TAMPA, FLORIDA — Last week, a four-year-old girl died when she reached into her grandmother’s purse for a piece of candy.
Instead of finding a piece of candy, she found a gun, accidentally pulled the trigger, and shot herself in the chest.
“She just wanted some damn candy,” Yanelly Zoller’s father, Shane Zoller, 22, said according to The Tampa Bay Times.
“I was driving to pick her up with her bathing suit in my car to take her to the splash pads,” Shane Zoller recalled.
“When I pulled up, that’s when I saw all the police lights.”
Yannelly’s parents shared custody over their daughter, and her grandparents were integral to her upbringing until her passing.
“She was extremely close to them and would get so excited when she got to stay at her nana’s house,” Zoller said. “She was attached to her nana’s hip.”
He’s heartbroken.
“She loved to help daddy work on the car,” he said. “She would hand me tools. But she also really liked doing her makeup.”
There are two major things to take away here, and remember these lessons. That child’s life better damn well not be for nothing.
First of all, purse carry, for those of you who own purses, is not a good idea. That purse can get away from you a lot easier than a gun could in an on-body situation. Find another way to carry. That also applies to folks who carry off-body in another capacity. Backpack carry might not be your best option.
Second, and for the love of God, keep your firearms secure in the presence of minors.
We’ve said it before, but I’ll type that message over and over until my fingers fall off if it prevents even one incident of a minor getting into something that we’ll all regret.
Stay safe out there, folks, and make it safe out there for our kids, too. They’re counting on us.
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