This is the first of a series of occasional blog articles about
firearms. A True story* One morning a preteen boy had a friend
over to watch TV and play games. The boy’s dad was at work but
his mom was home. At some point the mom told the boys that she
needed to run to the store and would return quickly. As soon as
she left. the boy took his friend to his parents’ bedroom to
show him a handgun hidden in a shoebox in the back of a high
shelf in the closet. When the mom returned home, she found her
son’s friend dead from a gunshot wound. The boy said it had been
an accident - they didn't know the gun was loaded. The boy was
arrested and murder charges were going to be brought against him
in adult court. A plea agreement resulted in a much lesser
charge in juvenile court and the boy was sent to an out-of-state
treatment facility. One mother buried her son and another lost
custody of her son. • Hundreds of children under age 15 die each
year due to unintentional injuries from firearms in our country.
• Thousands