I suppose I have not read the newest edition of the parent handbook and seemed to have missed the chapter on how it is okay to give extremely young children pellet guns to play with.

Alejandro Arroyo Mejia, 7 years old, died at Wilson Medical Center after being shot in the chest with a pellet gun, Feb. 25, according to authorities.

Melinda Mejia, older sister to Alejandro and 4 year old Ivan, said the gun was a Christmas gift from their parents. Ivan was crying because he wanted to use the gun and soon after Alejandro relented and handed the gun over, the weapon accidently went off and shot Alejandro.

Throughout reading the story on Alejandro’s death, my mind kept flashing the same question on the location of the parents during this and why they did not supervise.  

According to Calvin Woodard Jr., Wilson County sheriff, investigators are debating on whether or not to file Alejandro’s parents with criminal charges.

Woodard also mentioned that the pellet gun involved in the shooting recommends potential users to be 18 years and older.

“The parents buy [pellet guns] for their kids and basically give them to them. Buy the pellets, buy the BB’s, send them outside and let them have fun. As you can see, that fun turns to tragedy,” said Woodard to CNN.

The particular gun used can be pumped up to 10 times to produce enough pressure to shoot a pellet at the same speed as a .22 caliber handgun, according to Wilson County.

That sounds like a smart idea, hand 7 year olds guns that in other counties of North Carolina are considered a deadly weapon. Nothing wrong is bound to happen, there is no comment from Alejandro’s parents. It is understandable that they are grieving, but this tragedy could have been avoided if the parents acted like parents and monitored their children.

Two counts of wrongdoing were committed, one handing a child something that can harm them and others. Even worse is not watching children while they are using potential weapons.

If an adult wants to keep any kind of weapon or gun, they also need to keep the location of that weapon hidden so that no child would be potentially harmed.

A lapse in judgment can go fatally wrong and blaming the child is pointless. A child only knows as much as they are taught and it is a parent’s job to teach their child.