On Friday, February 25th, Jay Byler’s life turned completely upside down.
His seven-year-old daughter, Karlee, was shot in the head and died instantly.
According to the South Bend Tribune, Karlee and her sister, Brooklyn, had been playing outside of their Goshen home with their mother, Kelly, after school. Jay got home from work and played briefly with the girls before heading inside to help them out of their winter coats and boots while Kelly made dinner.
Karlee was waiting for Jay to pull off her boots as he turned to help Brooklyn with her coat.
Just as he turned, the concealed weapon he had stashed in his pocket, fell to the ground and fired a single shot into Karlee’s head.
It was an accident no one could have imagined, but is a moment the family will relive for the rest of their lives. The parents no longer have their daughter and Brooklyn no longer has her sister.
Unfortunately, this tragic moment isn’t an isolated incident. Many of these guns are owned by loving adults who feel owning a gun will help protect their family members; however, over 500 children die in gun related accidents each year in the United States.
So where do we draw the line between trying to protect our family and risking the possibility of a horrible accident occurring?
After all, Jay was trying to be responsible for his weapon when he took it from his empty vehicle to secure it in his house. Had Jay repeated his movements fifty more times, chances are the gun would have not fallen and triggered like it did that evening.
At one point in time, Indiana ranked second in the nation for gun permits possessed per 1,000 adults with over 300,000 permits issued. After all, Indiana is a “shall issue” state, which means that following the completion of an application, short background check and payment of fees, a permit is granted.
Would tougher gun laws have helped keep Karlee safe? Probably not, but it might have helped a few of the other children who died in gun accidents.
I’ve never owned a gun, nor do I think I’d like to. The only reason I would purchase a gun is to protect myself. But when I think about circumstances where I might need a gun, I don’t think I would actually be able to make the decision to pull the trigger and take someone else’s life. So there isn’t much reason for me to own a gun.
But I do worry about the households where adults have kids and guns in the house. Kids are curious and parents aren’t always 100% on top of things, and as seen in this article, accidents happen.
I’m sad for Jay and his family. I can’t imagine the loss they must be feeling and I hope that other gun owners will think about whether they are really “protecting” themselves and their loved ones by carrying a weapon.
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