US pro-gun activist mother shot - by her four-year-old son

Police are trying to determine how a four-year-old boy had access to a gun he used to shoot his mother as she drove a pick-up truck in north Florida.

The shooting happened on Tuesday afternoon. Putnam County Sheriff's spokesman Joseph Wells said 31-year-old Jamie Gilt of Jacksonville owns the gun.

A deputy saw her behaving frantically inside the truck, which was stopped partially in the road. The deputy then saw she had been shot in the back.

Mr Wells said Ms Gilt told deputies her son had accidentally shot her. She was taken to a hospital, but her condition was not immediately available.

Mr Wells added that investigators had not yet been able to interview her.

Ms Gilt, a vocal gun activist, runs "Jamie Gilt for Gun Sense," a Facebook page dedicated to her pro-gun opinions.

“Even my 4 year old gets jacked up to target shoot with the .22,” Ms Gilt wrote on Facebook on Monday during an online debate about guns as a means of self-defence. She said she has the right to shoot anyone who threatens her and her family.

It is a crime under Florida law for someone to store or leave a loaded gun where a child has access.

Officials added that the boy is now with relatives. The Florida Department of Children and Families is also investigating the incident.