A 9-Year-Old Boy Shot Himself with an Unsecured Gun. Now His Parents Have Been Sentenced.

A Michigan couple was sentenced to two years of probation for violating the state’s safe storage gun law after their 9-year-old son accidentally shot himself last year. 

The boy’s parents, Jessie Gean, 25, and Jacob Zachary Gean, 27, were arraigned on one count each of firearm safe storage violation and both given a $50,000 personal bond. They ended up only serving three days in a local county jail, according to CBS.

The 9-year-old boy shot himself in the left hand at his home when he found the gun unattended in a jacket pocket at the home, according to the outlet. The child’s hand was injured and he received medical treatment at a nearby hospital.

The probation terms require the couple not to possess any firearms or deadly weapons in the home, according to police. 

The couple pleaded no contest to the charges, Fox 2 Detroit reports.

Michigan’s safe storage law, Public Act 17 of 2023, requires gun owners to keep unattended weapons unloaded and locked in a box or container if a minor is present. If a minor discharges a firearm and injures themselves, it’s a felony punishable by imprisonment for up to five years or a fine of up to $5,000, or both, according to the law. 

“Firearm violence is preventable, and a leading cause of death in our young people,” Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the Michigan Chief Medical Executive said in a news release. 

“We have had major success over the past decades in reducing pediatric deaths from motor vehicle accidents, and we need to harness the same public health approach — including education and community outreach — to help keep Michigan children and families safe from firearm violence,” she said.