Boy shoots girl at day care center

[alicia-w]

GERMANTOWN, Maryland (AP) -- A gun brought to a day care center by an 8-year-old boy accidentally went off Tuesday, wounding a 7-year-old girl in the arm, police said.

The boy had the gun in the backpack and was playing with it when it accidentally went off at the For Kids We Care center, Montgomery County police spokesman Derek Baliles said.

The girl was taken to Children's Hospital in Washington, he said. Her injury was not considered life-threatening.

There were six children in the center at the time of the shooting, which happened around 7 a.m. No one else was hurt.

Police said they do not know where the child got the gun. Names of the children, both from Germantown, a suburb of Washington, were not released.

[TexasStooge]

It seems that parents can't keep weapons in safe places where kids couldn't reach 'em.

[gtalum]

Parents of children who are found to possess guns should be punished severely. I'm talking prison time, whether the gun goes off or not.

[alicia-w]

i have five kids and we've ALWAYS had guns in the house, a virtual arsenal. They've always been properly locked up and every single kid was taught the proper respect for all firearms. We didnt have one single gun incident in our home, ever.

[gtalum]

That's good, alicia. I don't mean that parents shouldn't be allowed to have guns. Just that if their kids are caught with them unsupervised the parents should be severely punished.

[O Town]

It seems that parents can't keep weapons in safe places where kids couldn't reach 'em.

It is kinda hard to put them up where they can't be reached. Kids are not dumb if they know they are there they will get to them. They should be locked in a gun case or have a locking device on the gun itself. Also I think the kids should be taught about guns, not just hidden from them. So if they ever get their hands on one they will have some sense about them. They need to be taught to respect guns, and saftey of using them.

[P.K.]

That is just scary.

Personally I don't think people should have guns in the first place then this sort of thing wouldn't happen.

[Terrell]

It is kinda hard to put them up where they can't be reached. Kids are not dumb if they know they are there they will get to them. They should be locked in a gun case or have a locking device on the gun itself. Also I think the kids should be taught about guns, not just hidden from them. So if they ever get their hands on one they will have some sense about them. They need to be taught to respect guns, and saftey of using them.

I agree with you OTown. With a kid this young he probably got the gun from home. If it were an older kid, I'd be hesitant to pin it on the parents, so I'm loathe to say that the parents should always go to jail. I'd rather look at parental involvement on a case by case basis.

[GalvestonDuck]

Irresponsible idiots (and children) should not have access to guns.