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National Gun Safety Awareness Month

National Gun Safety Awareness Month

Yahoo2 days ago

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — Today begins Gun Safety Awareness Month. Chances and Services for Youth or (CASY) held an event today featuring local law enforcement officers and community leaders to spread gun safety awareness.
Cassie Pruitt, community partners liaison for Firefly, a private nonprofit that strives to empower families and communities, says there is a large number of child injuries due to improperly storing guns.
'Indiana is one of the highest rated states within the United States of gun safety in children that have injuries from guns, so today we're just here to pass out gun locks to families anybody honestly who has a gun and children around it,' said Pruitt.
As we continue gun safety through the month of June, be sure to properly store firearms out of reach from children. For more gun safety tips, visit Safety Tips | Safe Kids Worldwide .
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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National Gun Safety Awareness Month
National Gun Safety Awareness Month

Yahoo

time2 days ago

  • Yahoo

National Gun Safety Awareness Month

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — Today begins Gun Safety Awareness Month. Chances and Services for Youth or (CASY) held an event today featuring local law enforcement officers and community leaders to spread gun safety awareness. Cassie Pruitt, community partners liaison for Firefly, a private nonprofit that strives to empower families and communities, says there is a large number of child injuries due to improperly storing guns. 'Indiana is one of the highest rated states within the United States of gun safety in children that have injuries from guns, so today we're just here to pass out gun locks to families anybody honestly who has a gun and children around it,' said Pruitt. As we continue gun safety through the month of June, be sure to properly store firearms out of reach from children. For more gun safety tips, visit Safety Tips | Safe Kids Worldwide . Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Can your kids stay home alone in Mississippi? What parents need to know for summer break
Can your kids stay home alone in Mississippi? What parents need to know for summer break

Yahoo

time27-05-2025

  • Yahoo

Can your kids stay home alone in Mississippi? What parents need to know for summer break

School's out. Summer break is here, and parents across Mississippi are trying to decide if their kids are ready to stay home alone and if it's legal for children to be by themselves while adults are at work. Every child is different. But what are the guidelines for kids to be unsupervised? Is there a time limit? Here's what to know in the Magnolia State. In the first "Home Alone" movie, Kevin McAllister was 8 when his family accidentally abandoned him in his Chicago home. Current Illinois law says children younger than 14 can't be left unattended for an "unreasonable period of time," meaning his parents would face some consequences if they plan a modern remake. (It's the oldest home-alone age set by law in the U.S.) Clearly, the McAllisters didn't learn the lesson. Kevin was fending for himself in New York City just a few years later. Many states don't have a set age, but in Oklahoma kids as young as 6 can potentially be left unsupervised. According to a list from iMOM, several states let kids start being alone from about 8-12. Mississippi doesn't have a certain age when kids can be left home alone. It's up to the parent or guardian's judgment about the child's needs and maturity level. If things go wrong while they're unsupervised, or if the amount of time becomes an issue of neglect, parents can face criminal charges or other consequences. Two Rankin County parents were charged with child neglect after reportedly leaving two kids, ages 3 and 6, alone late at night. The 3-year-old wandered from the home, and a neighbor reportedly alerted authorities. Babies should never be left unattended. Some children can stay by themselves for short periods, and older children and teens may be OK to stay alone for several hours or supervise younger kids. Safe Kids Worldwide recommends that children aren't left home alone until they're about 12-13. The American Academy of Pediatrics says youths usually can't handle emergencies until the ages of 11-12 and recommends structured supervision until then. Experts say kids should be 12 before being left unattended and at least 15 before they watch a younger relative, according to MedicineNet. Minors shouldn't be left alone overnight until they're at least 16, and babies and toddlers younger than 2 shouldn't be left with kids younger than 16 for long periods of time. The ages can vary if a child has special needs or health complications. The answer to how long and how often a child can be left unsupervised depends on how mature they are. You can have short test periods to make sure they fare OK, but the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests looking for some key criteria to guide your decision. Does the child follow rules and make good choices? Do they know how to handle an emergency? Can they call 911 or otherwise take care of a problem? Are they scared about staying alone? Can they handle it physically? How long will they be in charge of themselves or others? Can they safely access and prepare food? Go over safety plans and what is and isn't allowed when adults aren't home. Can other kids come over? Who? Some parents might say "don't open the door to strangers" while other families might have a list of only a handful of known adults it's OK to let in the house. Older kids might be given the green light to bake a frozen pizza, while others may have only microwave access. Make sure a child understands when to call a parent and when to directly call 911. The Mississippi State Department of Health suggests posting phone numbers for 911, a pediatrician, poison control and the nearest emergency room or urgent care clinic. Including the full name address and information of where to find a trusted neighbor can also help. Ensure your family has a fire safety plan, and that the children know how to follow it from every room in the house, as well as at night. Make sure there are smoke detectors throughout your home. Keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen and train the child on how to use it. Keep matches and lighters away from kids. If you have a gun in the house, keep it locked and separate from the bullets to avoid accidental shootings. Train your child in basic first aid and keep a kit. CPR classes can also be beneficial if an older teenager is caring for younger siblings. Store medicines and poisonous household substances out of reach of children. If the child plans to cook for themselves, train them on how to operate the stove and oven safely and follow safe food handling practices to avoid injury or illness. Other tips for kids that iMOM includes on a printable home alone checklist include: Keep all the doors locked. Don't leave the house. Never tell anyone you're home alone. Get along with your siblings. Finish any chores/homework. Check in with your parent/guardian. The Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services investigates abuse and neglect allegations. You can also call the line to find out about community services for families that aren't neglectful but may need some extra support. Call 1-800-222-8000 to make a report 24/7 or use the MCCPS website to report online. Bonnie Bolden is the Deep South Connect reporter for Mississippi with Gannett/USA Today. Email her at bbolden@ This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Can your child stay home alone in Mississippi? What to know this summer

Gunshot detection system paying dividends for Tupelo police
Gunshot detection system paying dividends for Tupelo police

Yahoo

time16-04-2025

  • Yahoo

Gunshot detection system paying dividends for Tupelo police

TUPELO – Instead of worrying about the long arm of the law, Tupelo criminals now have to consider its long ear. For the last two years, the Tupelo Police Department has been using a system that can not only detect gunshots but can also pinpoint their location. And just how accurate is the FireFly system? Extremely accurate. Derek Schulte, the FireFly program manager for Tupelo-based Hyperion, said the system is designed to both detect and geolocate gunshots. It will also determine if a noise was, in fact, a gunshot. Schulte said if the system rates a location with high confidence, you should be able to find spent shells casings within a 15-foot radius. Police say it is usually more accurate than that. 'After we get a notification, you can go out to the point on the map and look around where you're standing and find shell casings,' said Capt. Doug Mansell, TPD public information officer. The system Tupelo uses is based on a military version of FireFly that can detect small-arms fire, rocket/mortar fire and unmanned aircraft systems (military drones). The law enforcement version of FireFly utilizes a series of sensors to detect the signature sound of a gunshot and record it. '(The sound) needs to be heard by a minimum of three sensors to be able to geolocate,' Schulte said. 'Then, it will try to determine if it thinks the sound is gunfire. The whole process only takes five to 10 seconds.' That allows officers to be dispatched much quicker than if they had to wait on witnesses to call 911. The system assigns each recording with a confidence level, which helps determine if it was actually gunfire and not an audibly similar sound like a car backfiring. A human ear listens to every recording before officers are dispatched to a location. The loud noise might be a garbage truck dropping a dumpster, or a roofing crew using a nail gun being put to a roof on a nearby house. By listing some sounds as not gunfire, the system can fine-tune its algorithms to improve accuracy. TPD is using FireFly as another tool to help solve crime. It is used routinely in investigations into shooting incidents within the city limits. That includes the late January arrest of a man who had a Glock pistol which had been converted to fully automatic fire. FireFly recorded the sound of the man firing dozens of rounds and led police to his location in southeast Tupelo. 'I wish we had this when I was an investigator,' said Sgt. Kevin Parker, TPD public information officer. 'You can play it in court and confirm what happened.' Mansell said FireFly adds another layer of evidence to an investigation. Since it provides a timestamp of when a shooting occurred, it can also be used to eliminate suspects in conjunction with the department's blue light cameras and private surveillance videos. 'If video captures someone on the other side of town at the time the shots were fired, then we can eliminate them and move on with the investigation,' Parker said. FireFly is actually marketed to the police departments of cities much larger than Tupelo. Phoenix, Arizona, is the biggest customer, with more than 300 sensors. Dallas, Texas, is a new customer and Chicago, Illinois, is considering the system. The high cost of the FireFly system effectively eliminates Tupelo from the regular customer base. Tupelo benefits from the fact that Hyperion is a hometown company and serves as a test bed. The setup is a win-win for both the city and the industry. Since Hyperion actually owns all the sensors in Tupelo, they are free to make changes and install upgrades. They can test new setups in real time and real-life situations. And the city benefits from pricey crime fighting tools without putting an extra burden on the taxpayers. 'Colorado Springs, Colorado was our previous test bed, but if there was a problem, it was just too far away,' Schulte said. 'We wanted a test bed location that was close enough that we could try new things. Tupelo let us set up.'

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