A pro-gun activist in Florida who boasted online about her 4-year-old son’s shooting prowess was accidentally shot by the tot, police said.
The child fired the .45-caliber pistol through the back of 31-year-old Jamie Gilt’s seat as they were traveling in Putnam County on Tuesday, officials said.
A cop noticed the wounded Gilt, who told him her son had fired the gun from the back seat, the Florida Times-Union reported. The boy was unharmed.
“She was shot through the seat and the round went through her back,” Capt. Joseph Wells said.
The Jacksonville woman was hospitalized in stable condition.
Family members told authorities Gilt and her son were on their way to pick up a horse from the woman’s sister when the shooting happened.
“There was a booster seat in the back of the vehicle, but however, the boy was not strapped in when the deputy got to them,” Wells told the paper.
A post on Gilt’s Facebook page from Sunday shows a photo of two burglars breaking into a home, along with a message that “guns are not the answer. Call 911 and wait…”
“Why yes, I do think that being dead might possibly change their plans,” Gilt wrote.
Responding to a comment complimenting her for her “patriotic attitude,” she wrote: “Thanks. All of ours know how to shoot too. Even my 4-year-old gets jacked up to target shoot the .22.”
The sharpshooting beauty also promotes her pro-gun message in another Facebook page called “Jamie Gilt for Gun Sense,” where she poses with a black cowboy hat and clutching a rifle.
The Department of Children and Families was contacted but the shooting was being investigated as accidental.
The 4-year-old child was released into the custody of his grandmother
Police determined that Gilt legally owns the gun, and are still investigating how it was stored in the vehicle.
“Due to her medical condition, detectives have not been able to interview the victim and any decision on the filing of criminal charges will not come until after we speak with the victim,” police said in a statement.
“Florida Statute makes it a misdemeanor for a person to store or leave, on a premise under his or her control, a loaded firearm in such a manner that it is likely a child can gain access to the firearm.”
A criminal charge carries penalties of up to a year in jail, a year of probation, and a fine of up to $1,000.