Gun Rights Activist Jamie Gilt Shot In The Back By 4-Year-Old Son, Internet Has No Remorse
A North Florida mother and gun-rights activist is in the hospital today because her 4-year-old son shot her in the back only hours after she posted to social media about how her son “gets jacked up to target shoot.” The boy accidentally turned her into his target while sitting in the back seat of her pick-up truck.
A statement released by the the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department says that a deputy noticed the Jacksonville native acting in a frantic manner, as if she was trying to get his attention, on Tuesday morning and soon realized that the woman had been shot. Thirty-one-year old Jamie Gilt was reportedly driving down a road in Putnam County with her son in the back seat and somehow he managed to get a hold of a gun that had been in the vehicle and shot her in the back. The story was relayed to the deputy once she was able to pull over.
https://twitter.com/ctv556/status/707631776798093313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Sheriff’s Capt. Joseph Wells spoke of the incident with The Florida Times Union outlining that the deputy found the boy unharmed when he approached the vehicle, but there were no bullet entry points on the outside of the pick-up truck. A.45 calibre handgun was later discovered on the floor.
“She was shot through the seat and the round went through her back. 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.”
The bullet went straight through Gilt. After entering the driver’s seat, it penetrated Gilt’s back and then the bullet continued and exited through her stomach. The deputy performed first aid on the shooting victim until the paramedics arrived. Mashable reported that Jamie Gilt was taken to University of Florida Health in Gainesville and is reportedly in stable condition, but the police have not been able to interview her as yet. Her 4-year-old son, her shooter, was not harmed and has since been released to family.
Social media accounts belonging to Jamie Gilt all have the common theme of pro-gun messages, pictures of her guns, Second Amendment memes, and posts that show support for the National Rifle Association. She is also seen numerous times posing with various weapons and in one image, she is holding her son in her lap and a rifle in the other hand. A Facebook page she maintains, “Jamie Gilt for Gun Sense,” which became overrun with critics after she was shot by her son, has since been removed and sparked parody accounts. Twitter has been particularly scathing of her and several memes were started about the gun-rights activist being shot by her own son.
If only there were a GOOD 4-yr-old with a gun who could've stopped Jamie Gilt's 4-yr-old with a gun.
— Paul Pakler (@paulpakler) March 9, 2016
https://twitter.com/UtopiasTaint/status/707640605912924160
Prayers to Jamie Gilt, shot by her 4 year-old well-regulated militia riding in the backseat. https://t.co/qLgbrPa93f pic.twitter.com/AzryuZCfr8
— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) March 9, 2016
Members of the gun-rights activist’s family met with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office Victim Services Specialists after reclaiming her son, police have said. The police also notified the Florida Department of Children and Family Services and continue to investigate exactly how the boy was able to get ahold of the gun and also if criminal charges are warranted. They are also trying to determine if the 4-year-old had been fastened to his booster seat when he shot his mother.
Get well soon @jamiegilt! So sorry to hear your 4-year-old son thought it was a toy, too #gunsense https://t.co/CSWBJdJy3B
— Donald J. Drumpf (@RealDonalDrumpf) March 9, 2016
According to the Washington Post, Florida law stipulates that it is “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.” Wells went on stress the importance of discovering just how the boy got the weapon to determine if charges should be filed. The shooting is so far being investigated as accidental.
A post Jamie Gilt made on Sunday about her pro-gun beliefs and gun-rights activist life read that she believes every child should know how to handle guns and “even my 4 year old gets jacked up to target shoot with the.22.”
[Photo Courtesy of Gilt’s Facebook Page]
