Here’s another heartbreaking story about children shooting children; in this case, a five-year-old shot and killed his two-year-old sister. What makes this case particularly horrible is that the gun belonged to the five-year-old.

Yes, there are people in this world so demented they would give a .22 caliber firearm to a five-year-old.

No, wait, that’s not quite right. The story says the boy got the rifle as a present last year, meaning he may have been four at the time.

Cumberland County Coroner Gary White identified the girl as Caroline Starks.

He said the children’s mother was at home when the shooting occurred, and the gun was a gift the boy received last year.

“It’s a Crickett,” he said. “It’s a little rifle for a kid. …The little boy’s used to shooting the little gun.”

White said the gun was kept in a corner, and the family did not realize a shell had been left in it.

He said the shooting will be ruled accidental.

“Just one of those crazy accidents,” White said.

Yeah, just one of those crazy accidents. I mean, what responsible adult would have thought to not allow a five-year-old own a gun?

in other gun news, last week the Republican senators from Oklahoma, Inhofe and Lucas, introduced a bill that

… would ban federal agencies, excluding the Pentagon, from buying more ammunition during a six-month period if it currently possesses more than its monthly averages during the Bush administration.

The conspiracy theory that incubated the bill is that the Obama administration is trying to buy up bullets so ordinary Americans have less access to them in the marketplace.

As the news story says, even the NRA isn’t buying that one.