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Accidental Wii Suicide
Paul Taylor noted a story that I would have thought to be an April Fool's Day joke a few weeks from now, which makes it only seem more tragic. A 3-year-old shot herself with a gun after mistaking it for a Wii controller.
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Cheyenne Alexis McKeehan was a girl. Perhaps reading the story, Taco, might have been useful?
RTFA
It was an obscure 3rd party controller from overseas that, according to the article, Nintendo had no idea existed. The sheriff's office could barely track it down on the web it was so obscure.
Not to mention the fact that if guns are in the household (even if locked up) the kids need to be educated about them. Even if so much as "Don't ever touch them without my direct supervision". And I do think a 3 year old is old enough to be taught that. They may not understand it, but they are old enough to understand consequences. I honestly wonder how many of the child gun deaths are due to the child either being completely unaware that the parent owned one (and hence "found" it and thought it was cool) or wasn't taught anything about it (and hence had no idea about proper safety). My father owned guns when I was growing up. He taught me from day one never to touch them unless he was there with his permission. He taught me never to point a gun at something unless I planned on killing it (It's so ingrained in me, I refuse to play paintball because of it). And he did this while I was REALLY young. Sure, firearms are dangerous. But so are stoves and stairs. I would find it very odd if parents never taught a 3 year old that the stove was hot, or to respect stairs (so they don't fall down). I find it equally odd if parents never taught a 3 year old about simple gun safety if there was a chance that the child would come into contact with a gun. It doesn't matter if it is loaded or not, since all guns are loaded until proven otherwise (And even then, treat them as if they were)...
And I agree 100% that the father should have the book thrown at him. There's no excuse for an accident like this...
If a man isn't willing to take some risk for his opinions, either his opinions are no good or he's no good
Not to mention the fact that if guns are in the household (even if locked up) the kids need to be educated about them.
That requires parenting, and that's far too much work for most people it seems. They would rather use a scapegoat like the Wii, violent videogames, and music instead of taking responsibility for their actions.
It's a horrible situation where someone innocent lost their life, but it's even worse when justice isn't made.
The law should have gray areas, but there's nothing that should keep this man from facing some charge, even if it is to remove his second amendment rights.
Posts not to be taken literally. Almost everything is sarcasm.
I'm quite aware of that, but the .380 caliber Smith & Wesson that (according to TFA) the child shot herself with certainly does.
Living With a Nerd
It is pretty suspicious to me though that the article says the mother was just 3 feet away. How can one be 3 feet away from both a 3 year old and a loaded pistol and not realize it? And even worse, what in the hell was the stepfather thinking placing a loaded weapon on a table with children in the house? My gun is never out of my control unless it's locked up in it's safe. As with many other posters, this was gross negligence on their part. I'm not sure I agree with a call for criminal charges though as he's got to live with it for the rest of his life knowing his negligence killed that little girl.
While I'm not certain that the real story is being told here, mostly from the perspective of the gun being unwieldy to fire by a three year old, as the father of an almost-three year old, I can tell you that they don't think about 'weight difference' and think 'different object, handle differently'. If I give my daughter a ping pong ball, she'll probably throw it (and she can throw hard), and if I give her a golf ball, she'll throw it like a demon (which is why I would never put something like that in her hands). All she thinks is 'ball!' and regardless of weight she'll throw it.
I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
Collector's Edition
It took me a few seconds to figure out which was the controller. A picture of the controller, and the model pistol the father owns Granted I'm from the UK and have never seen a gun like that up close, but the realism of that unit is scary.
The dad was an idiot, though. I don't see him recovering. As for it being accidental? I couldn't speculate, but to all of the people saying that a kid couldn't pull the trigger... Kids have two hands, remember?
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
Dude. A .380 is a light pistol. I doubt a toddler could chamber a round, but picking one up and pulling the trigger are well within their capabilities.
Display some adaptability.
When I was young my dad would take me out shooting. He has a couple 9mm handguns that I needed the pointer from both hands to fire, but he had a revolver that I swear I could fire by breathing too hard on.
You can adjust the trigger resistance. It's generally inadvisable to lower the resistance past a certain point, because it makes it more likely it will go off from bumping against things, but I think it's likely enough that a guy who leaves a gun out with his toddler around is liable to have the trigger resistance questionably (if not illegally) low.
I am by no means an expert, but I live in a mother-in-law apt in the back yard of a gun lover.
Please stop stalking me, bro.
Trigger pull on otc firearms is high enough that your average small child won't be firing it.
Really? Are you sure about that? I own several guns, and have shot several more. None, AFAIK, have been modified after purchase; the trigger pull is as it was set at the factory. Some of them have trigger pulls that require a decent pull; others have very, very light trigger pulls -- such that yes, a small child could shoot them. I have a 9mm that has a rather hefty trigger pull if it is not already cocked, but when shot single-action, has a relatively light trigger pull. I now own my dad's old .22 rifle that he used to let me shoot when I was about three (with his help, of course). The lightest of the bunch is my .300 Win-Mag rifle, which would probably fire if you sneezed near it.
And yes, for the record, I keep them locked so my daughter can't get to any of them.
MCSE? No, sir...I don't do Windows. Yes, I am an idealist. What's your point?
You are stupid. and need to not be allowed to have a gun.
unless you live in cracktown and have a home full of crack AND a sign outside advertising the crack is inside you will NOT get a suprise stampede that you need to gun down instantly. You will have a LOT of warning before you need to pull a trigger to defend yourself. Even in a situation where you have them at your door trying to kick it in you have time to grab the clip, slap it in and cock the gun and have time to take a deep breath and get in a kneeling position to fire more accurately.
only complete idiots think they must be loaded, and ready to protect themselves. Even the military in a war zone will kick your ass if you go walking around with a gun ready to fire and you are not in an active mission where you are kicking down a door. at minimum you need the safety on even in a HOT zone on guard.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
I'm sure I must be misunderstanding you. If the safety is engineered such that a 3-year-old child can discharge the weapon in any case, then it's not a safety.
A safety on fire arms are meant to keep the gun from discharging when dropped, de-cocking or while being unloaded. They are not meant to keep kids from discharging fire arms, that is what gun locks and safes are for.
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." -Ed H