Last month, Wade Parsons, the police chief of Danville, New Hampshire--10 miles north of the Massachusetts state line--came home from an errand to find his girlfriend's 15-year-old son dead. It turns out that the boy killed himself with the chief's service pistol, which hadn't been properly secured. So Parsons is going to be out of a job, right? Nope--all he's getting is a citation.
"If you have a dangerous weapon, clearly you're responsible for storing it and to protect children from it," said Rockingham County Attorney Jim Reams.
The charge is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000.
Officials said Parsons left his home at 53 Caramel Drive on March 11 to run some errands and left his handgun behind.
"He put it on top of his safe in his closet, but that's not good enough, obviously," Reams said.
Reams said investigators don't have an explanation for why the teen shot himself.
"We followed every trail that we could find, and state police did an exhaustive investigation, and we just have no other leads to follow," he said.
In New Hampshire, if you own a gun you are required to store it in a secure location if a minor is likely to get his hands on it without parental permission. Incredibly, Parsons' pistol wasn't secured with a gun lock, even though his police department gives them out for free.
Parsons is due to appear in court within 30 days, and faces a $1,000 fine. But somehow, that isn't enough. If you're a police officer--especially if you're the police chief--you should know to keep your gun stored in a secure location. Parsons should lose his job for this.