A young mom was accidentally shot dead Monday by her toddler son as she changed her 1-year-old daughter’s diaper, police in Oklahoma said. The “horrible, horrible accident,” happened around 4:30 p.m., when the 3-year-old boy found the loaded semiautomatic handgun and fired a shot, hitting 26-year-old Christa Engles in the head, Tulsa police told the Tulsa World. She died 60 minutes later.
I should begin by saying that I understand what a horrible tragedy this was. A husband lost his wife, and two children lost their mother. The 3-year-old boy will live the rest of his life knowing that he killed his mother, albeit accidentally. I can’t even imagine the pain he’ll be carrying with him.
That said, this shooting was an accident, and, like most accidents, it was preventable. Perhaps it isn’t convenient in our gun-addicted society, but for some reason no one seems willing to ask the obvious question: WHY was a loaded semi-automatic handgun in a place where a 3-year-old boy could find it? Brian Engles publicly mourns the loss of his wife, but doesn’t address why there was a loaded handgun accessible to his children. People mourn the loss of Christa Engles, but no one seems to be asking the question EVERYONE should be asking: Why was the gun accessible to the 3-year-old? Why was it loaded? Who was responsible? Why is no one being held accountable for their irresponsibility?
This isn’t a case of “Oops!”; it’s a clear case of negligence and irresponsibility on someone’s part. Are these questions being asked by the police? I can’t find any mention of it, and it certainly doesn’t seem as if anyone in the community is asking questions. I don’t mean to pour salt in anyone’s wound, but a 26-year-old mother of two small children is dead at the hands of one of her children…because someone left a loaded gun in a place where that child could find it.
How is this to be even remotely considered responsible gun ownership? A child commits what is arguably involuntary manslaughter…and no one’s asking why a loaded handgun was accessible to a child and- even more importantly- who’s responsible?
Have we really reached a point where we can no longer even conceive of holding people responsible for the irresponsible handling of their weaspons? Or do we really just value our guns more than life itself?
