No charges will be filed in the case of a 5-year-old Hoquiam boy who fired a gun he found in his home earlier this month, City Attorney Steve Johnson said Friday.
“The basis of my decision is my belief that the City of Hoquiam could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the parents committed a crime under existing Washington laws,” Johnson said.
The boy allegedly shot a .38 special revolver at a 21-year-old Aberdeen man who was walking in the 700 block of L Street in Hoquiam June 1. Hoquiam Police Department Chief Jeff Myers said detectives found the gun had been left loaded on a shelf in the living room, and the boy used a chair to reach it.
There is no specific law in Washington that requires gun owners to secure their weapons. Johnson said his research turned up several attempts to create such a law, including a 1999 bill that would have made it reckless endangerment to knowingly leave a gun where a child might get it, but none went anywhere.
“I think it’s just common sense,” Johnson said. “It’s definitely negligent. If your kid gets ahold of a gun and harms another kid or adult, there’s definitely a civil lawsuit there.”
But in the case of the Hoquaim boy, there’s no criminal statute for the city to take any action.
“There’s really not a crime, at least under these circumstances,” Johnson explained.
“I would like to make it perfectly clear that my review of the evidence leads me to conclude that the parents were negligent in their handling of the firearm in question, and everyone involved is very fortunate that no one was killed or seriously injured, including their own children. Hopefully, this will serve as a learning experience,” he added.
“I think if they’d left it on the kitchen table or something it might have been a little closer to reckless endangerment. … It was kind of out of reach and I don’t think the father realized his son knew it was there. I’m sure he’ll be a lot more careful in the future.”
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