"I knew I shouldn't touch it. I didn't touch it."
Too many children these days don't know what to do should they accidentally stumble across a firearm and there are too many stories that end in tragedy. But that wasn't the case when 8-year-old Sophia Roberts stumbled across a loaded .380 ACP handgun while out for a walk in Atlantic Beach, Florida.
Sophia's mother, Rebecca, has a very good reason to be proud of her daughter's actions in this scenario. This is truly a great, feel-good story!
Appropriately, Sophia has been recognized in school for her actions. Hopefully, her story can serve as an example to other kids on what to do in this situation.
Sophia stumbled across the gun while out for a walk while for a walk with her mom's fiancé, Stephen Ossi. She immediately told him about the gun and he, in turn, notified the police. Sophia's mom had taught her how to be safe properly from a young age.
"I knew I shouldn't touch it. I didn't touch it," Sophia told the news station.
The handgun was found to be loaded, and while it was not reported stolen, authorities are looking more into just how it ended up on the side of the road.
Meanwhile, it seems very fortunate Sophia was the one to find it first. News 4 Jax reports the area the gun was found was in close proximity to an elementary school.
"There are just so many kids concentrated in this area," Ossi told the news station. "You don't know how many of them know that they should not pick it up. She could have easily picked the gun up and said, 'Hey, look what I found!'"
Well done Sophia, from all of us at Wide Open Spaces, you're a hero in our book.
NEXT: FLORIDA MOM OUTRAGED OVER NRA GUN SAFETY PROGRAM AT HER SON'S SCHOOL
