NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A 2-year-old Nashville boy accidentally shot himself in the chest after finding a firearm at home, police say. The child is expected to recover.
Police say witnesses believe the toddler got hold of a pistol and shot himself. Investigators say the suspected gun owner left before officers arrived, and the weapon has not been found.
Gun safety advocates say incidents like this happen far too often across Tennessee — and most can be prevented.
Alanna Truss, Tennessee's volunteer state lead for the Be SMART gun safety program, said the incident was not surprising — but still deeply troubling.
"I'm a mom of two boys. I'm also a clinical psychologist. So I work with kids all day long," Truss said. "Unfortunately, I was not shocked because it keeps happening, but just a great level of sadness and frustration."
Nationally, there have been at least 101 unintentional shootings by children this year — resulting in 36 deaths and 66 injuries, according to Everytown for Gun Safety. In Tennessee, there have been 5 accidental shootings involving children in 2026, not including this week's case.
One recent tragedy took the life of 6-year-old Steven Lamont Ricks, known as "Junebug," in March.
"Tennessee is consistently the third worst state in the country for the rate of children unintentionally dying through firearms," Truss said. "We're behind Louisiana and Mississippi, and we continue to hold strong there."
Truss points to safe storage as one of the simplest, most effective ways to save lives.
"That same child fatality report for Tennessee deemed 92% of child firearm deaths in the state preventable," she said. "Storage has been shown to be a big player in that."
Truss urges gun owners to lock firearms, keep them unloaded, store ammunition separately, and ask about storage before sending children to another home.
"Your intentions may be good — having it up on a shelf," Truss said. "But putting it in a gun safe and locking it separately from ammunition is going to make that child so much safer."
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