Gun deaths of St. Louis children rise to 22 as 3-year-old shoots self in head

[billh58]

A 3-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed himself in the St. Louis area, bringing the total number of children killed in gun-related incidents in the St. Louis metropolitan area to 22 so far this year, according to a count by the Associated Press.

The St. Louis County Police Department charged the boy’s father Friday with one count of endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree. Rodney March II, 28, is being held on a $100,000 cash bond.

March left a loaded .40 caliber Glock within reach of the boy and the child, who shared his father's name, was able to get the gun and shoot himself in the head Thursday, police said in a statement to ABC News.

“Ladies and gentlemen it is tragic any time we lose somebody in any manner. Certainly more tragic when we lose somebody to gunfire. And it is certainly beyond the pale and heartbreaking when we lose a child anywhere in the communities we live in,” St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said during a press conference on Thursday.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/gun-deaths-st-louis-children-rises-22-year/story?id=65592890&cid=clicksource_4380645_null_headlines_hed

How many more? A 3-year old child did NOT have an "accident" -- and the father did not "accidentally" leave the gun within reach of his child. Having a gun in the home and leaving it loaded and accessible is inexcusable, criminal, totally preventable, and so tragic. In this instance the police are charging the father, but that is too little too late.

Just another innocent victim in the gun-ridden society that the Second Amendment absolutists and right-wingers have forced upon us.

[3catwoman3]

1. These are not accidents.

They are negligence, plain and simple, and should be so named.

[OAITW r.2.0]

2. Charge the parents. They were responsible for his death.

Let them spend the rest of their life thinking about how their reckless behaviour contributed to his death.