Deputy's wife killed when gun goes off in hands of 4-year-old

[Rippleman]

Deputy's wife killed when gun goes off in hands of 4-year-old

A 4-year-old Tennessee boy picked up a loaded gun and it went off, killing the wife of a sheriff's deputy at a family cookout, state police said Monday.

Josephine Fanning, 48, and her husband, Wilson County Sheriff's Deputy Daniel Fanning, were entertaining family and friends at their Lebanon, Tenn., home Saturday evening, Tennessee state police spokeswoman Kristin Helm told the Los Angeles Times, when Daniel Fanning started showing his guns to a friend in his bedroom.

A 4-year-old boy at the cookout walked into the room with Josephine Fanning and picked up a loaded handgun from the bed and it went off, Helm said.

Officials think the shooting was an accident but are investigating in case prosecutors decide to file charges.

"It's a sad, sad set of circumstances," Wilson County Sheriff Robert Bryan told WSMV-TV. "Nobody is immune to this -- nobody. It doesn't matter if you are a law enforcement officer. These things can happen in seconds."

About 600 Americans die in accidental shootings every year, according to National Center for Injury Prevention and Control statistics, and about 31,000 Americans die of gunshot wounds each year.

source: http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-tennessee-cookout-shooting-20130408,0,537977.story

[articuno1au]

They had a loaded gun just sitting around :|

That's thoroughly moronic. That's not a question of gun control so much as Darwinism -_-

[Avi Patel]

guns shouldn't be out like that.

should be locked up somewhere at all times, though easily accessible to you if an invader decides to crash the party.

[Skin]

this is very odd.

A sheriff deputy had a loaded handgun out and showing it in his bedroom at a party... which is odd by itself, then he left it on a bed, then a 4 year old was unwatched and went into the room, then he picked up the gun and shot the wife... was the wife also in the room, or did the kid run through the house?

If she was also in the room, why the hell did she not stop the kid? Why was the gun out and no safety on? How does a 4 year old have the finger strength to pull a trigger while aiming at a person?

SOOOOO many burning questions that the news reporter should have answered.

[chrisj1968]

They had a loaded gun just sitting around :|

That's thoroughly moronic. That's not a question of gun control so much as Darwinism -_-

probably had a life of threats to his personal safety..dunno

[Stoffel]

And this is why gun control debate in the USA is useless.

If even highly trained people, with a role model function, can't handle a gun properly, all is lost.

[Rippleman]

perhaps if the deputy's wife was also packing a gun, she could have protected herself better /s

[Shiranui]

Death penalty?

[HawkMan]

Stewie would be proud.

[Shiranui]

I shot my mother, but I didn't shoot the deputy...

[chrisj1968]

prudence would have told me to stow a loaded firearm in the closet on the top shelf. not that hard to do or think about.. unless you get complacent

[FloatingFatMan]

prudence would have told me to stow a loaded firearm in the closet on the top shelf. not that hard to do or think about.. unless you get complacent

It wasn't stored on the bed, try actually reading the article properly. The guns were out and on the bed as they were in the process of showing them to other people. Doesn't stop it being really REALLY stupid to put loaded guns on a bed with a toddler, especially with no safety or trigger guard, but the guns were not stored on the bed.

Right now, the kid has no idea what he did, but just imagine how he's going to feel in future years when he finds out he accidentally killed someone. :( The article wasn't clear though, was the dead woman his mom? That'd be even WORSE if so!

[Nashy]

And these people are selected to enforce gun laws?

[FloatingFatMan]

^ Accidents happen to everyone, all it takes is a few seconds lapse and BAM, someone is dead.

This sort of thing will not stop as long as American's want the freedom to own guns. And no, I'm not advocating they should give them up; that's not my decision to make.

[mudslag]

I just hope someone remembers this story next time they start to lay their gun out in the open, specially with a little child running around.

[Noir Angel]

Natural selection still works.

[hagjohn]

It's sad to see such flippant comments about a serious subject. But I'm not surprised.

[Noir Angel]

Sometimes people reap what they sow. You want a society with proliferation of guns? Then you pay the price. You act like an idiot around dangerous weapons? you also pay the price. I feel no sympathy for people that are the victims of their own stupidity.

[Stokkolm]

this is very odd.

A sheriff deputy had a loaded handgun out and showing it in his bedroom at a party... which is odd by itself, then he left it on a bed, then a 4 year old was unwatched and went into the room, then he picked up the gun and shot the wife... was the wife also in the room, or did the kid run through the house?

If she was also in the room, why the hell did she not stop the kid? Why was the gun out and no safety on? How does a 4 year old have the finger strength to pull a trigger while aiming at a person?

SOOOOO many burning questions that the news reporter should have answered.

Most law enforcement carry Glock handguns which have no mechanical safety, just a trigger stop that must be depressed with the trigger. On that note, if you're showing someone your guns the first thing you should do is ensure that they are unloaded. This should never have happened.

[HSoft]

Here we have yet another innocent life needlessly destroyed by legal gun ownership.

Not quite what you are getting at. He's a deputy Sheriff, gets a gun as part of his job. Not exactly "legal gun ownership". Nice try though.

[techbeck]

prudence would have told me to stow a loaded firearm in the closet on the top shelf. not that hard to do or think about.. unless you get complacent

No, never store a loaded firearm unless it is under lock and key...especially when children are around. They can get a chair and get the gun from the top shelf. Been stories of kids doing this before.

[ILikeTobacco]

Yes accidents happen to everyone, but guns are tools designed for killing, so any accident with them is usually lethal.

Except that, you know, they are usually not lethal. But hey, don't let facts get in the way of your bias.The actual number is around 30% are lethal. Not the 51% or more your comment implies.

http://news.harvard....8/firearms.html

EDIT: btw, that 30% includes suicides and murders which means the number is far less than that since suicides make up 2/3 of all firearm deaths.

[theyarecomingforyou]

Not quite what you are getting at. He's a deputy Sheriff, gets a gun as part of his job. Not exactly "legal gun ownership". Nice try though.

In the UK police aren't armed and don't want to be armed, with the exception of specialist firearms units. Even if you accept that law enforcement officers should be routinely armed?which I don't?it doesn't mean that those weapons should be stored at their place of residence. Being realistic, disarming law enforcement officers in the US is unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future but that doesn't mean more can't be done to prevent deaths like this - tough jail sentences for the improper storage and/or use of weapons would help prevent such incidences occurring. Weapons shouldn't be treated in such a cavalier manner.

[ILikeTobacco]

In the UK police aren't armed and don't want to be armed, with the exception of specialist firearms units. Even if you accept that law enforcement officers should be routinely armed?which I don't?it doesn't mean that those weapons should be stored at their place of residence. Being realistic, disarming law enforcement officers in the US is unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future but that doesn't mean more can't be done to prevent deaths like this - tough jail sentences for the improper storage and/or use of weapons would help prevent such incidences occurring. Weapons shouldn't be treated in such a cavalier manner.

Wouldnt work using tough jail sentences because those would never effect law enforcement. Also, he was a sheriff's deputy which they will never be disarmed. The issue is that they cover large land areas with low density so its not possible to quickly respond to a situation that requires a firearm because it would take over an hour just to get back to the station to get them and then get to the location.

[shakey]

It wasn't stored on the bed, try actually reading the article properly. The guns were out and on the bed as they were in the process of showing them to other people. Doesn't stop it being really REALLY stupid to put loaded guns on a bed with a toddler, especially with no safety or trigger guard, but the guns were not stored on the bed.

Right now, the kid has no idea what he did, but just imagine how he's going to feel in future years when he finds out he accidentally killed someone. :( The article wasn't clear though, was the dead woman his mom? That'd be even WORSE if so!

I'm seriously doubting that anyone but you and I read this article.... the comments on here certainly reflect that at least.

The kid was not related to either the Sherrif or his wife. The kid was just a kid of one of their friends.

But yes, this was'nt "bad storage". This is a classic case of a very very bad accident. They were showing the guns to a friend, and basically they say, that as soon as they set the handgun down, with in 4 seconds, the little kid had picked it up and shot it. It was stupid of them to really have a kid in the room with all that deadly fire power.