Above and beyond the basic responsibilities that are a part of parenting, with programs like Project ChildSafe from the NSSF and Eddie Eagle educational from the NRA, there is no reason that every single gun owners’ family would have children who do not know or practice gun safety.
But if you’re an advocate for gun rights, or worse, “gun sense”, and you’re shot in the back by your 4-year-old child, you’re not only a disgrace to the rest of us, you’re a shining example of everything the gun grabbers think we are.
In the deferred prosecution agreement reached with the state attorney’s office in Sanford, Jamie Lynn Gilt, 31, agreed to complete a gun safety course, install a mounted holster in her vehicle and provide proof of safe storage of firearms in her home. Gilt also must give 10 speeches about the March 8 shooting and the need to safely secure firearms, according to a news release issued by the state attorney’s office on Friday.
The agreement did not specify where the speeches would be given.
Prosecutors say Gilt’s son, Lane, was riding in the booster seat when he unbuckled himself and picked up a loaded .45-caliber handgun he found on the floorboard. He fired it through the front seat, striking his mother in the back. He wasn’t injured.
Gilt has recovered from her injuries.
If Gilt complies with the agreement, prosecutors said the charge of unsafe storage of a firearm will be dismissed. However, this gun owning parent doesn’t think the peers within the community of gun owners should let this slide.
We need to be hyper-vigilant about gun safety, not just for our sake, but for our children’s sake and fellow gun owners as well. When one of us messes up, it tarnishes all of us.
I tell my family we must be 10,000% compliant to the four rules of gun safety. They know that means we’re 100% compliant 100% of the time. There’s nothing wrong with holding each other accountable for being 10,000% compliant with gun safety measures, especially if you’re an outspoken advocate for gun rights and/or gun safety.
Let’s make sure we’re keeping ourselves and our children safe! Post fun gun safety posters on your Facebook page, remind your children often about proper use of firearms, and speak out when you see someone doing something questionable at the gun range. If they say anything about you being a nuisance or to mind your own business, just tell them you’re only speaking out because you don’t want them to wind up Gilt-y.
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