It turns out there is no Alabama law prohibiting children from having access to guns, nor is anyone criminally liable if they do. I look forward to the next story about welfare cheats whose son shoots his cousin. They take kids away from parents for stuff like this in other states. Not Alabama.

“I don’t think this child again had any intent other than to show off his Christmas present,” said Calhoun County Sheriff Larry Amerson.

That present was a 20 gauge shotgun.

“The person who lived there, that cousin, had gone into the home to get the shotgun that he had gotten at Christmas. After he brought it back out the other boy was on the trampoline there on the yard and he was going to show him the shotgun. At some point during that interaction the shotgun was discharged and it struck the boy on the trampoline in the chest which of course ultimately led to the loss of his life,” said Amerson.

Sheriff Amerson doesn’t expect any charges to be filed.

No one held responsible.

At least three elements must be proved to convict:
That a crime was committed.
That the accused committed the crime.
That the accused committed the crime with intent. (Motive.)

More often than not, this is an uphill battle for prosecutors. If they have doubts, so will a court or a jury.

So it looks like you can hand your kid a bag of glass shards to play with in Alabama and not even Child Protective Services will step in. Here kiddo. Play with this box of rat poison. Be nice and share it with your friends.

Yeah, I know, “loaded shotguns don’t kill kids; kids kill kids.”