In Chicago, Illinois, a father is in legal trouble after his 6-year-old son shot his younger brother to death while playing a game of cops & robbers. The boys were being watched by their grandfather at the time. It took only a few seconds for the 6-year-old to retrieve the gun, which was being kept on the top of the refrigerator. The kids ran down the stairs and a few moments later the grandfather heard a loud pop. He went to investigate, and discovered 3-year-old Eian with a gunshot wound to his head. The grandfather apparently had no idea there was a gun in the house.

The boy’s father, Michael Santiago, was a reformed gang member who had purchased the gun illegally “for protection.” He had recently gone straight and testified against his former gang members, and thus feared reprisal. He said he had told his boys where the gun was stored and told them to stay away from it, but that apparently did not help. He faces child endangerment charges.

This story is yet another tragic example of how guns endanger your family more than they protect them. The odds of a gun in your home being used for tragic purposes versus actual self defense is  several hundred to one, making the gun hundreds of times more dangerous to your family than anything in the outside world. You can read more about this in the publication: Guns for Protection.