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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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  1. Shot herself, you mean by amaupin · · Score: 5, Informative

    Cheyenne Alexis McKeehan was a girl. Perhaps reading the story, Taco, might have been useful?

  2. Re:How did a 3-year old pull the trigger? by suprcvic · · Score: 5, Informative
    You clearly don't have access to guns or 3 year olds. I'm not sure what particular model of gun it was, but a quick Google of "Smith & Wesson .380" shows me lots of models without hammers but instead strikers that are always cocked when a round is chambered and since the father had "just been investigating a prowler", it probably had a round chambered. Also, my 3 year old nephew most definitely has the strength to hold the gun and pull the trigger, he does not however have the ability to easily tell real from fake.

    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.

  3. Re:How did a 3-year old pull the trigger? by ElectricTurtle · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.

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  4. Just read the story by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 4, Informative

    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?

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  5. Re:Suicide? by CapnStank · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

  6. Re:Suicide? by element-o.p. · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

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  7. Re:Suicide? by Lumpy · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.

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