Firearms and minors.

Question

  My name is Christina Green and I am writing in reference to a question I have concerning Louisiana Gun Laws with minors. My son's ( 7 yrs. of age)  father ( ex-husband) recently bought him an Air Soft Pistol and let my son have full possession of it. While my son was left unattended in a car, he shot himself on the leg, ( all it did was leave a bruise ). He was not injured, but my concern is that he is seven and he has possession of something that could possibly harm him.
Please understand my concern as a parent. I know how aggravating these civil issues can be, I was a Police Officer in Jeff Davis Parish, my husband worked for EBRSO, and he is now a Federal Agent . Were just are not sure if there are any state laws in Louisiana prohibiting this. If you could help answer any of these questions I would greatly appreciate it.


Is there any state law that prohibits a seven yr. old child of being in possession of an Air Soft Gun or a rifle ?
Can my ex-husband ( custodial parent ) put a firearm ( rifle/shotgun) in possession of a child legally?
In the State of Louisiana, (when there are children in the home) is it legal to have ammo and firearms (without locks) in the same room?
Is this an "Endangerment Case" or could this be a "Criminal Case"?



Thank-you so much for your time.


Answer
Not familiar with  LA law, but it sounds reasonable that giving a 7 year old a gun that could put an eye out and cause serious bodily injury would be negligent at best. I see the problem would proving the dad gave it to and allowed him access to it.  I would guess he would say he forgot the gun was loaded, he thought it was locked up, the boy did got it out of glove box which he thought was locked or something around that line, so knowing what happen, thinking what happened and proving what happened is all different.  Your only witness would your 7 year old and most would not want to put a 7 yr old in a situation where he had to testify against dad.

I think you have several options, you can file a report with local PD, you can take child to doctor and have injury documented, you take pictures and notify Child Protective services, you can go back to court and file for a custody or endangerment hearing, you notify dad by letter or have PD contact him for statement so it is documented for later use.  As far as getting criminal charges filed, I think it would not fly, too hard to convict, no witnesses, no serious injury and the likelihood that a jury would convict would be low so the DA would probably not file.

Checking with your local Child protective services and local PD would be a better choice than me guessing about LA law.  

Hope this helps,

Rick