I'm not disputing the fact that the woman stopped the car jacker. I don't ignore the possibility of the older child accessing the gun and be part of the death by negligent people and unsecured guns.
This is just one of many articles on the subject of children & unsecured guns.
A RAND Corporation study showed that about 1.4 million households (with an estimated 2.6 million children) had firearms stored unlocked and either loaded or with ammunition nearby.
A pretty standard week in America. Sunday, a 2-year-old in South Carolina shot his grandmother in the back while he was riding in the backseat of a car. He found the .357 revolver in the pocket on the back of the front seat and fired the weapon.*
Studies show that while most parents and grandparents and friends believe their weapons are safely hidden, children as young as 3 know where to find them and how to use them. We can’t make our children stupider. But we can encourage parents to make sure their guns are secured. Cruel as it may sound to prosecute a parent dealing with the fallout from an accidental shooting, holding adults accountable for failing to lock up their weapons would at the very least create an incentive for them to be less careless.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_..._leave_loaded_weapons_lying_around_never.html