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The house in Elmo, Missouri. CNN screengrab

Boy (5) fatally shot 9-month-old brother after finding gun

The boys’ mother contacted police.

A FIVE-YEAR-old boy accidentally shot and killed his nine-month-old baby brother after finding a gun in the house, US media reports say.

The mother of the children contacted 911 about the incident, CNN reports.

The incident occurred in Elmo, Missouri, yesterday morning.

Local TV station KCTV said that the town is shocked at the news, with the local sheriff saying that the shooting was accidental.

Sheriff Darren White, said that the boys’ mother told police that the baby was shot with a paintball gun, but it transpired the gun was a .22 caliber magnum revolver.

White said they believe the older boy found the gun in the house and shot his brother, who was in a playpen.

Police are investigating the circumstances of the incident, including who owns the gun. It is not believed the mother was the gun’s owner.

The situation is bound to bring up more discussion about gun control in the United States, particularly in relation to child safety.

In December, a woman was fatally shot by her two-year-old after he found her gun in her purse. She held a permit to carry a concealed weapon, and her son found the gun while they were in a Walmart parking lot.

Read: Family grapple with how to tell 2-year-old that he shot and killed his mother at Walmart>

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    Mute Michael cunnane
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    Jan 7th 2015, 3:37 PM

    Hang on a second !

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    Mute Joanna
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    Jan 7th 2015, 4:38 PM

    Hold on there now…time lord is a legit occupation?

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    Mute Cupid Stunt
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    Jan 7th 2015, 5:16 PM

    This is great news. I’m really going to use this extra time to catch up on all those little jobs I’ve meaning to get around to, or perhaps a lie in would be better.

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    Mute Ciaran De Bhal
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    Jan 7th 2015, 3:55 PM

    I had an anti climax once. She met a fella on a cruise after a few vodkas.

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    Mute Gagsy 99
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    Jan 7th 2015, 3:39 PM

    I don’t understand most of that.

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    Mute Alan Lawlor
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    Jan 7th 2015, 4:30 PM

    Good. I work in IT and the more people who do not understand it, the more we can charge (rubs hands with glee, pets white cat on lap…. muohahahah !)

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    Mute Kim Prylowski
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    Jan 7th 2015, 6:39 PM

    As the earth’s rotation slows, days are getting longer

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    Mute andrew haire
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    Jan 7th 2015, 3:40 PM

    Y2K was a damp squib, nothing happened, but lots of it companies made a lot of money out of it.

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    Mute Gagsy 99
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    Jan 7th 2015, 3:47 PM

    but maybe if all that money and effort was not spent it would have been a very wet squib?

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    Mute Gagsy 99
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    Jan 7th 2015, 3:48 PM

    I mean a very dry squib of course.

    what is a squib and why is a damp one such an anticlimax?

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    Mute Simon Barnes
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    Jan 7th 2015, 4:59 PM

    a squib is type of explosive , a damp one won’t explode.

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    Mute Amused Bystander
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    Jan 7th 2015, 6:34 PM

    ……you sir, are a fountain of knowledge…. now I need to look this up, where did I leave my google?

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    Mute Unknown
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    Jan 8th 2015, 2:11 PM

    Actually issues did happen:
    http://www.cs.swarthmore.edu/~eroberts/cs91/projects/y2k/Y2K_Errors.html

    Also, most bank software programmers [and this was mostly in COBOL at the time] spent a long time working crazy hours getting sh*t together and correct so that stuff like applying 99 years of credit to accounts wouldnt happen.

    There is another one feasibly going to come in 2038 when the unix epoch time rolls over to zero again. Thankfully it only affects 32-bit-integer related systems, but still gonna be hilarious….

    B

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    Mute andrew haire
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    Jan 8th 2015, 9:35 PM

    A squib was a very little stick of dynamite that you could buy in the boys store before all this health and safety nonsense took hold. When a kid was allowed matches you could light them to blow up little bunkers of sand where the enemy toy soldiers were, classic.

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    Mute Micheal S. O' Ceilleachair
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    Jan 7th 2015, 4:46 PM

    God says: To me a thousand years is but a second. However I will grant you your greatest wish.

    Pope Francis: Okay God I wish to win the Euro Lotto €180,000,000.

    God says: Your wish is granted!! Wait a second!!!!!

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    Mute Joe Bloggs
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    Jan 7th 2015, 3:49 PM

    Is it April the 1st?

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    Mute stephen
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    Jan 7th 2015, 3:52 PM

    If it was that would be nearly 4 months less.

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    Mute AntiTreeHugger
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    Jan 7th 2015, 3:55 PM

    This is very confusing

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    Mute Negativebird
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    Jan 7th 2015, 7:54 PM

    It isn’t really confusing.

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    Mute AntiTreeHugger
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    Jan 7th 2015, 8:32 PM

    I’m delighted for you. But I find it is.

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    Mute Colin Byrne
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    Jan 8th 2015, 2:48 PM

    A day lasts 24hrs because that’s how long it takes to spin around once. Except that its always gradually slowing down so the eggheads add an extra second to one particular day every few years to compensate. This angers god hugely, who retaliates by setting off volcanoes and smiting old people, etc.

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