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.

Comments

Shot herself, you mean

[amaupin]

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

Re:How did a 3-year old pull the trigger?

[suprcvic]

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.

Re:Suicide?

[CapnStank]

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.

Re:Suicide?

[element-o.p.]

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.