Two mothers in mourning say stricter laws requiring gun locks or other safety measures could save lives.
By ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published October 11, 2004
When Jeanne Caroline heard the news of Johnny Michael Masukevich's death, she felt a sharp pain of sadness. The sorrow quickly turned to anger.
"Why is this happening again?" she asked.
Two boys with a gun. Slightly more than a year ago, Caroline's son, Sean Caroline II, died in Pinellas County when a classmate accidentally shot him in the head. And now, in a county not far from her own, a similar tragedy occurred.
"I'm angry because 13 months later, the same thing happened," Caroline said.
Two boys with a gun. Antonio Alexander Fernandez told authorities the two boys were playing a game when he pointed a gun at Johnny's chest and pulled the trigger. Johnny died shortly after.
For Caroline, Johnny's death is another reason to keeping fighting for gun lock legislation.
"It is becoming such a disease in our country - children shooting children," she said.
She's quick to point out she doesn't want to limit anyone's Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms. She doesn't mind if people choose to own guns. But she wants those guns secure. Gun locks are one boundary between children and guns that could save lives, she said.
Law enforcement agencies throughout the state encourage use of gun locks, but the locks are not mandated by law. A gun lock is a device that slips over a gun's trigger, so the trigger cannot be pulled. The lock is secured with either a key or a combination.
Citrus County law enforcement agencies have a stock of gun locks free to the public, said Sheriff's spokeswoman Gail Tierney.
At a recent safety exposition, community affairs Sgt. Chris Evan and deputies handed out about 200 free gun locks to residents. Residents can pick up free gun locks at the Beverly Hills Community Resource Office, in Beverly Plaza on County Road 491.
Florida law states that all loaded firearms must be secure from a child's access, meaning guns must be kept in a locked container or secured by a gun lock. Failing to prevent a child from accessing a gun is a misdemeanor crime. If a child gets an unsecured gun and seriously injures or kills someone, the gun's owner could be charged with a felony.
But the law does not stipulate how guns must be secured in homes. Firearms can be stored anywhere in the home and in any method as long as they are secure from children and people not authorized to use guns, the law states.
It is here, in the nuances of the law, that Caroline hopes to make a difference. She compares gun locks to safety belts. She knows that gun locks, like seat belts, won't save every life. Many people who wear seat belts still die in car accidents, but seat belts are mandated by law because studies have shown they do help reduce fatalities, she said. Gun locks, too, would save lives, she said.
Before her son's death, she knew little about guns. The Carolines didn't own a gun. When her son went to visit other children's homes, Caroline would meet the parents of the other children. But she didn't think to ask whether the parents kept guns in their homes.
Johnny's mother, Michelle Ash, tells a similar story. She's never owned a gun, she said. She can't even remember having touched one. Now that her son, a seventh-grader at Crystal River Middle School, is dead, she's furious at parents who keep guns in their homes in reach of children.
Like Caroline, Ash believes Florida's gun laws should be stricter. She doesn't want to stop people from owning guns, she said, but more mandated safety measures for guns could save lives. A gun lock might have saved her son's life.
"I'm all for (increased gun safety)," she said.
Gun safety starts at home, though, she said. She urged parents to be responsible for keeping safe combinations, keys and other devices from their children, so guns aren't easily available.
"If parents don't have respect for guns, how will a kid?" she asked.
Ash's brother, Mike Hudak, flew down from Chicago for Johnny's funeral. Hudak said he owns several guns and keeps them in his home. He's skeptical about whether gun locks will do enough to stop accidental deaths among children.
After all, Antonio told authorities he discovered the combination to the safe and opened it. Children could figure out how to open a gun lock, too, Hudak said.
"Kids are pretty smart these days," he said.
Parental supervision and teaching is the best way to prevent gun accidents, he said.
He proposed that schools develop programs about gun safety and the dangers of guns to educate children and show them the consequences of playing with guns.
That way, he said, others won't feel the pain of burying a young nephew.
Just down the street from Ash's home, another young boy's room remains empty.
Antonio was arrested on a charge of manslaughter after the shooting. The 11-year-old boy remains in law enforcement custody without bail. The State Attorney's Office has not yet decided whether Antonio's parents will be charged. Prosecutors are gathering information, Assistant State Attorney Bill Catto said.
Ash wants prosecutors to charge Antonio's parents in the shooting to teach others parents a lesson about keeping guns in homes. An 11-year-old boy should not be the only one held accountable in the shooting, she said.
"Their son is alive," she said. "I have to go to the cemetery to talk to mine."
The situation in the case of Johnny and Antonio differs from the Caroline case. Antonio told Citrus County detectives he pulled the gun from a locked safe in his home while his mother was asleep in a different room. He told detectives he knew the combination. He also told them he could see at least one bullet in the cylinder of the gun.
Antonio and Johnny, who lived near Antonio in the Holiday Heights subdivision, were playing a game, he said. They took turns pointing the gun and pulling the trigger. On the third try, the gun fired.
In the Caroline case, Sean's 14-year-old classmate found his father's loaded .357 Magnum under the living room sofa. As Sean played a video game at Louis Mevec's home, the boy pointed the gun at Sean and pulled the trigger. Louis said he thought he'd emptied the gun of all bullets.
Louis admitted guilt to a manslaughter charge and was sentenced to attend a boys village.
The boy's father, also named Louis Mevec, was convicted of culpable negligence in Sean's death. A judge sentenced the father to just under three years in prison, followed by 31/2 years of probation.
The Carolines want their son to be remembered. They don't want to see another child killed by a gun. That is why they'll keep researching and advocating for tighter gun safety laws, Caroline said.
"It's common sense," she said. "And if someone had used common sense, my son would still be alive."
