SAINT PAUL - Mayor Chris Coleman, Councilmember Jane Prince, and Marit Brock of Moms Demand Action, issued the following statements in reaction to the unintentional shooting last night of a four-year-old girl in Dayton's Bluff.
“In Dayton’s Bluff last night, a four-year-old girl was shot in the leg by a seven-year-old when the kids found a gun in their playroom," said Mayor Coleman. "Fortunately, the young girl’s injuries are not life-threatening. But this near-tragedy serves as a stark reminder about gun violence in our City. If you are a gun owner in Saint Paul, please be smart – secure guns in your home and model responsible behavior for young people. Unintentional shootings like the one last night in Dayton’s Bluff are preventable.”
“What is more important than the health and safety of our city’s children,” said Councilmember Prince. “It’s up to each and every one of us to do our part to get the guns out of our neighborhoods and stop this intolerable violence from befalling our city’s children.”
“As a mother, I was devastated to hear that yet another child was hurt because a kid was able to access a gun that wasn’t stored responsibly,” said Marit Brock, Volunteer Leader of the Minnesota Chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. “She and her family are in my thoughts this morning, and I send my best wishes for her recovery.
“Across the country, unintentional shootings by children continue to take a heavy toll on families and communities, and already, we have seen more than 150 of them this year, including two right here in Minnesota. As adults, we have to refuse to see these as mere accidents and instead work together to prevent them, as gun owners and non-gun owners, by practicing responsible storage and making sure our friends and neighbors who own guns know the best ways to keep them out of the hands of children.”
For more information about how you can help to prevent unintentional shootings, please visit the Moms Demand Action "Be Smart" campaign.