{"id":105308,"date":"2024-04-25T06:04:43","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T06:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/michigan-father-1st-charged-under-new-safe-gun-storage-law-after-son-shoots-himself-in-the-face\/"},"modified":"2024-04-25T06:04:43","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T06:04:43","slug":"michigan-father-1st-charged-under-new-safe-gun-storage-law-after-son-shoots-himself-in-the-face","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/michigan-father-1st-charged-under-new-safe-gun-storage-law-after-son-shoots-himself-in-the-face\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan father 1st charged under new safe gun storage law after son shoots himself in the face"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Warren County Police Dept.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(WARREN, Mich.) — Michigan prosecutors charged a father for violating the state’s newly enacted safe storage law after his son allegedly got a hold of a firearm and shot himself in the face in their home.<\/p>\n

Theo Nichols’ 8-year-old son was in “extremely critical condition,” at a Detroit hospital following the April 19 incident, police in Warren, Michigan, said at a news conference Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Investigators said the boy used a chair to access the handgun which was “unsafely” and insecurely stored on top of a kitchen cabinet.<\/p>\n

“In the wake of this tragic incident, we are reminded of the profound responsibility that comes with gun ownership,” Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Nichols, the child’s mother and three of the child’s siblings were inside the home during the incident, police said. Nichols was not permitted to own a firearm due to a previous drug-related conviction, according to police.<\/p>\n

Last year, the Michigan state legislature passed a law that requires firearm owners to either store their weapons in a secure, locked container or have a lock on the weapon if a minor lives in the home or if they know a minor is coming into their home. The law, which went into effect in February, issues lengthy prison time if convicted.<\/p>\n

Nichols, 56, is the first defendant to be charged with violating that law. He was also arraigned on other charges Monday including child abuse and being charged as a habitual officer third offender, the district attorney’s office said.<\/p>\n

Nichols was being held on $250,000 bail. His next court appearance is scheduled for April 30, the district attorney’s office said.<\/p>\n

Attorney information for the suspect was not immediately available.<\/p>\n

The investigation was ongoing, investigators said.<\/p>\n

Acting Warren Police Commissioner Charles Rushton reiterated that the incident was preventable and reminded people that gun locks are available at the police department and other agencies for free.<\/p>\n

“We always recommend gun safes for people, unfortunately, people don’t listen to us,” he said. “Hopefully this press conference, if it does nothing else, changes one person’s mind to use a gun lock and prevent another tragedy.<\/p>\n

Lucido echoed the commissioner’s sentiments.<\/p>\n

“It serves as a tragic warning to every parent out there. Do your part. Do not back down. If you own a gun, you have children, and their safety is at risk,” he said at the news conference.<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Warren County Police Dept. (WARREN, Mich.) — Michigan prosecutors charged a father for violating the state’s newly enacted safe storage law after his son allegedly got a hold of a firearm and shot himself in the face in their home. Theo Nichols’ 8-year-old son was in “extremely critical condition,” atRead More →<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[156,31,2],"tags":[273,271,276,274,270,123,275,133,124,272,102,103],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105308"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105308\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}