A 2-year-old at a Richmond daycare picked up a loaded gun, put it in their mouth, and carried it to a table near five other children. The Virginia Department of Education must suspend Thrive Learning Center East’s provisional license while the state fully investigates.

According to Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) records reported by the Scripps News Group, it happened on Sept. 25 at the center in South Richmond. Police say a center administrator brought the gun inside. Records show it was left in an open fanny pack on top of a short pile of cots, right where small children could reach it. Inspectors say the toddler held the gun for about 15 seconds before staff noticed and took it away.

That should alarm every parent in Virginia. And it got worse. Childcare centers must report incidents like this to the state within 24 hours. According to the records, the administrator and two other staff members did not. The state didn’t learn about it until four days later.

The center only opened in March and holds a provisional license, not a full one. A center that left a loaded gun within a toddler’s reach, then kept regulators in the dark for days, should not keep operating as if nothing happened.

Gun owners and gun-safety advocates can agree on this: a loaded firearm never belongs within reach of toddlers. State leaders should suspend this license pending a full investigation, enforce real penalties for missed reporting deadlines, and strictly enforce rules keeping any firearm on a childcare property locked away from children.

The administrator has been charged with possessing a firearm at a school and reckless handling of a firearm, and is due back in court Dec. 15.

Sign the petition to suspend this center’s license now, before another child gets hurt.