HCSO makes plea to gun owners following recent child shootings

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Three children shot in four days in Harris County is stunning both the community-at-large and law enforcement, which says that's a high number concentrated in less than 96 hours.

Two young boys, ages 3 and 4 were killed in separate incidents on Friday and Sunday. A 6-year-old was shot today by a sibling but is expected to survive. In all cases, the children were playing with unsecured, loaded guns.

The trio of shootings prompted Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia to issue an appeal for responsible gun ownership. Saying they were all preventable tragedies, Garcia issued an appeal. "Whether you have a young child in your home or not, practice all the common sense measures."

Among them is a gun lock, which the Sheriff's Office has offered free to the public long before the rash of child shootings. "I ask you to use these devices," he said.

So do concealed handgun instructors, like Rees Williams at Top Gun Range in southwest Houston. The locks, he says, are included with newly-purchased firearms, as part of the federal child safety act. Top Gun also sells locks for shotguns, and safes for firearms.

"If you're carrying a gun, or have anyone around under the age of 18, then you have to secure that gun," Williams says.

Allowing a child access to a gun is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to two years in jail. That pales to the loss of a life, with which parents have to live for the rest of their lives.