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Update: A woman who left her loaded handgun on a changing table in Loveland Living Planet Aquarium will not face charges. The Salt Lake City District Attorney’s office claimed it was “unable to proceed with a prosecution” because the incident did not fall within the legal standards for a charge of reckless endangerment.
On July 10, 2018, a loaded handgun was found on top of a diaper-changing table in a bathroom near the children’s play area at the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium in Draper, Utah.
“I’m shaking,” mother Crystal Mundt told the Salt Lake City Tribune right after she found the loaded, holstered .380-caliber handgun on the changing table at 12:40 p.m. She was trying to corral her 3-year-old and 10-month-old children at the time and “just high-tailed it out of there.” Another woman saw the gun and called 911. Thankfully, security recovered the weapon before any harm was done.
The Loveland LIving Planet Aquarium has a strict no-guns policy and signage is posted everywhere.
The reaction of the Draper Police Department to this incredible act of neglience by a gun owner was stunning. “We want to make contact with the [unidentified] owner of the handgun, one, to find out what occurred, and two, to return the handgun,” Draper Police Lt. Chad Carpenter said, suggesting no violation of the law had occurred.
Please contact Draper Police Chief John Eining and City Prosecutor Stephen Aina through one of the channels below and give them the following message (personalized to your liking):
I am absolutely outraged by the response of the Draper Police Department to the loaded handgun that was found in the play-area bathroom at the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium. Safety is critical in the children’s area at Loveland Living Planet Aquarium and their NO-GUNS signage is posted everywhere in accordance with the law. DO YOUR JOB AND ENFORCE THAT LAW! This gun owner was violating the safety policies of a place where the public routinely congregates. His concealed handgun permit should be revoked immediately. Furthermore, this was clearly a case of reckless endangerment. This gun owner was “engaging in conduct that create[d] a substantial risk of death or serious injury to another.” It’s just sheer luck that a child didn’t get his/her hands on that handgun and you know it. Trace the recovered handgun, find the owner, and bring charges against him/her immediately. Most importantly, DO NOT GIVE THIS FIREARM BACK to the individual responsible for this act of gross negligence until and unless those charges are resolved. Your job is to protect the safety of the public, not treat negligent gun owners like super-citizens. Draper’s children are some of the community’s most vulnerable. Put them first and do your job!
Draper Police Chief John Eining
Phone: (801) 576-6300 or (801) 840-4000
Email: police@draper.ut.us
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DraperCityPD/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DraperCityPD
City Prosecutor Stephen Aina
Phone: (801) 576-6593
Email: prosecutor@draper.ut.us
Once you have contacted Chief Eining and Prosecutor Aina, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!