😡 A 9-YEAR-OLD SHOT A 13-YEAR-OLD INSIDE A CHICAGO HOME. THIS CANNOT KEEP HAPPENING.

I'm angry.

Not at the 9-year-old. Not when we don't even know the full circumstances yet.

I'm angry because once again, we're talking about a CHILD with a gun.

Chicago police say a 9-year-old boy was inside a home in the 5200 block of South Wells Street in Fuller Park Friday afternoon when he fired one shot from a handgun.

That bullet struck a 13-year-old boy in the shoulder.

The teenager was rushed to the University of Chicago Medical Center and was initially reported in critical condition. Police recovered the handgun, and the circumstances surrounding the shooting remain under investigation. �

ABC7 Chicago +1

And there's one question I cannot get past:

HOW DID A 9-YEAR-OLD GET HIS HANDS ON A GUN?

Police have not publicly answered that question yet.

We don't know who owned the firearm.

We don't know where it was kept.

We don't know whether it was locked.

We don't know whether the child found it, was shown it, or got access to it some other way.

And we don't yet know whether the shooting was accidental or intentional. �

CBS News

So I'm not going to make up details that investigators haven't established.

But I AM going to say this:

A 9-YEAR-OLD SHOULD NOT HAVE ACCESS TO A LOADED GUN. PERIOD.

I'm tired of writing these stories.

I'm tired of seeing children's ages in shooting headlines.

11 years old. 13 years old. 14 years old.

And now we're talking about a 9-year-old holding the gun.

Earlier this summer, Chicago police charged a 13-year-old after four boys between 11 and 14 were wounded in a Bronzeville shooting. Even then, one of the questions being asked was exactly the same:

Where are these children getting guns? �

CBS News

🎙️ LADY RED SAYS...

I'm not being sarcastic today.

Because there's nothing funny about this.

GUN OWNERS, I AM TALKING TO US.

If you choose to have a firearm in a home where children live, visit, sleep over or can walk through your door, securing that weapon is not optional.

Children are curious.

Children touch things.

Children show their friends things.

Children make impulsive decisions.

Children don't fully comprehend permanent consequences.

That's why WE are the adults.

A gun isn't something you throw in a drawer and assume a child doesn't know it's there.

It's not something you hide under a mattress and call that secured.

And “My child knows better” is not a safety system.

Your child might know better 99 times.

A gun only needs one time.

One moment.

One mistake.

One trigger pull.

And somebody's baby may never come home again.

In this case, thankfully, police have reported the 13-year-old was transported alive. I sincerely hope that young man makes a complete recovery.

But think about what we're saying.

A 9-year-old shot a 13-year-old.

Those are elementary-school and middle-school ages.

These children should be arguing over video games, somebody eating the last snack, whose turn it is with the controller.

Not recovering from gunshot wounds.

And while investigators determine exactly what happened in that Fuller Park home, every adult with a firearm needs to look around their own house TODAY.

Where is your gun?

Can your child reach it?

Can their friends reach it?

Is it actually locked?

Is the ammunition secured?

Who knows where the key or combination is?

Because if your answer is:

“They know not to touch it.”

That's not enough.

We've buried too many children.

We've watched too many parents stand in front of cameras crying.

We've watched too many neighborhoods release balloons.

We've typed “Rest in Peace” under too many pictures of babies who should've grown old.

And I'm tired of us acting shocked every single time it happens.

We cannot control every gun on every Chicago street tonight.

But if there's a gun inside your own home, you absolutely can control whether a 9-year-old can put his hands on it.

LOCK. THE. GUN. UP.

Not tomorrow.

Not when you get paid.

Not after something happens.

TODAY.

Because our children shouldn't have to survive our carelessness.

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**IT HITS DIFFERENT. EVERY TIME. BOOM! 💥**