A 10-year-old boy was shot this week in Ohio after another 10-year-old boy accidentally discharged a gun.
The Toledo Police Department (TPD) reported the shooting occurred on Feb. 8 at 11:15 a.m.
Law enforcement believes that a second 10-year-old minor located the firearm inside the residence, believing it to be unloaded, and unintentionally discharged it, striking the other child.
The incident remains under review by Toledo Police Investigative Services.
TPD urged its citizens to store firearms securely and out of reach of children and reminded them that free gun locks, to help prevent unintentional shootings, are available within the department's Community Services Section located at 2527 Cherry Street.
"Ohio doesn’t require safe storage and instead relies on the voluntary efforts of its residents, but in cases like this, you can see that it clearly falls short," Wagner Reese managing partner and attorney Stephen Wagner told NTD. "States that do require secure storage have far lower rates of unintentional shootings for children and teens."
Ohio does have a law holding parents accountable when a minor child causes an injury or death with a firearm, according to Wagner.
"While there are statutory limits, those can be exceeded with negligence claims," he said. "It’s a felony when parents don’t do their part to prevent children from accessing guns in the home, and it’s sad, really, that some people don’t think about the cascade of consequences that can occur when they neglect to secure these items."
"Safe storage is not part of federal law, and that leaves the choice up to each state where only half of them have laws preventing child access to guns," Wagner added.