Three teenagers have died in shooting incidents in Billings, Montana in just the last three months.  The latest incident involved a 15-year old who died in a gun accident today. Local authorities have not yet described the circumstances of the incident other than to say that it happened at the boy’s home.

What we see is a number of firearms in the residence that are easily accessed and/or loaded,” said the Billings Police Chief.  In an anonymous survey, which is used to determine the top causes of social problems among youth, “nine percent of students said they had carried a weapon, such as a gun, knife, or club on school property at least once in the past 30 days.”

“A loaded firearm got in the hands of a teenager and we have a fatality, and it could have been avoided,” the Police Chief said.  “Make sure that the gun are secured, unattainable and that they’re not loaded,” he said. “There are plenty of tools to make firearms safe in the house, and it has nothing to do with gun control. It’s all about securing firearms so family members are safe, and people are not getting into them that aren’t supposed to.”

Source:

Casey Conlon, “Another Teen Shooting Death in Billings Highlights Increasing Youth Gun Use; 8.9% of High Schoolers Carried Gun Within Last Year,”  krtv.com (April 11, 2022).