Gun Play Kills 3rd Child; New Law Weighed

A 4-year-old who shot himself while playing with a gun a week ago has become the third Florida child to die in a recent spate of accidents involving handguns kept in the home.

The boy, Silvio Claud Pierre, died Saturday night in Tampa General Hospital after undergoing seven hours of surgery.

Florida legislators this week are to consider a bill that would make it a misdemeanor to leave a firearm in a place accessible to a child. If a child died or was permanently disfigured in a case involving negligence, the offense would be a felony with a maximum five-year prison term.