10/11/2011

An Mpumalanga father has been arrested after his eight year old step son used the man's gun to shoot dead a three month old baby. The incident took place in Naas Village near Komatipoort on Sunday. "The man went to sleep at his girlfriend's house. They have a three moth old son together. In the morning, he left his loaded firearm unattended on the bed, where his step son found it and used it to shoot the baby, who was sleeping on the bed," said a police spokesman. The child died instantly and the father, 31, was arrested that afternoon.

Below is the content of a letter written by Laura Pollecut of “Ceasefire” in regards to this tragic shooting:
The incident "Boy shoots infant with dad's gun" is tragic and unnecessary. Each member of the family in this situation is a victim: the infant that died; the eight year-old who obviously did not understand what he was doing; the mother; the man whose gun it was and in this case the father of the infant that died. He will have to live with this guilt for the rest of his life. Although there are many of us who believe we should strive for a gun free South Africa, we acknowledge that it is not illegal to own a firearm. We have excellent firearm control legislation but in this incident, it was ignored as the gun should have been locked in a safe. There large number of family and intimate partner murders as well as accident shootings in domestic situations is cause for concern. In fact people do not realize the increased risk of firearms being used against a family member once a firearm is brought in - often supposedly for the protection of the family. Better not own one at all.
Laura Pollecutt, Coordinator the Ceasefire Campaign