Man denied bond after young nephews accidentally shoot selves with gun

A judge denied bond for a man accused of leaving a gun unsecured. His nephews got a hold of his gun and ended up getting hurt.

The accidental shooting did not end in a death or serious injuries, unlike the previous incidents Channel 2’s Michael Seiden has covered.

Still, a judge denied bond for Ahmad McGrit, 20, a man accused of leaving his gun unsecured. His nephews got a hold of his gun and ended up getting hurt.

Seiden was in the DeKalb County courthouse Thursday afternoon when the judge said bond would be denied despite McGrit showing remorse for his alleged actions.

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“They are his nephews, and it was a complete, horrible accident. But he does have a lot remorse for it,” said Madison Dodge, McGrit’s attorney.

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Stone Mountain police arrested and charged him on Wednesday after investigators say his two nephews, ages 7 and 3, went inside his backpack, grabbed his gun and then accidentally fired it.

The shots left both boys with non-life-threatening injuries, but this is just the latest incident involving children and unsecured guns.

And in many cases, the children aren’t as lucky.

According to Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit that tracks gun violence throughout the U.S., so far this year, the country has seen at least 103 unintentional shootings by children. The shootings resulted in 45 deaths and 60 injuries.

The group also reported that Georgia is among the 10 states with the highest rates of unintentional shootings per 1 million residents younger than 18.

“The real goal, I think, for the state should be to prevent these injuries from happening in the first place,” said Georgia state Rep. Michelle Au, D-Johns Creek.

She is one of the authors behind HB-1, also known as the Pediatric Health Safe Storage Act. It requires that any firearm that can be accessed by a minor be stored securely.

Au says if signed into law, it would also create a new misdemeanor offense for adults who are negligent with their guns around children and help prevent previous tragedies like the ones seen in the state.

“Our goal is to prevent access in the first place, because that mitigates harm,” she said.

Just to give an idea of how often this is happening: Two days ago, Norcross arrested and charged a father after his 3-year-old daughter found his gun on the bed and shot herself. She’s expected to survive.

And earlier this month, another dad was staying at an Airbnb with his 3-year-old son in East Point when his child got a hold of his loaded gun and accidentally shot and killed himself.

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