BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Police are saying it's a tragic shooting that should have never happened.

Ruben Soto III, 2, was accidentally shot in the chest and killed by his 3-year old sister Wednesday afternoon at an apartment on Parkwood Court.

Now the question is, will the parents face charges? Also, was their gun illegally stored?

According to police, the three-year-old found the .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun between her parents' mattress and box spring.

Police said there were other firearms in the home that were safely stored.

"They had taken very prudent steps to make sure the children didn't have access or didn't have access to the other firearms in the home," said Sgt. Greg Terry of Bakersfield Police Department. "This particular firearm, it appears the parents were keeping for self-defense."

Gene Thome, owner of Bear Mountain Sports, said situations like this are unfortunate and completely avoidable.

"The main reason why people say, 'I got to have it loaded is so I can get to it quickly.' But there are ways nowadays with modern technology to have a gun safe where you hit a button and it will open up," said Thome.

Firearm safes cost anywhere from $100 and up. But safety can come even cheaper: Cable locks run around $5. By law, firearm dealers cannot let a handgun leave the store without one of the tamper-proof cable locks. However, dealers said it is up to the owner to use the lock.

According to police, there is nothing in the law that requires a firearm to be locked or locked away. However, if a child gets ahold of a gun and causes injury of death, the owner could face criminal charges.

So where does the latest accidental shooting stand?

"It's going to be judged whether this was reasonable, whether this was in a place that a child given the ages of the children in the home and those kind of things, whether or not it was reasonable that a child could likely access it," said Terry.

The shooting is still under investigation. Once it is complete, BPD said it will submit the case to the district attorney, who will review it and decided whether to press charges against the parents.