Because that's what our screwed up laws prescribe...

God forbid we'd try to control the distribution of guns.


BATTLE GROUND, Wash. (AP) - The 3-year-old son of a Clark County
sheriff's detective has died after police say the boy accidentally
shot himself in the head at the family's Battle Ground home.

The Columbian says Ryan Owens died early Wednesday at Legacy Emanuel
Hospital in Portland. Police say the boy's father, Detective Ed Owens,
was off-duty and at home at the time of the shooting late Tuesday
night.

Police say the gun was not a sheriff's department-issued weapon and it
was not immediately clear how the child obtained it. The sheriff's
office mandates that its guns be kept in a safe when officers are at
home.

Sheriff Garry Lucas spent the night at the hospital with the boy's
parents. On Wednesday, Lucas told reporters, "This is a tragedy for
the family involved and our agency."

Battle Ground police, Vancouver police and the sheriff's office are
investigating.