HAMPTON ROADS, Va. — It's happened again in Hampton Roads: a child is recovering after accidentally shooting herself.
The latest incident happened Friday night off of Chesapeake Boulevard.
Police say the 8-year-old is expected to recover, but they have charged her uncle, Alvonte Lawton, with felony child neglect.
It follows other recent accidental shootings in Hampton Roads, including two 3 year olds being shot and killed in the same week in April in Portsmouth and Newport News.
CHKD says between January and April they treated four children who were accidentally shot. That follows five in all of 2022 and nine being accidentally shot in 2021.
"You know I hold the adults responsible," said Lori Haas, who's the mother of a Virginia Tech shooting survivor as well as an advocacy manager with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
"We know that firearm deaths are on the rise in this county. As a matter of fact, they're the number one killer of children," said Haas.
This year, Virginia lawmakers passed a bill to give people a tax credit if they purchase a gun safe. Gov. Youngkin has now signed the bill into law.
The bill won support from both sides of the debate. News 3 spoke with the owner of Bob's Gun Shop in Norfolk about the bill in February.
"I think it's a great idea, whether it's a safe or any kind of safety mechanism to lock guns up," said Steve Dowdy. "When you say common sense, I think everyone wants that. They want gun safety."
There's also the shooting at Richneck Elementary Schoolin Newport News where authorities say a 6-year-old got his hands on his mom's gun and shot his teacher.
Following that, some lawmakers proposed making it a requirement people lock their guns up if children are home.
"Safe storage laws that would require firearms be locked up are necessary in the Commonwealth and across this country," said Haas.
The bill did not advance out of the Republican controlled House of Delegates.
"One size does not fit all and this is one of those one size fits all bills," said Philip Van Cleave from the Virginia Citizens Defense League during a legislative hearing in January.
For now, gun violence continues to take its toll on children in Hampton Roads as the push for solutions continues.
"The damages are great. They're emotional as well as physical," said Haas.
