Pro-Gun Mom Shot by Son, 4

Cops say Florida boy found loaded handgun on truck floor
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 10, 2016 1:29 AM CST
Pro-Gun Mom Shot by Son, 4
Google's cached version of Gilt's Facebook page.   (Google)

A gun-rights advocate in Florida was hospitalized on Tuesday after apparently flouting gun, vehicle, and child safety rules. Police say 31-year-old Jamie Gilt was accidentally shot by her 4-year-old son while driving down a road in Putnam County, reports the Chicago Tribune. The boy had apparently found a loaded .45-caliber handgun on the floor of her pickup. "She was shot through the seat and the round went through her back," a police spokesman tells the Florida Times-Union. "There was a booster seat in the back of the vehicle, but ... the boy was not strapped in when the deputy got to them," he says.

Gilt was rushed to the hospital and the boy was turned over to family members. Gilt has had a strong pro-gun presence on social media, including the now offline "Jamie Gilt for Gun Sense" Facebook page, where just hours before the shooting she boasted that her 4-year-old "gets jacked up to target shoot." In a press release, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office says it has been unable to interview Gilt because of her injuries. The office says the gun was legally owned, but it is a "misdemeanor for a person to store or leave, on a premise under his or her control, a loaded firearm in such a manner that it is likely a child can gain access to the firearm." Police are investigating and the Florida Department of Children and Families has also been notified. (More Florida stories.)

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