Warnings on Gun Safety Hit Home After 3 Shootings

Guns and children can be a lethal mix.

Shootings by three Ventura County young people this summer--two in the past 10 days--emphasize the need for parents to be vigilant about weapons at home, police say.

While some authorities say good trigger locks and safe boxes should keep children and the family firearms apart, others warn that the only way to keep your teen-ager away from your gun is by never allowing a weapon in your home.

The inherent danger is evident in these recent cases:

* Three-year-old David Cook of Ventura was wounded June 15 when his 6-year-old brother accidentally shot him in the back with a shotgun left in the family’s motel room. The boy recovered, but Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary Peace said she will decide within two weeks whether to prosecute the parents under a 1991 law that makes it a crime to leave a loaded gun where a child reaches it and uses it.

* A 17-year-old Thousand Oaks boy is facing murder charges after he took his father’s pistol and shot his girlfriend point-blank in the eye while brandishing the gun. Jacqueline Ann Reay, 16, died shortly she was shot July 13. Sheriff’s Lt. Craig Husband said the boy’s father had left the gun locked up before the boy took it. He declined to say how the boy gained access to the gun.

* And a 16-year-old Moorpark boy was shot through the upper arm in Moorpark on Tuesday when the gun he and a 19-year-old friend were playing with went off. The two had been drinking, and the 16-year-old may have accidentally shot himself with a gun believed to be his, detectives say. The boy was treated for his wounds and released, and no charges have been filed in that case, said Sheriff’s Detective Ed Wyand.

In the Thousand Oaks and Ventura cases, the children who allegedly did the shooting got the guns at home. In the Moorpark case, police said the gun was not a family weapon and the boy had no legal right to own it.

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Finding loaded, unlocked guns in homes with children occurs “alarmingly frequently,” Ventura Police Sgt. Gary McCaskill said.

“I don’t know what inspires people to keep loaded guns in the house,” McCaskill said. “They talk about (personal) safety, but in reality that just doesn’t end up being the case. I really struggle with that philosophy. We see more people shot in family fights than we would where they’re shooting at an unknown person committing a crime (in their home).”

Children are accustomed to seeing guns waved carelessly about in television shows and movies, and sometimes even seeing them around the house, Husband said.

“People become overly familiar with firearms and tend to lose respect for the damage they can do,” said Husband, whose major crimes unit is investigating Reay’s death.

Under the state law that took effect in January, 1992, parents can be held liable if children under the age of 14 gain access to and improperly use loaded guns left within easy reach. Penalties include up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

Authorities said they did not know of a Ventura County case in which a parent had been prosecuted under the law.

“It might be difficult to hold parents responsible for a 17-year-old,” Husband said. “The only way to prevent a 17-year-old from getting your gun is not to possess it at all. If they’re intent on obtaining the weapon, there’s a good chance they’ll get it . . . unless it’s locked in a floor safe.”

Even if guns are kept locked up in the house, safety education is still vital, he said.

“When I was a kid growing up and I learned how to use a firearm, safety was the most important thing ever stressed,” Husband said. “I remember the lesson I received: The weapon is never pointed at anybody. You always assume the weapon is loaded. And you never point the muzzle at anything you’re not willing to destroy.”

Gun shops around Ventura County sell a variety of deterrent devices ranging from $14 trigger locks to thick-walled safes costing more than $1,000.

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Oxnard gun shop manager Andy Dickson said he always warns gun buyers of the lock law every time they make a purchase--even requiring them to read and sign a photocopy of the law.

Dickson, manager of Shooter’s Paradise, demonstrated a simple $99 gun safe that looks like an extra-tough cash box fitted with a five-button, changeable combination lock.

Gun owners who arm themselves for protection from intruders sometimes worry they will not be able to unlock a gun in time to use it, he said.

“This is the quickest and easiest way to get to a gun,” he said, swiftly punching the buttons and opening the safe. “We recommend this if they have any kids in the house.”

But education is equally important, he said, particularly after a state law went into effect April 1 requiring all gun owners to prove they have received training in the safe use of firearms.

Teaching youths about guns can reduce their desire to play with them, he said, explaining, “Basically if you take all the mystery out of it, it’s no big deal.”

Dickson added: “I often tell people that the best safety you have is between your ears.”