Jamie Gilt, a pro-gun advocate shot by her 4-year-old child while driving, should face a misdemeanor charge, authorities said Tuesday.
The sheriff’s office has recommended that Gilt be charged with unsafe storage of a firearm, which is punishable by up to six months in jail,
WJXT-TV reported. The State Attorney's Office will decide whether to file the charge.
“In the presence of a child, gun owners bare the additional responsibility of ensuring children do not gain access (to guns)," said Putnam County Sheriff's Capt. Gator DeLoach. "It was very clear that there was a violation here."
Gilt, 31, of Jacksonville, was driving a pickup with a loaded .45-caliber handgun underneath the front seat on March 8 when the gun slid to the back seat, where her son, Lane, was riding,
according to The Associated Press.
The boy picked up the gun and shot through the back of the seat, striking Gilt in the back. The bullet exited her chest and broke the windshield.
Gilt was hospitalized, and authorities questioned her last week after allowing her time to recover. The boy wasn’t injured.
The incident drew international attention because of Gilt’s status as a gun-rights activist,
The Gainesville Sun noted. The publication noted that she had posted online the day before the incident that her 4-year-old "gets jacked up to target shoot with the .22."
A Facebook page called Jamie Gilt for Gun Sense, reportedly owned by Gilt, has been taken down.
“After the shooting, the page appeared to be inundated with mocking comments from other Facebook users,” the AP wrote.
After being shot, Gilt flashed her headlights to flag down a deputy, who found the gun behind the driver’s seat near a dinosaur toy. The gun, a Springfield XD Compact, didn’t have a trigger lock on and wasn’t in a holster, The Gainesville Sun reported.
The boy is currently in a family member’s care, and a child protective investigation by the Florida Department of Children and Families is under way, the newspaper said.
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