The law has only been on the books for seven days, but a Flint man was formally charged under Michigan’s new safe gun storage law.
The Genesee County Prosecutor’s Office announced the charges on Tuesday (Feb. 20) after a 2-year-old girl was in critical condition because her father left two loaded guns within her reach.
“When I introduced this legislation, it was my hope that it would never be used,” said Michigan Senator Kristen McDonald Rivet.
On Valentine’s Day, one day after Michigan’s Safe Storage Law went into effect, the 2-year-old accidentally shot herself with an unsecured gun.
“There were no gun locks or safes inside of this front bedroom,” said Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton.
Leyton has charged the girl’s father, Michael Tolbert, with violating the Safe Storage Law, which requires guns to be locked or unloaded when and where children are present.
“The bullet entered the right eye of the little girl and exited through the rear of her skull,” Leyton said. “Doctors have said she will lose her right eye at best, and she remains in critical condition this afternoon.”
Investigators say the shooting happened in a front bedroom where on a bed next to the child’s folding chair laid the two guns.
“There were two arms located on the bed in the front bedroom,” Leyton said. “One firearm was a revolver, the other was a semi-automatic pistol; upon examination, both were unsecured and loaded with live ammo.”
Tolbert is the first person to face charges under the new law. Investigators are hopeful it will be the last time they have to use it.
In Detroit, you can get free gun locks at any precinct; many other departments have them available.
One of the many charges Tolbert is facing is child abuse, which, prior to the Safe Storage Law, prosecutors would’ve had the difficult task of proving that he knowingly or intentionally caused harm.
But now, all prosecutors have to prove is that he failed to store his weapons safely in the presence of a child, which resulted in injury.
