Proper safety training and obeying range rules will prevent these great tragedies from happining. We lose our children this way, and also the gun grabbers hold up their bodies and say “look what a gun did!”La. Teen Fatally Shot by Friend
The Associated Press
Sunday, Dec. 26, 1999; 7:05 p.m. EST

CHALMETTE, La. ?? A 13-year-old boy was fatally shot Christmas Day by a playmate who received a shotgun as a gift, authorities said.

John Hanley apparently stepped in front of his 12-year-old companion as the gun went off and was shot in the head, said Maj. Richard Baumy of the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office. He said it was being treated as an accidental shooting and no charges had been filed.

Hanley died Saturday night, Charity Hospital spokesman Jerry Romig said.

The 12-year-old apparently bent over to tie his shoe and stood up with his finger on the trigger when the shotgun when off, Baumy said.

The two boys had been taking target practice Saturday in a wooded area in Poydras, about 15 miles southeast of New Orleans, Baumy said.

Authorities were notified after the 12-year-old and another boy carried Hanley out of the woods, a walk that took them about 40 minutes, Baumy said. The boys were in an area where it is legal to fire guns.

? Copyright 1999 The Associated Press