Police have charged a Texas father for endangering a child following an incident in his 4-year-old son's school. The toddler brought his dad's loaded handgun to class, prompting the school to go into lockdown.
According to NBC News, the Corpus Christi Police Department officials were called into John F. Kennedy Elementary School at around 9:00 a.m. Wednesday, August 31, after someone saw the weapon. While the authorities assessed that no one was in danger, precautions and procedures were implemented to maintain the school's security and safety.
The school had to remain in lockdown for at least an hour and a half as the police conducted their investigations. They eventually determined the handgun's owner was the student's 30-year-old father.
Father could be in prison for two years
In the U.S., at least 25 states have laws mandating safe storage and limiting access to guns to children. In Texas, such a misdemeanor carries up to two years in prison if the father is convicted.
According to CNN, the unnamed father was booked at the county jail Wednesday evening after the cops visited their house. While a bond had been set for his temporary release, it's unclear if he has hired a lawyer to defend his case.
The unintentional incident is the second to have happened in the same week. On Monday, August 29, a 7-year-old child brought two handguns to Cochise School in Arizona.
His classmates told the teachers about the loaded guns on his backpack, and the Cochise County Sheriff's Office was called in, as well as the boy's parents. The boy's mother was present when the police questioned him. A spokesperson for the school said that no charges would be filed against the parents, but the boy was issued a juvenile referral for misconduct.
Principal Karl Uterhardt, however, told KGUN9 that he's thankful the situation did not have a tragic outcome, and he is happy that the other students spoke up and called the teachers' attention when they saw the handguns.
Unintentional shootings on the rise
A tally from Everytown for Gun Safety showed that 181 unintentional shootings involving children had occurred since the start of 2022. Of these incidents, 77 have died, and 115 have been injured.
Millions of American children still live in homes with guns, even as the American Academy of Pediatrics believes that gun violence and gun-related injuries could be prevented if weapons are removed from the house.
Following the incident with the 4-year-old boy, the Corpus Christi Police reminded parents and all citizens to ensure that their weapons and firearms were in safe storage, unloaded, and trigger locked with the bullets and ammunition stored separately. The police also advised keeping the keys of the gun safe away from children's reach. The parents must also habitually check the contents of their safe to know if something is missing.
