E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSA 5-year-old Philadelphia girl shot herself while playing with a gun Tuesday night, according to police.
The girl was home in the Kensington neighborhood with her two siblings and her father when the gun went off -- hitting her in the big toe, police said.
The girl's father rushed her to St. Christopher's Hospital with what police called minor injuries.
It's unclear how the girl got a hold of her father's gun and if her siblings were also playing with it.
The investigation would continue into Wednesday. Police said the girl's father owns the gun because he works in private security.
More content from NBCNews.com:
- Oregon shopping mall gunman identified; motive unclear
- Girl, 15, shot in Oregon mall cheats death twice
- 'Unique' smuggling attempt: $42,500-worth of marijuana shot into Ariz. by cannon
- Much-criticized 'drum major' quote on Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial to be removed
- Video: Driver ticketed for truck covered in Christmas lights
Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook
Leave a Comment:
Guns don't hurt/kill children......
Huh?
If her father hadn't been watching her and she had taken a big swig of Drain-O, would you want to ban that? Or if she had fallen out of a window, would you want to ban windows?
Irresponsible parents hurt children.
Scubasteve: Good argument, but tell me how she could have possibly killed her brother or neighbor with a bottle of Drain-O.
Not even close to being the same.
She could have dropped some tin foil in the bottle of Drain-O, that would have injured anyone in the room. Or she could have pushed her brother out of the window. Or she could have gotten the keys to the family car and driven it through her neighbors house.
I knew you would come up with some fanciful scenarios to try to prove your point. Much more likely than;
Bang Bang your......Oops!
You asked me for scenarios, I provided scenarios.
I'm not saying guns aren't dangerous when used improperly, I'm simply pointing out that there are lots of household objects that can also be dangerous when used improperly. I mean, a 5 year old could kill his- or herself with a plastic bag if nobody is watching them.
Guns are hardly a household item. The long and the short of it is: if you have children, secure the most dangerous objects, and teach your kids why they are dangerous.
Nonnie,
I would agree with that whole heartedly.
Nice try. National mortality (per 100,000) rate in 2007 for children who died of unintentional injury:
Motor vehicle -- 8.1
Sufocation/strangulation -- 1.5
Drowning -- 1.3
Poisoning -- 1.2
Fire/burn -- 0.7
Firearm -- 0.2
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. The fact is that children are 6 times more likely to die from poisoning than from firearms
ScubaSteve, I agree totally.
How can a child kill another child? Tell that to whole families that have died to chlorine gas after the child got into a cleaning cabinet after an irresponsible parent put both bleach and ammonia in it. Or a child kills someone after driving:
Irresponsible parents are the cause of the top 5 child accidental deaths: 1. Car Accidents,
2. Drowning, 3. Burns, 4. Falls, 5. Poisoning. Should we therefore ban adults from having or using cars, pools, tubs, fire, ladders, steps or any type of chemical past water?
At least there are other uses for cars, pools, tubs, fire, ladders, etc. than killing. With this type of reasoning, why do you suppose we bother to ban toys that kill children? I will grant that there isn't a gun law that would have kept this particular gun out of the hands of this particular family, but the idea that anyone needs a weapon designed to kill with the push of a button in the same house as small children is, itself, indicative of parental carelessness. People will say I'm wrong, because the parents might need a gun to defend themselves and their child from potential nutcases running around with guns, but that is my point. We need stricter restrictions to prevent nutcases from running around with guns.
The fact is, America has the highest rate of firearms related homicide in the industrialized world, as well as the highest overall murder rate in the developed world. If you live in America, you are four times more likely to be murdered than if you live in Britain, almost six times more likely than in Germany, and 13 times more likely than in Japan. A University of Pennsylvania study showed that people who carry guns are actually 4.5 times as likely to be shot as people who don't carry guns, and 4.2 times as likely to be killed as people who don't carry guns. Even when you're not the nutcase who owns a gun, apparently, gun ownership alone increases your risk of being killed. If you're not the one we should be worried about, I'd think you'd be fully on-board to restrictions aimed at preventing unstable people from obtaining guns. You can argue that the increased restrictions would be ineffective but, fine, let the new restrictions be ineffective. Nobody's proposing we take guns away from the sane and only leave the insane able to obtain them. We're only requesting reasonable background checks. If you can't pass one of these, I, for one, would prefer you not own a gun.
They don't stupid parents do. if the gun was locked in a safe this would not happen. This parent is just as bad as one that would leave a knife next to a light socket or a button battery on the floor.
When was the last time you found a 5 year old that could crack a safe?
I can go almost any state and buy a gun illegally with ease out of a van. yes we need laws but laws only do so much.
My neighbors son, stabbed his self in the eye with a fork, lost his eye. Maybe we should lock up all the forks too?
It’s a fallacy argument comparing drain-o or cars to guns. Drain-o and cars and
screwdrivers, OR FORKS, have other purposes. The purpose of a car is not to kill, it’s for
transportation. There is only one purpose for a gun... to kill. It’s not a hat
rack or a back scratcher, it's a gun. The guy in Colorado that shot up the
movie theater used that gun exactly what it was designed for. To shoot, kill;
maim a lot of people with relative ease.
Rob / Exasperated. The logical fallacy isn't comparing "Items with other uses" to guns because guns are themselves "Items with other uses".
Gun control is just what *you* rail against so that you can feel that you're doing *Something* to make the world safer "For our children". Despite the fact that you're tilting at windmills.
ANNIE,you are correct. That gun sat there on it's own until a human came along and made an uneducated decision. That firearm may have sat there for years not hurting anyone. Since Dad decided to make it available to little ones we'll make this his fault and not the gun. Would you leave a bottle of vitamins on the table near a toddler? If he ate them and suffered long term health issues would you blame the vitamins? Certainly not,you would feel guilty for the rest of your life. A sense of responsibility on your part should be noticed at this time. Kids are kids and we will spend the rest of our lives looking out for them, so use some common sense people. I do believe one should be held responsible if someone is injured with his firearm. No need to ban everything that may be potentially dangerous,let's just punish to the fullest extent if misused.
denver bill; with the recent spike in gun sales - guess which direction your statistic is going to go? Or do you think all these new gun owners took all the safety classes before they went to Walmart and purchased a gun? I'll bet that for every gun Walmart sells, one out of 500 might actually buy a gun safe or trigger lock. If you are so cheap as to buy your guns at Walmart, then it goes to reason you are too cheap to store it safely.
Scubasteve58001:
If her father hadn't been watching her and she had taken a big swig of Drain-O, would you want to ban that? Or if she had fallen out of a window, would you want to ban windows?
GA Bill and ScubaSteve,
It is obvious that the people that have no clue are running rampant today. You present them facts and they just want to twist the facts.
Fact, yes gun owners should be responsible for accidents cause by their ownership of that items, same goes with cars, boats, knives, etc.
Fact, contrary to what some idiots are trying to twist, firearms are not the #1 killer of children, not even close, but the drama queens like jason the rascist fatlock, cry for me costas and others on here will lie and say it is, over and over.
STUPID, dad should have had his gun put in a safe place, so the little girl could not have gotten a hold of it, this could have been a different out come. just plain STUPID.
If only she'd shot her dad in the foot instead of herself...
OhJoy, you win! Your comment made me howl out loud....
Ahh gun control. No guns for humans. God help us, we'll all be dead in a year if this keeps up! We're all dead already!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1BDM1oBRJ8
This is why there should be regulations regarding gun storage. Unfortunately, people cant be trusted to do it on their own, willingly. Either its lack of training, or lack of will. Regardless, the only way to protect the public, is through creating laws. This child could have just as easily shot someone elses kid, or anyone for that matter.
Its the same reason we need speed limits on the highways. Some people are too selfish to think of others. Even family...
I hope the little girl is okay, and heals quickly without any permanent damage. And I hope it haunts her father for life.
More laws! Forget parenting just laws!
So make regulations because people can't be trusted to do it on their own? These are the types of people who will follow such regulations? How will a regulation make someone put something dangerous away from those it might hurt? The police will investigate and it is likely he will get charged with reckless endangerment of a child or worse. We already have laws for when one person puts another at risk or causes them harm.
Sorry, but no you are wrong period. Instead of trying to take my 2nd amendment, why don't you move to the Uk where they don't have it?
That's exactly what we need. Another law that is unenforceable (unless you ignore such pesky things as "illegal search and seizure") before an accident but can be tacked on as an additional charge after an accident.
Please learn the facts before posting. There ARE laws against allowing children access to firearms. Even if we did not have those EXISTING laws, common sense tells you the same thing - Do NOT let kids play with firearms.
Laws only go so far. People break them all the time.
Sometimes personal responsibility is the only thing that matters.
What are you talking about?
Sure, every state should have the Gun Laws that Chicago and NY have.....we've ALL seen how well that works. The only ones there with the guns are the criminals running wild.
I have no problem with the owner being charged with a crime in many states you can be charged for no securing a fire arm out of a child's reach.
A beuatiful display of Darwinism, albeit she survived...obviously this idiot should not have been allowed to breed in the first place, so the laws of nature are trying to cull the stupid. This is why I support more gun nutz having guns in their homes. Just keep them in the homes so us intelligent people aren't hit by your poor judgement.
JXC - The ridiculous principles of your "Darwinism" do not apply to 5 year old children. Her father was negligent and left his gun within reach of a child, he's the stupid one. You can hardly be included in the ranks of the intelligent population.
At least no one died this time, unlike in yesterday's story. The NRA must be breathing a sigh of relief.
The NRA put the guy up to the mall shooting?
The NRA put this guy up to not storing his firearm properly?
I must have missed that in the story!
If only all 5yr olds were properly trained in the use of firearms this would never have happened. It's about time the laws were changed. Come on, NRA, get your act together.
The NRA is responsible? Was the NRA in the house? What about the father?
What the NRA doesn't understand is the amount of rotten apples destroying the barrel (no pun intended).
The NRA continues to be passive; expounding trite expressions like 'guns don't kill people' when, at the core of the matter, they don't understand how the general public that was formerly not against the right to bear arms, is now saying, "hey! wait a minute! What the hell is happening here?" That's what were saying. Stereotyping has come to the table.
alan_static: the NRA and our political "leaders" are responsible for the easing of laws and the encouragement of "everyone should own a gun - even kids". I'm sure the NRA is real proud to hear of this and the other PA story you'll see on this website about the teenagers in western PA shooting/killing a woman for telling them to get a job. Teenagers walking around town with guns. Nope, no gun control issues there. This is why drinking age and driving age requirements exist. People are just plain stupid...
I'm pretty sure neither this 5 year old, nor the teens from the other news story were legally gun owners. They got their weapons from irresponsible idiots who shouldn't own guns.
But irresponsible idiots get into car accidents all the time. People don't advocate for taking cars away from responsible folks.
Would that be the stereotyping that occurs when someone cites "the general public" to support their argument when the fact is that public support for stricter gun control laws has been declining for decades?
I know that comment was sarcastic, but there is truth to be said in proper training for 5 year olds. I own guns and have a 5 year old. My guns are always locked up, but I've trained my children to know how to handle a situation that could occur if a gun were to become accessable, in our home or any other. My children know how to treat guns with respect and find a responsible adult if a situation like that were to ever happen.
That's right. Because there are a few rotten apples EVERYBODY should be banned from eating apples. We wouldn't want to remove those few rotten ones and leave the rest alone.
So it's the NRA's fault because someone who may not even be a member did something stupid?
Are people required to join the NRA? Does the NRA write and enforce gun laws?
Man, people here are just so stupid, it's hard to believe. Blaming an organization that had NOTHING TO DO with the accident. Just amazing.
What, you can't even recognize sarcasm now? Forget the 5yrs olds. God help us all!
Shot herself in the foot?? 5 years old and she's already a staunch republican!
ahhahah!
@leroy brown,
Well played.
Because everybody knows that us dems would only have guns if they were given to us through some entitlement program.
Hey thinker, I guess you do your thinking with your a$$
@marto2:
The thinker is having fun yanking you Lib's chains while making really good points. Projecting the way you think on to him, or those of us who are like minded, just makes yourself look like the fool.
That's mean Biker. You righties are so smart...quit making fun of us dumbass lefties!
More good news brought to you by the NRA, those 'true' Americans....
Tell us explicitly, using facts concerning the case and those involved, how the NRA was directly responsible or accountable for this accident.
Go on. We're waiting.
Can you do it?
You know how to use the internet, and a computer.
Do some research and get back to us!
While you are at it tex, tell what makes one more or less american?...
Lets give you a head start and talk about citizenship
Sadly, the NRA is very much responsible for the fact that gun distribution is so totally pervasive in this nation. All of their talk about the "right to bear arms" has subverted every citizen's right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". We continue to sufffer injuries and deaths arising out of the sophistry of the NRA.
John Dunn -- right. It's their very own passiveness that will eventually be their undoing. They just don't get it.
The NRA is fully against irresponsible ownership, offering FREE classes in responsible gun handling and storage and providing gun locks to those that will use them. The parent (and I use the term loosely) in this case was the proximate cause of the injury.
Possibly the most vapid, baseless post I've seen on a shooting story on newsvine.
Back this up with facts, statistics, and direct evidence. Your opinions mean nothing.
Also, considering statistics, and that children are something like 6x more likely to die of poisoning, then you must also be deathly afraid of chemists and the chemical industry and hold them accountable for the deaths and injuries of children who drink, say, bleach?
You can't have it one way, or you're an utter hypocrite. Or ignorant and proud.
John and Annie, nice lies to support your unsubstantiated claims. You should be Pelosi's heroes
I have a news flash for you...guns were pervasive in American culture long before the NRA was a thought in the back of someone's head; try back to the founding of this country where the founding fathers and so many others used their own personal firearms in winning the Revolutionary War.
Daddy is an idiot.
Another household accident. Would this be in national news if she'd dropped a chef's knife onto her foot and stabbed herself? Of course not. There's an agenda here, and it's about blaming and demonizing the tool (as opposed to the parent-in-charge, who also appears to be one).
Another household accident? I don't think dropping a knife would do the same kind of damage. Let us demonize the tool that causes thousands of deaths every year in the USA. Ban those instruments of death.
3 of the unsafest cities in the United States:
New York City, Chicago and Washington DC.
What do they have in common? The most restrictive gun laws.
Over 95% of the times a gun is used in self defense, no shots are fired.
Doctors vs Gunowners
Doctors
(A) The number of physicians in the U.S. is 700,000.
(B) Accidental deaths caused by Physicians per year are 120,000.
(C) Accidental deaths per physician is 0.171.
Statistics courtesy of U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services.
Now think about this:
Gun Owners
(A) The number of gun owners in the U.S. is 80,000,000. (Yes, that's 80 million)
(B) The number of accidental gun deaths per year, all age groups, is 1,500.
(C) The number of accidental deaths per gun owner is .000188.
Statistics courtesy of FBI.
Doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous than gun owners.
Ban those doctors of death!
Actually, the most dangerous cities in the US are St. Louis, Atlanta and Birmingham. The 11 most dangerous cities in the US are mostly located in the Midwest or South.
John Dunn up there would probably, if he were smart enough, stand up and support holding the AMA directly responsible for the actions of all doctors.
Ban all doctors! Child locks on doctors!
I personally will never own or touch a gun but I will not take that right away from responsible gun owners. It's these idiots who own guns and do not store them properly who should no longer be able to own them. And where was this so-called father when the 5 yr old was playing with his gun?
This man is not a very good father or responsible gun owner. How the police handle this, I won't even guess. I have learned that the criminal justice system doesn't always work the way we think it should.
I am just happy the little girl wasn't seriously injured but will be scarred for life. Hopefully, the siblings will also learn that playing with guns is wrong. The father should lose all rights to own a gun. The problem is, there are so many other ways to get a gun and own them illegally.
I pray the little girl never has to deal with this type of situation again and the Father (not a dad) gets what he deserves.
Thanks for the post.
Ban handguns.
Ban takenaka.
Why because he has a different opinion than you.
takenaka,
Good morning. Although I do respect all your posts, please give me an outcome if we did ban all hand guns.
Include the fact that criminals will not abide by this law (you know it) and the consequences of the law abiding citizen who does.......
Good Morning Creek Dog, seems Takenaka is not MIA! Was hoping he was taking a "long winter's nap!
Grandpa
Not because of a different opinion, just go back and check his posts - all are a bit of keel and seems he is OCD.
You may be correct that he is OCD but he still has a right to his opinion.
Grandpa
I agree that opinions are essential in our society, however, he usually does not put two sentences together to stay on the point. Trying to stay up with his thoughts and "logic" is like hopscotch - he is all over the board - not being derisive, just stating.
Gun control. Now! Let's make America a safe and nurturing country, instead of a violent free-for-all like the gun nutz and the NRA want.
Speech control. Now! Protect nurses from goofy speech!
Good Idea. Shut up!
Haha, so banning guns is going to make America a safe and nurturing country eh? And violent free-for-all seems like a little bit of hyperbole, doesn't it? It's funny that while correlation does not equal causation, injuries and deaths due to firearms have been dropping in recent years while the number of guns have gone up.
Yup, that's what the NRA wants.
Yup, that's what EVERY SINGLE person I know that owns up to dozens of guns (and have never committed any crimes!) wants.
Does it hurt to get out of bed in the morning?
Do you want to ban buckets, chemicals, and cars?
Those are more likely to kill children than guns.
Of course, math and statistics mean little to people like you.
Another proud day for gun-lovers.
Quick, NBC News.... get those shooting stories posted!
Or you could just stick with your County Agricultural Gazette.
All the news that doesn't piss you off.
Obviously, it's not the gun. If there hadn't been a gun around, she would undoubtedly have accidentally stabbed herself.
I don't care about gun control - it doesn't matter. People will have guns no matter the level of regulation. What matters is this little girl could have died along with a few family members.
Stupid people are breeding. It's not their fault, they've just been protected by the bubble provide by the modern world. The symptoms this father has portrayed show that he and his side of the family would have died off decades ago due to Natural Selection, but they've survived this long because we have "regulations" and modern medicine. The gene pool of this father has gotten muddied and has now caused him to make decisions that put his family at risk. I hope, for this little girl's sake, that the mother's side of the family is a little less muddied and the girl will be able to make safer decisions when she has children. Such as not having children with a dummy like her father.
And by-the-way, the NRA doesn't give a sh!t if this little girl shot herself or someone else. The NRA's main concern is fighting against the scary "regulations" monster. They believe what people do with their guns is their own business.
There are safety lock mechanism people can get for their guns. which can be used to prevent them from accidentally going off if children get their hands on them. Something parents might look into when they have children in the home. Some cities give these away for free to promote gun safety.So would locking the gun away in safe places, like a locked reinforced metal box.
All too often, people don't realize how quickly children can get into trouble when weapons aren't stored properly. It's not taking into consideration how inquisitive kids are . Nor being thoughtless people can be at times, that so often cause accidents like this five year old child just experienced.
When properly stored and precautions are taken, guns do serve a proper function. But in the hands of people who ignore safety measures or abuse them, it is obvious lives will be affected.
oh goody another gun story
The Second Amendment at work. The NRA should be proud.
The right to self defense is an inalienable right, a human right. The Framers of the Constitution were keenly aware of this and included the Second Amendment, which is a restriction on government, forbidding it from denying Americans their human rights.
Please do expand on how an accidental shooting at the hands of an irresponsible parent is "the Second Amendment at work"?
All of you people that keep bring up the 2nd amendment and the constitution hopefuly realize it was written over 200 years ago. Don't you with your lack of wisdom think that maybe it should be updated. When it was written people had muzzleloaders, not semi-automatic and assult weapons which are made for mass destruction. Just a little common sense please.
I'm sure no one at the NRA is happy about this. But it does seem you are so you can use the accident to attack the NRA and gun owners.
Common sense?
I can buy and use a Revolutionary war era CANNON quicker and easier than any real "Assault Weapon" (That has an actual definition btw.)
If our founders thought that CANNON should be allowed to the populace, then common sense says that other weapons should be made just as easy to get as a cannon.. Not harder than a cannon.
Wow what logic. By the way just where would you hide that cannon, in your pants?
marto2...you're right to self defense will never change. Not in a million years. Some government might deny you the means, but the right is inalienable. It also has nothing to do with what type of weapon you choose to defend yourself with.
Wow you must be a Rhodes Scholar.
There is nothing you liberal punks can say that will change our 2nd amendment. End of story. Little girls shouldn't play with guns, we all know that. That is why you must be 18 to own a gun. However, in all shootings by children (accidental or god forbid purposeful) an adult is at fault - not the gun. Therefore, you cooks have no ground to advocate for tighter gun laws, thanks for your opinions though. If you don't like guns, move to the UK.
Well, you sound pissed off this morning, Jasper! Are the bad liberals making you upset again?
Relax... your guns will comfort you. Pose in front of the mirror with them. Stroke them. Beat off to them. You'll feel better in no time.
Right, god, shoot the messager and don't address the message.
Yup, another looney Lib trying to play "God."
-god seems to have a fixation on masturbation. He comments on many topics and comes back to that pretty regularly. Probably a horny teen.
Don't feed the liberals (trolls)
Right wing nut bag deuche. I can call people names too.
tracijohnson---I wish you all the best with your second grade education. Where did you learn to spell? In the hood?
scary to think he is in "private security"..
There is a correlation between those that cherish guns and parental irresponsibility. Some sort of inverse proportion that those that deal with their children using great care and supervision are less likely to have guns and therefore less likely to experience the trauma of one of their children being shot or killed due to the parents own lack of supervision.
There is a correlation, but it is with parents that educate their children have a better well being regardless of their surroundings. Guns are one of many things that can hurt children. It is far more practical and logical to educate the kids to protect themselves from the dangers that are in this world than try to isolate them from it. That kind of isolation is just poor parenting.