A Port Richey mother is facing three counts of child neglect after deputies say she left her three young children unattended inside a running vehicle for hours, with a loaded, unsecured firearm tucked in a purse beneath one of them. Courtney Michele Galhouse, 36, was arrested and booked into the Pasco County Jail following the discovery on Oct. 16.
According to a report from WFLA, the three children, ages 4, 5 and 7, were discovered in the running vehicle after being left there unattended for several hours. A witness reportedly discovered the children running outside the vehicle, according to the sheriff's office report cited by Tampa Bay 28. Deputies identified Galhouse as the vehicle's owner and took her into custody.
Inside the car, deputies found an unsecured loaded firearm inside a purse, with one of the children sitting on top of it, the station's report states. The Pasco County Sheriff's Office went on to charge Galhouse with child neglect for all three children.
What Galhouse Told Deputies
Per the same account, Galhouse told investigators she brings the children with her all the time and that they typically sit in the vehicle while she works. She reportedly said she knew she should have brought the children inside but didn't want to get in trouble with her boss.
What Florida Law Says About Neglect and Loaded Firearms
Under Florida's child-neglect statute, neglect can be based on a single incident or omission that results in, or could reasonably be expected to result in, serious physical or mental injury or a substantial risk of death to a child, according to The Florida Senate. Separately, the state's safe-storage statute addresses situations where a person stores or leaves a loaded firearm on premises under their control while knowing or reasonably expecting that a minor is likely to gain access without permission, per The Florida Senate.
A Broader Pattern of Child Access to Firearms
The circumstances in Port Richey echo a wider national issue. An estimated 2.6 million children in the United States live in homes with unlocked, loaded firearms or unlocked guns stored alongside ammunition, according to the Children's Safety Network. The same data shows that one in three U.S. homes with children has a firearm present, amounting to roughly 22 million children living in homes with guns.
Research cited by the Children's Safety Network also found that three in four children ages 5 to 14 knew where firearms were hidden in their homes, even though 39% of their parents mistakenly believed their kids didn't know the location. One in three children in that age range had handled a firearm in the home, the data shows, and the organization notes that by age 3, some children are already strong enough to pull a handgun's trigger.
