The accidental shooting death of an eight-year-old boy last week highlights the need for vigilance when using firearms.
The boy from St. Victor, Sask., was hunting gophers with family and friends around 6 p.m. Aug. 18 when he was shot.
The boy, whose name has not been released, was rushed to Assiniboia Union Hospital and then to Regina General, where he died from his injuries.
RCMP said the shot was not self-inflicted and foul play is not suspected.
A licence is not required to shoot gophers, but the province’s public safety minister, Darryl Hickie, said he believed most parents would agree with him that children should take safety courses before they use guns.
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The minimum age to take hunter safety education, however, is 12.
Colette Belavance, office manager for the Saskatchewan Association for Firearm Education in Regina, said adults must supervise children aged 12 to 17 while hunting, even after children have taken the course.
Saskatchewan’s hunter education program is mandatory for all first-time hunters.
She said the first chapter of the course deals with four main safety guidelines: assume every firearm is loaded; control the muzzle direction at all times; keep your finger off the trigger and out of the trigger guard; and see that the firearm is unloaded.
