4-Year-Old Picks Up a Gun at Family BBQ and Accidentally Kills Wife of Sheriff's Deputy

Impact

A terrible gun-accident left 48-year-old Josephine Fanning dead. The perpetrator? A four-year-old boy. The loaded gun was sitting on the bed before the toddler picked it up and fired it at the spouse of Tennessee sheriff’s deputy, Daniel Fanning. This tragic accident is just another example of the dangers of having a gun in a household.

The Fanning’s were recently married last year and were attending a family BBQ. Daniel Fanning was showing some of his personal firearms to a relative in the bedroom when the toddler came in and picked up the gun from the bed. The gun shot killed Mrs. Fanning immediately, she was pronounced dead on the scene. No charges will be filed against the four-year-old boy. 

Wilson County Sheriff Robert Bryan said, "Within seconds this small 4-year-old comes into the room, unbeknownst to the officer, and just picked up the gun and shot her. Danny Fanning is going to have to live with it. Our prayers, our thoughts go out to him and the child."

This horrific accident demonstrates once again the dangers of having a firearm in the household. Gun accidents are all too commonplace. It impossible to deny the impact gun ownership has on American society. Isn't it sad to think that people still believe buying a gun makes them safer when in fact it does the exact opposite? Don't believe me? The below infographics do a much better job at explaining this fact than I ever could, so I'll let them do the talking.