From the time they were about 6 years old, Bruce Johnson’s daughters knew he had guns in the house.
They also knew not to touch the guns without an adult present, not to point them at anyone and not to show them to company.
The Caledonia resident and Itawamba County native has always owned firearms. Hunting rifles, shotguns, pistols — Johnson said they were part of his culture growing up. His dad taught him not only how to use them but also how to stay safe with them — a lesson he now wants to make sure his daughters know.
“(They need to know) a gun, in and of itself, is neither good nor bad,” Johnson said. “They can be used for things that are good and recreational or they can be used for things that are very bad and lethal. And they have to know, just like using a knife to cut something around the house — if you stop respecting it, someone could get hurt very, very bad.”
Accidental shooting deaths
Nearly 1,300 children in the United States die from gunshot wounds each year, with another 5,790 injured, according to an article published by the American Academy of Pediatrics in June. Six percent of child gun deaths are from accidental shootings.
That statistic hit home for Columbus earlier this month when 12-year-old Lagarius Morris and his friends were at a neighbor’s house. The children found a loaded AM-15 5.56-caliber rifle on a high shelf in the home. A 13-year-old took the gun down and accidentally, but nonetheless fatally, shot Morris.
Columbus police are investigating the case, which will be presented to a grand jury, but no charges have been filed at this time.
Morris isn’t the only child in north Mississippi to die in an accidental shooting this month. On July 4, two brothers in Winston County, ages 5 and 6, were playing with a firearm when the 6-year-old shot the 5-year-old while their father was asleep in another room.
District Attorney Scott Colom would not speak to the specifics of Morris’ case. But generally, he said, charges in an accidental shooting case involving children can range from second-degree murder to negligence and depend entirely on the circumstances surrounding the shooting — where the gun was located, where the gun owner was at the time and whether an adult saw the children playing with the gun.
Open communication about guns
The fact the Johnsons have firearms in their home is something they keep in mind when their daughters have friends over.
“One of the rules we have in our house is: When they have friends over, we like to be home,” Johnson said.
Sometimes his oldest daughter, now 15, will supervise if the younger, 11, has a friend over, but it won’t be for any substantial amount of time. And the girls know not to go into the rooms where the guns are stored and not to show off to friends.
“We tell them, ‘Hey, that stuff is not for you guys to touch unless there’s an adult here and especially if it’s just you guys and a friend,'” Johnson said. “They’re not to go near them.”
Johnson and his wife also have “pretty frank” conversations with parents of other children who the girls may visit.
“We know how things go on in our house, but we don’t know how things go on in their house,” Johnson said. “I’ve never asked a parent, ‘Hey, do you have firearms? Are they where these kids can get to them?’ I’ve just not had that worry, knowing my daughters the way I know my daughters.”
Given what happened to Morris earlier this month, though, he thinks he might revisit that idea and start talking to his daughters about what to do when they’re at someone else’s house and someone grabs a gun out of the closet.
“Call me,” he said, indicating that’s what he expects from them.
Talking to other parents is actually one of the better ways to keep kids safe at other people’s houses, said Hannah Shearer, a staff attorney at the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
“We always recommend that adults speak to each other,” she said.
Basic safety
The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence is an office of Americans for Responsible Solutions Foundation, an organization set up by Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords to promote gun legislation.
“Many gun owners are responsible because they want to protect their kids,” Shearer said. “(But) we think there is a place for laws that spell out what gun owners should do.”
One of those things is keep the firearms in the home locked, Shearer said. Many parents assume their children don’t know where their firearms are kept, but studies have shown that more children report knowing where their parents’ guns are than parents realize.
That’s why it’s not just important to keep guns unloaded and in a locked location, Shearer said, but to keep talking to children about the dangers of guns and how to handle them safely.
“It’s important to continue safe storage practices,” she said. “…But it probably involves a conversation with your teenager and also that you pay attention to any mental health issues that are going on.”
Maurice Johnson is an investigator with Colom’s office. He often speaks with civic clubs and other organizations about various topics related to law and investigation. Shortly after Morris’ death, he spoke to about 30 teenagers at the Boys and Girls Club in Columbus about gun safety.
“Rule number one: If you see a gun, get away from it,” he said.
This doesn’t just go for being at someone’s house, he told them. If they see one on the side of the road, tell someone. If they see another person with a gun, stay away from where the gun is pointed. He told the kids to tell their parents, or another adult, and to definitely not touch or play with the gun.
“It was more along the lines of making sure they had an idea of what to do in a situation where they may see a gun laying out somewhere or you see another child — or an adult — playing with the gun,” Maurice Johnson said. “The best policy is not to pick it up, not to play with it, not to handle it because that’s when accidents occur.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.