A 10-year-old girl was playing along the shore on Coney Island's beach when she came across a loaded handgun, police said.
The 9 mm gun was filled with sand when the girl and her 33-year-old mother came across it while walking along the shore near West 19th Street on Monday, the New York Daily News reported.
The mother brought the weapon to the lifeguard, who then called the authorities, NBC New York reported. NYPD recovered the gun, which was loaded with one bullet, and had it cut into pieces to make it safe for handling.
Witnesses at the beach said law enforcement swooped in once the gun was found.
"We noticed the helicopters cruising around the boat, the NYPD boats going back and forth. We were wondering why," Mo Zada, from Queens, told NBC News.
Others at the beach were shook up by what could have easily turned into a deadly situation.
"You can't even have fun with your kids when something like this happens," Aikeem Stoney, from Brooklyn, told the station.
The NYPD is investigating the find.
News of the gun comes a day after another loaded weapon was found in a man's carry on at Dayton International Airport in Ohio. TSA agents found the gun underneath the man's laptop as his bag passed under an X-ray at security on Sunday, WHIO-TV reported.
The man, who had a concealed carry permit, told police he often carries the gun with him and forgot it was in his bag.
Back in June, yet another gun, also loaded, was found in the toy aisle of a Target in South Carolina, WBTV reported. The gun was turned over to police before anyone was injured.
