12-year-old unintentionally shot with gun parents kept for protection

A 12-year-old Rupter, Idaho boy was home alone with two other boys, ages 10 and 12, when they decided to goof around with the 9mm handgun that was kept, loaded and unlocked, in the parents' bedroom for "security purposes."
According to reports, the boys were allegedly trying to clear the gun of ammunition by cycling the firing mechanism in the weapon. They took the magazine out and handed the pistol to the 10-year-old boy. Thinking the gun was unloaded, the boy pulled the trigger. The gun fired and a bullet went clear through the side of the 12-year-old boy and lodged in the bedroom wall. The boy was taken to the Minidoka Hospital before being air lifted to a medical center in Pocatello.
The boy's parents had other guns that were locked in a gun safe, but this handgun was kept in the bedroom. The sheriff's office issued a statement that read, in part, "Children do have a way of discovering things and we at the sheriff's office would encourage all parents with firearms to make their firearms as safe as practical."