidental, but the investigation is continuing and the prosecutor's office will determine whether any charges are filed, said homicide detectives, who took Bailey and her boyfriend downtown to be questioned."

Why is it that there are not charges filed? How many children will die before we get some sensible legislation about guns. How about we start with this one...gun owners have a legal obligation to, when there are children in the house, either have the gun locked up or have child safety features on the weapon and engaged whenever children are in the home.

We legislate all sorts of other "common sense" safety activities...seat belts, motorcycle helmets (in some states), bike helmet use by youngsters, "wipers on / headlights on." Why shouldn't we create a rule to make adult gun owners responsible to make sure any children who could possibly come across a gun in the home be unable to gain access to or fire the weapon.

How many more toddlers and kids have to be killed in this way before there is some sensible behavior? And if we can't get that behavior voluntarily, then let's make it the law. Or is it not so important if the majority of kids being killed this way are poor people of color in downtrodden cities? You've got to wonder...

tags: children / gun accidents / gun control / guns / gun safety