4-Year-Old Gets Hold of Gun And Shoots 6-year-old Neighbor, Another shooting Adds Fuel To Gun Control Debate

At 6:40pm Saturday afternoon in Toms River, New Jersey a 4-year-old boy got hold of a .22-caliber rifle and shot a 6-year-old neighbor in the head. The wounded boy was taken to a hospital and is listed in serious condition.

Police are not giving a lot of information out since an investigation into the 4-year-old with a gun has just begun. They did not want to speculate as to how the child got his hands on the gun. Nor do they know if the gun belonged to the 4-year-old's parents.

The mother of the 4-year-old called 911 after the shot was fired. According to statements made by County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato in a news conference it is "too early to speculate" about what happened. There is no word on whether or not anyone will be charged with a crime.

"We are keeping the child in our prayers, and I ask everyone to do the same," said Toms River police chief Michael Mastronardy.

Angry neighbors wanted to know how a tragedy like this could happen. They wanted to know who the gun belonged to and why was it kept in a place a 4-year-old could easily access?

There seems to be a trend of 4-year-olds with guns this week. On April 8 at a family cookout in Lebanon, Tennessee a 4-year-old took hold of gun and shot 48-year-old Josephine G. Fanning dead.

Fanning's husband had brought a friend into the bedroom to show off some guns. Fanning and the 4-year-old later walked into the bedroom where the men were talking, none of the adults attempted to keep the child away from the guns that were just lying on the bed.

Fanning died at the scene. Her husband Daniel Fanning is a police deputy in Wilson County. The gun used to kill Mrs. Fanning was a personal gun and not the deputy's police gun.

With the debate over gun control raging on in this country there seem to be more and gun related stories in the news. Whether you are for or against harsher gun laws, we should all be able to agree that 4-year-olds and guns do not mix.

President Obama was in Connecticut on Monday giving a speech about gun control at the University of Hartford. The president has been working with the family members of the victims of the Sandy Hook tragedy in order to get the Senate to approve stronger gun laws.  

Family members of the children who died at the Newtown elementary school were flown to Washington on Air force one to get members of congress to start up the stalled legislation calling for stronger background checks for those looking to buy guns.

Democrats and Republicans are battling it out on Capitol Hill. Democrats are trying to push gun bills while republicans are trying to stop them.

A ban on high capacity magazine assault rifles has already been stalled. The Sandy Hook families are going to spend the day meeting with senators to try and convince them stronger background checks are the way to go.