OTTAWA — Deaths by accidental shooting among children are rare in the region, with only one during the past 30 months.
Only Kyle S. Markins, 17, a junior at Liberty-Benton High School, was killed during that time frame when a 17-year-old friend accidentally shot him with a rifle. He died in Oct. 17, 2015, near Pandora when he was shooting with friends.
The friend later was convicted of negligent homicide, a misdemeanor.
On Oct. 1, a 17-year-old boy was shot in the mouth with a .22 caliber long-rifle round but survived. Kaleb Davis was taken to Toledo Children’s Hospital. Davis was shot in a home on Reservoir Road by 19-year-old Gregory Lambert, who appeared to have been carelessly handling the rifle he had placed on his bed earlier in the day after hunting groundhogs.
Davis was sleeping in a chair in Lambert’s bedroom. Lambert was going to bed and grabbed the rifle to remove it from his bed when he accidentally fired a round, hitting Davis in the mouth.
Overall, homicides by rifle are rare, as well, in the United States. Of the 8,878 homicides by firearm last year only 201 were by rifle. That includes incidents where terrorists used what some politicians refer to as “assault rifles,” just one type of the many different types of rifles include in the numbers.
Insight Firearms Training Development Instructor Steve Farmer said teaching gun safety is the most important part of his business. He stresses the safe handling of firearms to the adults who take his class but also tells them to make sure their children are aware of gun safety measures.
Farmer also credits the National Rifle Association with working hard through various programs to stress gun safety with children. He said a lot of children learn safe gun handling skills through various NRA programs that last a lifetime.
“If it weren’t for the NRA safety programs for children, there may be a lot more deaths,” Farmer said.
