More than 200 times each year a child shoots and kills themselves, another child, or another adult. Who’s to blame for this unnecessary tragedy? The answer is undeniable; the adult in the house who left a loaded gun in an accessible location for that child.

I feel as though I have written this article a thousand times, but American gun nuts who place more value on their weapons than the lives of their families are not listening. The NRA gun lobby wins again when an innocent American loses their life.

Saturday a 9-year-old boy shot and killed his 13-year-old sister in Monroe County, Mississippi. The young girl’s crime; refusing to surrender a video game controller to her brother when he demanded it.

The authorities have not yet discovered how the boy gained access to the weapon. Here was Sheriff Cecil Cantrell’s statement. The weapon was a .25 caliber handgun. The girl was shot in the back of the head.

“He’s just 9. I assume he’s seen this on video games or TV,” Cantrell said. “I don’t know if he knew exactly what this would do. I can’t answer that. I do know it’s a tragedy.”

“This is all new ground for us, we’ve never dealt with a kid shooting a kid at age 9,” Cantrell said. “We don’t know yet what kind of charges or if charges will be pressed. We want to make sure we’re doing everything correctly.”

I can guarantee who will not be punished; the guilty adult.

Until 1976 the National Rifle Association was a gun safety organization. This agency wrote most of the gun laws we have today. In 1976, the leaders of the NRA saw an opportunity. They revoked their primary purpose and over time became a gun lobby for gun manufacturers and gun safety.

Before 1976, the NRA gave away pamphlets with instructions for gun safety in the home. The solution was simple. The firearm should be unloaded, and the weapon and its ammunition locked in separate locations. Problem solved.

I have read all of the excuses when a death results from a child discharging a weapon of destruction; I call ‘bullshit.’ The safety of families precedes any other reason I have heard.

This young girl’s family will never recover from this tragedy. The boy will require a lifetime of therapy, and will likely have difficulties in school and throughout his life. In reality, the parents have lost two children. It is so very sad that this could have easily been prevented.

Congratulations to the NRA, and their Republican puppets.

Op-ed by James Turnage

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