A man accidentally killed his 14-year-old son with a crossbow when he mistook the boy for a deer (Adamsville, Ohio, October).

A man accidentally shot his adult son with his Father's Day handgun (which the son had loaded before gift-wrapping) (Coraopolis, Pa., June).

Mothers in Jackson, Wis., and Port Richey, Fla., shot their sons (ages 9 and 10, respectively) with BB rifles in object lessons taken too far (August; September).

A man accidentally fired his hunting bow, driving an arrow into the skull of his 11-year-old daughter, but she survived (Muncie, Ind., September).

An 8-year-old boy was taken away by child welfare officials in September after his stepfather shamelessly admitted that he had used a stun gun on the boy for being late for school (Sweeny, Texas).

[ChannelCincinnati.com-AP, 10-8-02] [Beaver County Times, 6-18-02] [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 7-6-02] [St. Petersburg Times, 9-27-02] [Louisville Courier-Journal, 9-26-02] [Houston Chronicle, 9-26-02]

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