In Chandler, Arizona, the life of a vibrant blond-haired, blue-eyed little girl was snuffed away because her father owned a gun…Yet another innocent victim in the long line of gun tragedy.

Three-year-old Brook Sands was in the room with her father when a shotgun went off, hitting the preschooler in the stomach. Police weren’t real clear on the details of how it all happened, other than to say the incident was a tragic accident.

The family called 911, but it was too late for the girl to be saved. Her father, Eric Sands, wasn’t supposed to even own a firearm after being convicted of felony theft in 2003. He now faces charges of careless use of a weapon and possession of dangerous drugs.

It’s just one more illustration of how guns and children do not mix. If you own a gun, keep it locked and unloaded, and never handle it or preform maintenance when children are nearby. Even if they are in a room next door, bullets pass through drywall like sandpaper.