Father Alerts Other Parents After Girl Killed by BB Gun

Two days after his year-old daughter died from a BB-gun shot to the head, Mario Gomez urged parents to learn from his family’s tragedy.

“Even a toy can be dangerous,” Gomez said. “People shouldn’t have any dangerous weapons in their house, even if it’s a toy. It just shouldn’t be in the house at all.”

Nancy Gomez was unable to recover from the BB that pierced her skull and entered her brain. After lingering for two days on a respirator in the intensive-care unit of Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, the toddler died Monday night.

The shooter was her 8-year-old brother, who had been firing at avocados in the family’s front yard.

Authorities do not plan to take any action against the boy, calling the incident a terrible accident.

It’s not against the law for a child to play with BB guns, Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ken Bailey said. The only authority ensuring proper use of the guns is usually the parents, he said.

“People just don’t realize how dangerous these things can be,” Bailey said. “These things should be treated like firearms, and parents, you need to supervise your children when they are using them.”

Nationally, about four people a year are killed with BB guns, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. More than 30,000 are injured.

Most high-powered BB guns carry warning labels drafted by the commission: “Not a toy. Adult supervision required. Misuse may cause serious injury or death.”

The commission recommends that no one under 16 use the guns.

Still, parents across the country routinely buy the guns for their children, staunch in their belief that it’s a toy, authorities say.

“We get a lot of calls about kids shooting each other with high-powered BB guns,” Bailey said. “You can easily put an eye out, even with low-powered BB guns. Parents need to realize that.”

Parents should treat BB guns like any other firearm, said National Rifle Assn. member George Rice, who owns Shooter’s Paradise, a shooting range and gun store in Oxnard.

“If parents are going to give a kid a BB gun,” Rice said, “they must realize that it’s not a toy and they can’t just turn them loose with that. It’s dangerous. Safety and supervision. That’s the key.”

Rice said a lack of supervision is partly to blame for the accident that took Nancy Gomez’s life. “Those children were just too young not to have adult supervision.”

Authorities said the 8-year-old was home with his mother when he and a 12-year-old cousin stepped outside to play Saturday afternoon. The boy’s mother, however, didn’t know the boy had taken the BB gun with him.

Standing in the front yard of the family’s McNell Road home near Ojai, the boys began shooting at avocados. Then, believing the BB gun was empty, the boys stuffed a small avocado into the barrel and began pumping the gun, hoping to create enough air pressure to propel the avocado into the air.

But after firing, the avocado flew forward, along with a BB.

Nancy Gomez was playing in the front yard about 3 feet from her brother. The BB penetrated her skull on the right side, just below her temple, and entered her brain.

She was rushed to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital for emergency surgery. She remained in a coma until her death Monday night.

Although the district attorney’s office still must review the case to determine if any charges are warranted, Bailey said that sheriff’s investigators have ruled the incident an accident.

While it’s not illegal to use a BB gun in unincorporated areas of the county, including where the Gomez family lives, some cities do restrict use of the guns.

In Ojai, a permit from the chief of police is required.

Mario Gomez, however, doubts permits will mean anything. Neither will the death of his daughter.

“Nothing means it won’t happen again,” Gomez said. “Some people will listen to this. And a lot of people won’t.”