Wednesday, December 29, 2010

14-year-old girl unintentionally shot and killed at slumber party

14-year-old Megan Reppond of Joplin, Missouri went to a slumber party Monday night with three of her friends at the home of Scott Arkle. Arkle had gotten a new concealed weapons holster for Christmas and was trying it out with his .38-caliber handgun. He left the gun, loaded, unlocked, with no safety on, in the holster on top of a piano in one of the rooms of the house.
When the girls went into the room one of the young teenagers picked up the gun, assuming it wasn't loaded, jokingly pointed the gun at Megan and pulled the trigger. Megan was flown to a hospital in Springfield and was taken off life support Tuesday morning and subsequently died.
The county prosecutor said that while it is never a good idea to leave a loaded gun out in a home where there are children, he does not anticipate filing any charge in the case. Missouri does not have any CAP (Child Access Prevention) laws that require guns be stored locked and unloaded and impose criminal liability on adults who negligently leave firearms accessible to children.
Ohh shoot.

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