New | My Little Rifle: Portraits explore why American children bear arms

It was a report about the accidental killing of a two-year-old girl by her five-year-old brother that led Belgian photographer An-Sofie Kesteleyn to travel to the United States and explore the reasons why weapons are now being made available to children.

The boy shot his sister with a .22-calibre "Crickett" rifle marketed at children. The rifles may come in candy colours and bright patterns but are just as lethal as regular guns.

In her work, junior shooting enthusiasts from the US state of Louisiana pose with their firearms, in a series titled My Little Rifle. 

Among them are Abby, aged eight; Tatum, six; Hayley, six; and Benjamin, seven.

All of the weapons are functional guns. The photographs were accompanied by drawings that the children made of the things that frightened them most, including monsters, wild animals and dinosaurs.