A 5 year old in Kentucky unintentionally shot his 2 year old sister with a rifle designed for children and given to him as a birthday present.

Caroline’s death was ruled accidental and no charges will be filed against her 5-year-old brother.  But what about charges against the parent who gave the child the gun, the parent who failed to remove the bullet, or the manufacturer who markets guns for 4 year olds as “My first rifle?” 

“The little Crickett rifle is a single-shot rifle and it has a child safety,” the Coroner said. “This was just a tragic accident.

“In my fifteen years as coroner, this is the first such case,” he said. “It is very, very rare.”

When children die in the streets of Chicago from illegal guns, it’s called bad parenting. But when 2-year-olds die in their own home with legal weapons given to kindergarteners as gifts, it’s a “tragic accident?”  Nor is this an isolated incident: a  six-year-old  died from injuries sustained when his 4-year-old neighbor shot him in the head with a 22-caliber rifle Monday evening as they played between their New Jersey homes