Children in the Line of Fire

The United States, with its weak gun laws, remains an exceptionally dangerous place for children. Approximately nine children and teenagers die every day from gun violence in America. In any given year, the U.S. loses more than 3,000 children and teens to gun violence; a number greater than the number of Americans that were killed in the 9/11 attacks. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), American children age 14 and below are sixteen times more likely than children in other industrialized nations to be murdered with a gun, eleven times more likely to commit suicide with a gun, and nine times more likely to die from firearms accidents.

A spate of recent tragedies reminds us that children remain vulnerable even when their parents are among the most highly qualified gun owners in America—concealed handgun permit holders. For years, the gun lobby has told us that permit holders are some of the most law-abiding and responsible citizens in the country. The problem is that in approximately 40 states, little is done in terms of screening or training requirements to assure that this is the case.

• On January 8, Jaritza Alvarado’s eight year-old son Jose found her 9mm handgun and tragically shot himself in the chest. Alvarado, a resident of Allentown, held a permit to carry a concealed handgun in Pennsylvania. The boy’s father told police that the previous night he had seen the gun on the dresser in the couple’s bedroom. Just before going to bed, he grabbed the weapon, loaded it, racked a round into the chamber, and placed it in a backpack on the floor of the room. That backpack belonged to Jose, who stored his video games inside it. The following morning, as his parents slept, Jose opened the backpack to find the handgun sitting on top of his games. He fatally shot himself, waking them up immediately. After searching the home, police found an extra gun magazine in a kitchen cabinet, next to a two-liter bottle of soda that had a hidden compartment used to store cocaine.
  
  

• Marine Sergeant Colton Lumon was at home with his wife and two daughters on February 21. As nine month-old Makenna sat in her high chair eating fruit, Colton practiced drawing and “dry firing” his handgun at candles across the room. During one draw he applied too much pressure to the weapon and it accidentally discharged, striking Makenna in the hand and head. She was pronounced dead two hours later. Colton had a permit to carry a concealed handgun in Virginia and told police he kept his weapon loaded with a bullet in the chamber at all times.
  
  

• On February 27, 11 year-old Randy Reddick, Jr. was accidentally shot and killed in front of his home in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Earlier that day, his father, Randy Reddick, Sr.—a concealed handgun permit holder—had removed his 40-caliber Glock pistol and placed it in the center console of his truck before entering the post office. When the family returned home later that day, Randy Sr. sent Randy Jr. and his 10 year-old son outside to get his coat from the truck. The 10 year-old found the gun, which had been left in the truck, and accidentally shot his brother in the head, killing him instantly.

None of the three states in which these tragedies occurred—Pennsylvania, Virginia and Florida—require any real training for concealed handgun permit holders. Pennsylvania requires no training whatsoever. Virginia requires applicants to take a one-hour online test (applicants watch a 1/2-hour video and then answer a 20-question multiple-choice test at the website). Florida requires three hours of classroom instruction. Once satisfied a single time, the Virginia and Florida requirements are good for life. Additionally, none of these states have any mandatory safe storage requirements for firearms kept in homes where minors are present.

The results, sadly, are predictable: Unnecessary and heartbreaking tragedies that claim the most precious and vulnerable members of our society. We could—and should—be doing a lot more to protect children like Jose Alvarado, Makenna Lumon and Randy Rennick, Jr. It is a stain on our nation’s conscience that we are not.

The Gun-Toting Soccer Mom

On October 7, Meleanie Hain’s handgun failed to protect her. That evening, she was in the kitchen of her home in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, chatting on the Internet with a friend through a web camera. Her husband, Scott Hain, entered the room, picked up a 9mm handgun, and shot her several times. As the Hain’s children—ages 2, 6 and 10—fled the house in terror, Hain’s online friend heard the shots and immediately called 911. When police arrived, Meleanie Hain was found dead in the kitchen. Scott Hain, having committed suicide with a shotgun, was found dead in an upstairs bedroom.

Meleanie’s 9mm Glock 26 handgun, loaded with a full magazine and a bullet in the chamber, was in a backpack hanging from the front door. A car parked in the driveway bore an “NRA Law Enforcement” bumper sticker.

A Visible Presence
The murder-suicide drew a significant amount of media coverage because Meleanie Hain was an ardent and outspoken pro-gun activist. Known as the “gun-toting soccer mom,” she gained national attention in September of last year when she openly carried her Glock handgun to her five year-old daughter’s soccer game in Lebanon. This led to an outcry by other parents affiliated with the Central Pennsylvania Youth Soccer League who feared for the safety of their children. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much they could do. It is legal for Pennsylvania residents to openly carry handguns in public—and no permit is required.

Why did Hain bring her gun to her daughter’s soccer games? She explained that it was for self-defense and because “carrying a gun ensures that I’m taking responsibility for my children’s safety.” She added that she carried her gun openly (versus concealed) because “I don’t really need anything extra in the way of the gun if I’m going to have to pull it out and I’m holding a baby and trying to shuttle two or three other kids.” “It may sound arrogant,” Hain said, “but the Constitution has guaranteed me a right, and there is nothing more to say about it.”

Preaching the Gospel
Hain spoke frequently with the press and echoed a number of talking points that have been circulated for years by the National Rifle Association and other gun lobby groups:

• “An armed society is a polite society.”
  
  
• “When seconds count, the police are minutes away.”
  
  
• “A gun-free zone says to a criminal: ‘Easy Target.’”
  
  
• “11% of the time police officers kill an innocent person. Only 2% of the time does a private citizen shoot an innocent person.”
  
  
• “60% of criminals polled said that they would not victimize someone if they new they were armed. 40% of them said they would not victimize someone if they thought they were armed.”
  
  
• “Did anybody think they would need [guns] at Virginia Tech? Did anybody think they would need a gun at an Amish school house? Probably not.”

These comments brought plaudits from pro-gun activists (Pennsylvania Open Carry presented her with awards and one visitor at OpenCarry.org memorialized Hain by stating, “She was a true beacon for the [open carry] cause and fought the good fight”) and circumspection by Lebanon County Sheriff Michael DeLeo. On September 17, 2008, DeLeo revoked Hain’s concealed handgun permit, citing a section of Pennsylvania law that applies to individuals “whose character and reputation is such that [they] would be likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety.”

Hain appealed the revocation and her permit was reinstated on October 14, 2008, by County Judge Robert Eby, a gun owner and concealed carry permit holder himself. Eby said that the law required him to return Hain’s permit (Pennsylvania is a “shall-issue” state that gives local law enforcement no discretion in denying permits to those who pass basic computerized background checks), but he questioned her judgment nonetheless. Eby noted that Hain had “scared the devil” out of other parents and children, and declared, “Fear doesn’t belong at a kid’s soccer game from any source.” He advised her to stop open carrying her sidearm at the games—a suggestion she immediately dismissed.

Scarlet Letter
Hain wasn’t done though. She then launched a million-dollar lawsuit against Sheriff DeLeo, claiming he had infringed on her Second Amendment rights. “Just the fact that he was wrong is evidenced by the fact that my license was restored to me,” said Hain. “I am a victim of Sheriff Michael DeLeo’s. I am a victim of those in society as a direct result of his actions as well. The way people look at me sometimes when I am out running errands, I feel as if I am wearing a scarlet letter, and really it’s a Glock 26.”

Hain’s family was also beginning to look at her differently. She noted that, outside of her mother, her family was “not well educated about firearms” and “basically anti-gun.” Additionally, several local families took their children out of the daycare center that Hain ran out of her home as a result of her open carry activism. This represented a distinct setback in OpenCarry.org’s goal to "naturalize the presence of guns, which means that guns become ordinary, omnipresent, and expected. Over time, the gun becomes a symbol of ordinary personhood."

The Devil You Know
Ironically, the greatest threat to Hain at this time was not from outside her home, but from within. Hain’s attorney, Matthew Weisberg, indicated that she had separated from her husband Scott Hain, a parole officer, in early 2009, and wanted to pursue a protective order against him. Jay Bell, a moderator at the Pennsylvania Firearm Owners Association message board (where Hain’s screen name was “shefearsnothing”), said, “She was telling me at the [Open Carry] dinner in Collegeville she was planning to discuss divorce with her husband, but was afraid he’d react violently.” What exactly transpired between Meleanie Hain and her husband in the days and hours before the shooting is unknown, but it is now clear her fears were justified.

Reacting to the Hain’s murder-suicide, Daniel Vice of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence said, “We hear about cases like this every day. Eighty people are killed by guns each day [in the United States] … We see every day the effects of gun violence, especially against women. Having a gun in the home makes it 22 times more likely you’ll be killed by that gun instead of it being used on an intruder.” Joe Grace, Executive Director of CeaseFire Pennsylvania, added, “The myth is that you’re safer with a gun … Having a gun did not make Meleanie safer. She and her husband are now deceased … It should give policy-makers pause. It’s time to let go of extreme rhetoric in the name of sanity and common sense.”

In the end, there was one piece of Hain’s rhetoric that seemed prescient. “If children are afraid of guns, that goes back to their parents,” Hain said on November 12, 2008, on the “It’s Your Call” show with Lynn Doyle. “It goes back to what they’re being exposed to at home.” Certainly, no one has suffered worse in this tragedy then the Hain children.

"I blew her away."

Richard Peters’ cavalier attitude towards the safe handing and storage of firearms caused a tragedy on November 16 in Marysville, Washington, when he shot and killed his six-year-old daughter while cleaning a firearm.

That night, Peters asked his daughter, Stormy, to retrieve a Colt Double Eagle .45-caliber handgun from a nightstand in his bedroom. The accident occurred when Peters removed the magazine from the weapon to prepare it for cleaning and pulled the trigger. Peters, who was apparently unaware that a live round was in the chamber, told detectives responding to the accident, “I blew her away.” He is being held in lieu of $250,000 bail while under investigation for first-degree manslaughter.

Peters, who is a concealed carry permit holder, told investigators that prior to the fatal shooting he drank up to five double shots of vodka and believed that he would have been too intoxicated to drive a car. He also revealed to investigators that he regularly allowed all three of his children (ages 3, 6 and 8) to handle his firearms, including the .45-caliber handgun with a “hair trigger” involved in the fatal accident. Child Protective Services took custody of Peters’ two surviving children and investigators have recovered a “large” number of firearms from his residence.

The fatal shooting wasn’t Peters’ only accident involving a firearm. As recently as November 1, he accidentally discharged a shotgun that was handed to him while shooting pumpkins. Thankfully, no one was harmed in that incident.

Peters told deputies responding to the shooting of his daughter that he was "very proficient" with firearms. His pattern of irresponsible behavior, however, demonstrates that nothing could be further from the truth. Peters broke almost every rule in the book related to gun safety. He handled firearms while drinking alcohol. He pulled the trigger on a gun on multiple occasions without inspecting the weapon’s chamber to make sure it was clear of ammunition. He allowed his children—one as young as three years old—to handle firearms without direct adult supervision. He even violated the cardinal rule of gun safety—ALWAYS KEEP A FIREARM POINTED IN A SAFE DIRECTION.

Rather than being an unpreventable or unexpected tragedy, the death of Peters’ daughter was foreshadowed by his reckless attitude towards guns.

The "Hidden" Handgun

On June 9, in Columbia, South Carolina, a family’s shopping trip turned into a nightmare when a child found her grandmother’s hidden handgun. The young girl, who is four years old, was riding in a shopping cart when she reached inside of her grandmother’s purse, pulled out a loaded small-caliber handgun, and shot herself in the chest. Luckily, the bullet missed her major organs. She is now recovering after intense surgery and will be released from the hospital soon.

The grandmother, Donna Hutto Williamson, a South Carolina magistrate, possessed a license to carry a concealed weapon in the state. Chief Magistrate Rodger Emerson Edmonds noted that it is common for magistrates to carry guns for protection: "Sometimes some of the judges have to make deposits at the banks. The other reason is for self preservation to protect yourself because there are some crazies out there."

Williamson had been shopping with her granddaughter at Sam’s Club. South Carolina law allows those with concealed carry permits to bring handguns into privately-owned businesses unless they post signs prohibiting firearms on their premises. Sam’s Club posts no such signs at their retail outlets.

It is clear from all reports that Williamson is a well-respected individual in her community. Her case demonstrates that even law-abiding gun owners are subject to the distractions of everyday life, which can sometimes lead to serious lapses in judgment. No one plans on accidents. Williamson believed that her gun would protect her if she was attacked by an armed criminal. In the end, however, it was her gun that ended up nearly killing her loved one.

Thankfully, her granddaughter survived the gunshot, but Williamson is still facing possible charges, including child endangerment and unlawful neglect of a child. Hopefully, this unfortunate incident will be a lesson to others—guns should always be stored away securely so that they are totally inaccessible to children.

A Child's Party, A Family's Nightmare

Normally, a child’s birthday party is a time for celebration and joy. In Rhode Island, on May 18, however, one boy’s party turned deadly when a neighborhood dispute escalated into violence.

On that day, James Pagano, a local firefighter, was hosting a birthday party for his young son. During the course of the party, a ball that Pagano’s son and other children were playing with struck a car owned by a neighbor, Nicolas Gianquitti. An argument between Pagano and Gianquitti ensued and the men began to scuffle. Witnesses reported that Gianquitti then fired several shots from a handgun at Pagano, who was pronounced dead at a hospital shortly thereafter. There was confusion as to whether Gianquitti left his house armed, or if he returned inside to retrieve the handgun before shooting Pagano. Gianquitti has been charged with murder and is being held without bail.

Cranston Fire Chief James Gumbley told the media that Pagano, the father of two young children, was well-liked and respected by his co-workers. One neighbor described him as a “great guy, really family-oriented.” A friend called him the most stand-up, reliable friend you could ever know.”

Gianquitti, who served as a Providence police officer for six months during the early 1990s, legally owned the murder weapon and had been licensed to carry a concealed handgun in Rhode Island for fifteen years. From most accounts, he did not get along with his neighbors in Cranston. A former neighbor said that Gianquitti would often complain about balls “banging his cars.” In 2006, he filed a formal complaint with Cranston police about neighborhood kids going on his property. Adriana Pagano, James’ wife, filed her own complaint and was concerned that Gianquitti watched her children play from inside his house. Another neighbor described Gianquitti as “weird” and said that her parents told her younger brother to stay away from the man.

Despite the problems Gianquitti had with his neighbors, there was no indication that he was prone to violence. Before the shooting, Gianquitti possessed a clean criminal record and was legally permitted to carry a concealed handgun. Nor were Gianquitti’s issues with his property or neighbors unique, as many communities experience such conflicts and disagreements.

In almost all cases, however, such conflicts are resolved peacefully—through our legal system if necessary—but without violence. Had a gun not been present, Gianquitti and Pagano’s scuffle probably would have resulted in a simple fistfight. Bodies and egos might have been temporarily bruised and perhaps law enforcement would have been called in to mediate. Instead, Gianquitti’s gunfire has left James Pagano dead and a wife and two young children without the man they love the most. Gianquitti himself now faces a criminal charge that could land him in prison for the rest of his life.

Over kids on a lawn? A scuff mark or dent on a car? Whatever stress or anger Gianquitti was dealing with at the moment, surely it was not worth this.