Agreed - that's probably the easier way to charge the father in this case. Focus on child endangerment, reckless abandonment, etc. I'm just saying a gun charge probably isn't the best path to conviction in this case.
I haven't made any arguments to "bad faith". I just saw OP saying the father should face gun charges, and that's a topic I know a bit about, so I thought I'd chime in with a quick fact check. I never said the father wasn't a piece of shit or that he shouldn't go to jail.