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“This tragedy was 100% avoidable,” Judge Robert Springstead
said. “All you had to do was listen to the people in your life
that were telling you to put these loaded guns away.”
Braxton Dykstra was shot and killed on April 1 when a 6-year-old
cousin got access to a shotgun at Karl Robart’s home in western
Michigan's Newaygo County. Braxton's 8-year-old sister witnessed
the shooting.
In August, Robart pleaded no contest to violating Michigan’s gun
storage law, one of the first significant convictions since the
law took effect in February.
Firearms must be locked up when children are present. The
consequences for a violation depend on the details and whether
someone is wounded or killed.
Robart, 62, will be eligible for parole after 38 months under
the sentence ordered by the judge. A similar case against his
wife remains pending.
“There's a lot of things I could tell you. It's not going to
change what happened,” Robart told the judge, his voice
breaking.
Braxton’s father, Domynic Dykstra, acknowledged that his son's
death wasn't “done maliciously.” But he added that most deaths
involving drunken drivers aren't malicious, either.
“Owning firearms comes with a great responsibility,” Dykstra
said in court. “Common sense tells you if you have guns in your
room don't let children in there. ... I guess it's not so common
anymore, is it?”
At least 21 states have criminal laws related to failing to keep
a gun away from children, according to the Giffords Law Center
to Prevent Gun Violence.
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