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Jacksonville mom shot by 4-year-old son avoids jail

A Jacksonville mother who was shot in the back by her 4-year-old son while she was driving will be forced to speak publicly about gun safety.

It’s part of a deal with the State Attorney’s Office that will allow her to avoid jail time.

Jamie Gilt was charged in March with unsafe storage of a firearm, a second-degree misdemeanor that could have landed her in jail up to 60 days.

On March 8, Gilt was traveling in a truck in Putnam County when her gun slid from the front floorboard to the back floorboard.

Her son picked it up and shot her.

“That’s danger for everyone. Not only you, but the child and people outside the car,” said Action News Jax law and safety expert Dale Carson.

Deputies found Gilt, with a bullet wound, inside her truck, which had a horse trailer on the back, stopped in travel lanes on a highway. She was on her way to pick up a horse, according to deputies.

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The case generated national headlines partly because Gilt was shown on Facebook holding multiple guns on a page titled, "Jamie Gilt for Gun Sense." That page was quickly deleted, although other Facebook users quickly produced a Facebook page mocking the Jacksonville woman.

Now she’ll have to become an advocate for gun safety.

As part of Gilt’s deal with the State Attorney’s Office, she has to give 10 speeches about what happened and the need to safely secure guns.

Carson said the State Attorney’s Office wants this to be a lesson to the community.

“It’s prudent for anyone who owns a firearm to properly store it, not because there’s a law about it, but because you or someone you love can be hurt,” said Carson.

The deal also requires Gilt to complete a gun safety course, install a mounted gun holster in her vehicle and prove to the state she has safe gun storage in her home.

“Jamie’s happy to be able to share Mother’s Day with her family and put this unfortunate incident behind her,” said Gilt’s attorney, Bryan DeMaggio.

Related: Mother accidently shot by 4-year-old