In Little Rock, Arkansas, a three-year old found a loaded gun and shot himself in the eye.  The boy is in critical condition at the hospital. 

There was no discussion in the article about how the boy obtained an unsecured loaded gun or about why manufacturers are allowed to design guns that a three-year old can fire.

 In Roy, Utah, a 16-year old boy and his friend were cleaning a gun without realizing that there was a round in the chamber. The gun fired and struck the boy in the chest. This is the second similar incident in Utah in just the last week.

In an interview, the boy’s stepfather said the handgun belongs to the boy’s 20-year-old brother.  According to the interview, the magazine was cleared from the gun, but the teens didn’t realize a bullet was still in the chamber. “That’s when the friend pulled the slide and accidentally discharged the gun,”  the stepfather said.  He also said the bullet went through his son’s stomach, tearing through an intestine but missing his kidney before it went through a wood door and stopped in another door.  According to the stepfather, the boy’s life was saved because the round involved was “just target ammunition.”

There was no discussion in the article about whether more robust safety features, including a loaded chamber indicator, a magazine safety disconnect or a safer gun cleaning protocol, might have prevented this accident. Nor did the story comment on the propriety of having a 16-year old clean a gun.

Sources:

“Police: 3-year-old Injured Self in ‘Accidental’ Shooting in Little Rock,” thv11.com (July 22, 2021).

Garna Mejia, “Utah Teen was Cleaning Gun Before Unintentional Shooting in Roy, Parents Say,” ksl.com (July 22, 2021).