Michigan: Man charged under new gun storage laws after daughter, 2, shoots herself in the head
by 0 
by 0 
A Michigan man has become the first person charged under a new gun storage law after his two-year-old daughter shot herself in the head.
Michael Tolbert, 44, was arraigned on Monday on nine felony charges including single counts of first-degree child abuse and violation of Michigan‘s gun storage law, said John Potbury, Genesee County’s deputy chief assistant prosecuting attorney.
Mr Tolbert’s daughter Skye McBride remains in a critical condition in hospital after the 14 February shooting.
Michigan’s new safe storage gun law had only come into force the previous day, the first anniversary of a shooting at Michigan State University, which killed two students and left others critically wounded.
It is part of a sweeping reform of gun regulations in the state.
The law took effect a week after a Michigan jury convicted a shooter’s mother of involuntary manslaughter, making her the first parent in the US to be held responsible for a child carrying out a mass school shooting.
Mr Tolbert pleaded guilty to all charges, which also included one count each of felon in possession of a firearm, felon in possession of ammunition, lying to a peace officer in a violent crime investigation and four counts of felony firearm.
The 44-year-old, from the city of Flint, is barred from possessing firearms and ammunition because he has multiple firearms-related and drug-related convictions.
Flint police learned of the shooting after Mr Tolbert took the girl to a hospital.
Read more:
YouTuber and influencer jailed for child abuse
Young girl dies after being buried by sand while digging hole
Two charged with murder over Super Bowl celebration shooting
Officers found two guns in the bedroom of the man’s home – a revolver used in the shooting and a semiautomatic pistol. Both were unsecured and loaded. Police said they found no gun locks or safes in the bedroom.
A GoFundMe page to cover medical funds described Skye as a “ball of energy, a joy to be around and the star of our lives”.
