Toddler, 2, dies after shooting himself while left alone in a Walmart parking lot as his parents shopped for fireworks

jeffw@lemmy.worldmod to News@lemmy.world – 456 points –
Toddler dies after shooting himself while left alone in a Georgia Walmart parking lot
independent.co.uk
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Guns kept in a car usually aren't required to be locked up if the car itself is locked. There's not much point having a gun in the car if you have to ask the carjacker to wait nicely while you fetch your gun from its locked container.

Fuck is wrong with you.

Seriously. Might as well lock your toddler in your gun safe at that point. I don’t see what difference the wheels make.

I was just quoting the actual laws... As a concealed carry permit holder it's a pretty important responsibility to know how/where it's legal to store your loaded handgun.

I hope it’s also important to know how/where to store your loaded handgun so toddlers can’t get to it.

Rule 1: Don't have kids.

Rule 2: Don't allow kids in your car or home.

Cool, cool. Now quote us some child endangerment laws.

Agreed - that's probably the easier way to charge the father in this case. Focus on child endangerment, reckless abandonment, etc. I'm just saying a gun charge probably isn't the best path to conviction in this case.

You're exceptionally bad faithing this whole comment section, you that right?

I haven't made any arguments to "bad faith". I just saw OP saying the father should face gun charges, and that's a topic I know a bit about, so I thought I'd chime in with a quick fact check. I never said the father wasn't a piece of shit or that he shouldn't go to jail.

Agreed - you where just trying to ram your agenda through everyone's throat.

(that's you, that's how you interact. 'Agreeing' with people in obvious disagreement with you, thinking that drove the point home)

No, you weren't, you wrote your comment completely ignoring the actual context.

Regardless of that, carjacking and the ability for anyone to stop one, is not going to yield great results if someone is already pointing a gun at you. No one is really prepared to deal with opposing one; the best thing to do is just get out and get to safety.

Most carjackers don't use guns.

A knife or a gun is equally efficient at intimidating and damaging someone. You aren't going to have the time or awareness to draw a gun before they stab you.

Guns kept in a car usually aren’t required to be locked up if the car itself is locked.

This varies widely from state to state, with different requirements for loaded vs unloaded, concealed carry permits, and accessibility requirements.

There’s not much point having a gun in the car if you have to ask the carjacker to wait nicely while you fetch your gun from its locked container.

So use a quick-access safe mounted in the vehicle or get a concealed carry license and keep it secured in a holster with you. No excuse for leaving it accessible to a child.

Agreed. Was just stating what the law is.

Agreed. Was just stating what the law is.

Yea but what you actually mean by that is:

Agreed. Was just stating what the my local state law is.

Its important, because people should know that their local state laws around this may be different.

It really doesn't vary that much by state.

You can check all 50 individually from page 1 of this document - https://handgunlaw.us/documents/USRVCarCarry-1.pdf

Here's the breakdown for the most populous states, which would cover most people in the US. This also includes the most restrictive states in terms of gun laws like NY and CA, so most will be more permissive than this.

California: Prohibits carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle unless it is in a locked container or the trunk. Concealed carry permit holders must adhere to these rules.

Texas: Allows permit holders to carry a loaded firearm in their vehicle.

Florida: Allows permit holders to carry a loaded firearm in their vehicle.

New York: Generally restrictive. In New York City, it is prohibited to have a loaded firearm in a vehicle. In other parts of the state, a permit is required, and rules can be strict.

Pennsylvania: Allows permit holders to carry a loaded firearm in their vehicle.

Illinois: Allows permit holders to carry a loaded firearm in their vehicle.

Ohio: Allows permit holders to carry a loaded firearm in their vehicle.

Georgia: Allows permit holders to carry a loaded firearm in their vehicle.

North Carolina: Allows permit holders to carry a loaded firearm in their vehicle.

Michigan: Allows permit holders to carry a loaded firearm in their vehicle.

You shouldnt be allowed to guns at all, especially not unsecured in a car. If your toddler then shoots itself with the gun you definitely should face charges.

Agreed. I was just quoting the actual law. I store loaded guns unsecured in my car and home, but I live alone and don't have kids or allow kids in my car or home. Obviously the situation would be different if I did.

Even when unattended? I wouldn't do that even if it was legal. It's a great way to get your car broken into to steal the gun.

And I wouldn't leave a gun unattended around a two-year-old in any case.

Guns kept in a car usually aren't required to be locked up if the car itself is locked.

Common sense requires it if there is a chance you'll be leaving a toddler alone with it.

Agreed. Unfortunately the law and common sense don't always align. Maybe the father could be charged with reckless endangerment or some sort of neglect - I'm only saying there probably isn't a direct firearm storage statute that was violated here.

Edit: Sadly, it'd probably be easier to charge him for leaving the kid in the car based on how hot it was, with the gun storage issue maybe as an aggravating factor.

I get your point, but the only person in the car was a 2 year old. Surely you don't expect the 2 year old to stop a car jacker with the gun, so it should be locked while no one is operating the vehicle, at least?