Two heart-rending
stories in the last few days show the tragic consequences of a country that is awash in guns.
A 6-year-old New Jersey boy has died after being shot in the head by a
4-year-old playmate as their parents stood in the yard nearby, a local
police chief said.
..."The 4-year-old ... retrieved a rifle within the house, a .22-caliber
rifle, came outside," Mastronardy told reporters earlier Tuesday. "... A
shot went out and the 6-year-old was struck in the head."
The news report continues
This eastern New Jersey
incident follows another fatal shooting days ago that also involved a
4-year-old boy, this time in Tennessee.
Josephine Fanning had
gone into a bedroom, along with the boy, where her husband -- Wilson
County Sheriff's Deputy Daniel Fanning -- was showing a relative some of
the lawman's guns.
At some point, the boy
picked up a loaded pistol from a bed and shot Josephine Fanning dead,
said Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Kristin Helm.
Two lives lost; two others, scarred. Tragic, senseless, needless.
