Richmond Daycare Administrator Arrested After 2-Year-Old Pulls Her Loaded Gun From an Unzipped Fanny Pack and Puts It in Their Mouth

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

RICHMOND, VA — A daycare administrator who carried a loaded gun into a classroom at Thrive Learning Center East in South Richmond was arrested after a 2-year-old got the firearm out of an unzipped fanny pack and put it in their mouth. Martha Evans faces charges of possession of a firearm at a school and reckless handling of a firearm, and the center has been temporarily shut down.

The fanny pack had been set on a low stack of cots, within reach of the children in the room, according to Virginia Social Services records, as reported by WSPA. The incident happened on Sept. 25. Police say Evans brought the gun into the center, and the state said she regularly brought it to work with her and that it was often left within children’s reach.

The child got the gun out of the pack. The child put it in their mouth. Then the child carried it to a table where five other children were sitting. Staff, per the records, “immediately jumped up from a seated position” to retrieve it.

Nobody was shot. That is luck. A toddler had a loaded firearm in their mouth and then set it down on a table surrounded by five more toddlers, and the only thing standing between that room and a funeral was a 2-year-old not pulling the trigger.

Staff did not report the incident within the state’s mandatory 24-hour window. The report came four days later. Police arrested Evans on Oct. 7. She is expected back in court Dec. 15. An arrest is not a conviction, and the charges against her are allegations that prosecutors will have to prove.

The possession charge turns on where she carried. Anyone carrying in Virginia has to know which locations the state treats differently, which is exactly the kind of thing I cover in my state concealed carry permit information, and a daycare classroom is a place to look up before you walk in, not after.

The reckless handling charge is the one every carrier should think about, because it is not about whether she had a gun. It is about an unzipped bag on a stack of cots in a room full of 2-year-olds. Off-body carry is already a compromise. A fanny pack you set down and walk away from is not carry at all. It is storage, and it is the worst kind of storage, loose and unlocked and at the exact height a toddler reaches.

More from USA Carry:

• New Jersey Loses Its Assault Weapons Ban in Court, So Lawmakers Dust Off a Five-Year-Old Bill Targeting How You Store Your Guns
• California Homeowner Shoots 30-Year-Old Parolee Who Forced His Way Inside, Deputies Find Suspect Wounded Nearby
• Sheriff Points to Idaho’s Castle Doctrine After Kootenai Man, 21, Stops Choking Attack With a Single Shot
• 19-Year-Old Arrested with Illegally Modified Glock in Dual Carjacking and Shooting Spree
• Armed Citizen Defends Himself After Suspect Pulls Gun During Online Sale, Teen Shot During Attempted Carjacking

The mindset I push on this site is simple. A loaded gun is either under your control or it is locked up. I carry in a bag myself sometimes, and when I do, that bag stays on me or in my hand. It does not get set on a shelf. It does not get left on a chair while I sit down across the room. The bag is the holster, and a holster you are not wearing is not doing its job. There is no third category, and there is definitely no third category in a room where the occupants put everything they find into their mouths. Carrying is a responsibility you accept for every minute the gun is with you, and the moment you set it down and walk away, you have stopped accepting it. That is the part of this story I would want every new carrier to read twice.

The Virginia Department of Education is evaluating the status of Thrive Learning Center East’s provisional license following the incident.

Read the original story: Richmond Daycare Administrator Arrested After 2-Year-Old Pulls Her Loaded Gun From an Unzipped Fanny Pack and Puts It in Their Mouth