When she picked it up and pulled the trigger a .22-caliber bullet was
fired, which hit the ground and ricocheted into her daughter's upper
right arm.
Banning police described the incident as an accidental shooting
Her daughter was taken to San Gorgonio Memorial, where she was treated and released, police said.
The weapon Avila said resembled a cigarette lighter was identified as
a North American Arms .22-caliber 'derringer style' revolver, one of
the most common small guns in the US, police said.
Sergeant Alex
Diaz, who is investigating the incident, said: 'We're trying to find out
who the gun belongs to, so we're looking into that. At this point it is
considered an accident.'
In the UK, a man narrowly avoided jail recently after shooting off his finger while removing a wart with a 12-bore shotgun.
Sean Murphy received a 16-week suspended sentence for illegally possessing the shotgun.
A 12-year-old girl has been wounded by a ricocheting bullet fired by her mother, after she mistook a pistol for a cigarette lighter in Banning, US.