Child Must Have Thought a Gun Was a Wii Remote, Mother Says

[Callate]

It's very sad the girl didn't live long enough to get taken away from her completely worthless excuses for parents whereupon she might have had a chance.

 

[Lord Monocle Von Banworthy]

Okay I'm going to act like a bastard here, I feel sorry for the family, but honestly as a rare duck, a gun owner from childhood, and a gamer, I'm going to be blunt.

Fucking Idiots. That's it. They Are FUCKING IDIOTS. The Parents are FUCKING MORONS! Here is the rules of gun safety I learnt as a 5 year old.

1) Treat Every Firearm as if loaded, even when proven otherwise (that means don't point it at shit you moron)
2) Only aim at something you intend to shoot
3) When not using the firearm secure it safely in a locked gun cabinet of some kind, separate from the ammunition. YOU NEVER LEAVE THEM LOADED.

It's fucking simple, those are the core rules of gun safety, anyone who doesn't follow them in their own home is a fucking moron, I'm not blaming the kid, I'm blaming the stupid parents, you don't leave guns laying around you moronic twits, ever, you don't leave them loaded, ever, you don't let little kids touch them EVER.

The man should be locked away for life. fucking twit.

THANK YOU! IM NOT ALONE!!

How many more vulnerable people will have to die before gun controls will be tightened or even completely revoked? Speaking as a Brit, I just don't understand why this has been allowed to go on for so long. Blame may not lie with the parents, regardless of all the speculation on this thread, but with a government and a society that is too attatched to an old and outdated ideal about personal defence. Until more people in America wake up to why this problem exists, there will continue to be horrific and tragic accidents like this every day.

well since we are on the topic of generalizations. lets ban soccer while were at it since it seem that everytime there is a soccer match it britan there seems to be a riot.

Fine. It was a generalisation. But, whereas the problems behind rioting in football stadiums has been partially solved (tackling the social problems behind hooliganism, modification of policing policies, etc.), the gun problem in America has stagnated. Roughly 12000 people every year in America are killed by people with privately owned guns, working out to a little over 30 people every day. Hmm. Maybe I'm not generalising.

And really, where do you expect these people to be killed? Yes, some will be in tough inner-city districts, and yes, some will be isolated incidents with obscure details. But some will always happen in quiet little suburban neighbourhoods with tragic outcomes such as this. But what the fuck do I know? Very little evidently, but if you believe that it is a worthwhile trade-off to lose thousands of lives every year in return for the unrestricted right to own and carry a 9-millimetre semiautomatic handgun or an assault rifle, then I pity you and your backwards culture and train of thought. Oh, and tkioz, I hear that if you repeat your advice enough, then it will bring back the victims.

As Aslan once said, child, no one can ever know what WOULD have happened.

That is important here because when a gun is used in self-defense, I'm going to go ahead here and state that a good death has occurred. When a gun is used in crime or by accident, a bad death has occurred. When a gun is used in suicide (there are three times more firearm suicides than homicides each year in the US), well, the jury's out. I'm sure it seemed a good idea to the person at the time.

What we can't know is if we had taken all the guns from law-abiding citizens and yes, some but not all of the guns from criminals, how many more bad deaths would have occurred because of those good deaths not happening. Until we can know that I'm not willing to state it isn't a very worthwhile trade-off. Yeah. I went there. The occasional accidental death of a child might just be worth the safety gun ownership brings.

The occasional screaming fiery death of a planeload of people is worth the convenience of air travel. We decided that a long time ago and few people even question it. Yet isn't it horrific that children end up scattered across a hillside once in a while just so people can cross the country a little faster? How can that be justified? You people who are willing to trade the lives of innocents for your flight fetish are just horrible, really. Sane people should intervene in your culture for you and stop you.

I'll be asleep for the next eight hours and no doubt this thread will be locked or have moved on by the time I return to it, so you'll be free to tear my argument apart and try me in absentia, but please burn down some of your own straw men and learn what you're debating first. Ownership and carry are far, far from being unrestricted. Your numbers are wrong too, and I'm pretty sure your estimate is actually low. You really don't have a good picture of the situation yet.

 

[Hamster at Dawn]

I think we can safely say the mother is to blame here. Even if she's telling the truth, she really should have taught her child a bit better.

 

[The Night Shade]

the mother is stupid and the step-father is worse he left a loaded gun on the table with a 3 year old girl in the house,HIDE THE GUN DUMBASS and the mother didnt notice the girl was playing with it

 

[Plurralbles]

Father is a dumbass for not immediately unloading it and putting it back away.
MOther is a dumbass for not noticing it and doing what father should have done.
Kid is a sad little person who had the misfortune to be borne out of such a dumbass **** insiminated by pure 'tard sperm.

Oh yeah, and this is why the zapper went from Grey to Orange. COngress commanded it in the US.

 

[Broady Brio]

Curiosity killed the cat.

Tragic. The man needs to be slapped or pistol whipped for fateful forgetfuless.

 

[dietpeachsnapple]

Surley she couldn't not feel the weight and texture of it. The cold steel against the palm of her hands instead of a plastic coated device...

She was 3.

Three year olds are idiots.

Hence the shooting of oneself.

He was obviously being facetious. Nobody is blaming the three year old. The parents are obviously to blame, and should be shot to death with Wiimotes.

Wait... can we blame the 3-year-old? Are we allowed to? I mean >.> there are no rules against children turning their insides into outsides...

As such, if no one else has done so yet, I will gladly be the first...

I blame the chi... wait, no - *stifles inner troll*

Ok, yeah, this situation sucks, and the parents are to blame. I will begin inventing the gun that fires wiimotes for ammunition immediately.

 

[tijuanatim]

I think that she saw something interesting, had no clue what a gun was, and started playing with it. But not as a Wiimote.

Also, before we get to the usual, and often deserved, Fox News bashing. Click the Fox News link. Fox News ITSELF isn't claiming this. Just the stupid mother.

No really, the thread should have been locked after your post OO. You win this thread.

The entire time I read this the phrases 'Criminal Negligence' and 'Criminal Endangerment of a Child' came to mind. Hopefully these unthoughtful asses spend a solid amount of time in prison.

 

[spartan773]

ok... a few things about that...
it's surprising how american parents love to transfer the blame of bad parenting to one thing.
if the parent was in the room with the child... don't you think she would've noticed her child holding a GUN instead of a wiimote or wii zapper?

and this is my own bias...
but i'm not surprised this came out of Tennessee.
Because nobody has better morality laws about parenting from Tennessee... Blame it on the Video Games... that's bullshit. it's the parent's own damn fault they left the gun on a table, safety off in a family room with a 3-year old in the house... they shouldn't be surprised if something ends up shot if they don't stop the child from playing with the gun.

 

[Iskenator67]

My question is this: why is the Wii even mentioned in this article? Someone left a loaded handgun in reach of a three-year-old girl. That's the story here.

The Wiimote is mentioned because she thinks that if she involves video games, she can get some of the heat off of her leaving a loaded gun laying around and scapegoat it to video games. An idea that has been used numerous times in the past.

 

[The DSM]

Can anyone say "Scapegoat"?

Videogames are blamed for EVERYTHING now...

 

[Cgull]

How can anyone be legitimately made a scapegoat for what is clearly neglect by the parents?

I can't see this being taken seriously by anyone, I mean really, why would Nintendo be trying to insidiously bump off it's target demographic?

The parents will be blaming the bullet manufacturers soon; 'I thought they would only kill criminals, if I'd known they were dangerous I wouldn't have left them lying around, where was the warning?!'. Idiots.

 

[TimbukTurnip]

-snip-

Why was i quoted in that post? I never even mentioned videogames, i just said the parents are idiots. In fact agree that she's not blaming videogames, she's just saying what she thinks happened and is using it as an excuse.

 

[tishy19]

I'll be so excited when someday I see an article reporting this kind of story and all fingers are pointed to the real cause for the tragedy: the parents.

Keep your guys locked away, safety on, and how about trying to teach the kid that they're dangerous? She was 3, old enough to work a Wii, old enough to be sat down and told that a gun is not a toy.

 

[Sixties Spidey]

Wiimote

Gun

HOW DO YOU FUCK THAT UP

 

[Lenoh]

Wiimote

(snip)

Gun

(snip again!)

HOW DO YOU FUCK THAT UP

By being 3 years old.

 

[Dick Seamen]

Americans and their precious Guns.... What do you need a handgun for? I cant think of any good reason to allow a private person to carry a handgun. Pretection? yea right, from who? Yourself?

I dont buy the whole "but if you use it properly and safely and blablablabla". Because people obviously doesnt.

I know guns dont kill people. Idiots with guns kill people, so why put it in their hands?

 

[MGlBlaze]

Okay, so let me get this straight; the parents left a loaded gun with the safety off IN THE OPEN where a 3-year old could easily get it, and she blames video games for ther carelessness.

At the very least I expect them to be charged with negligent firearms handling, as that is exactly what caused the death of the kid. I don't want to sound cold; the child's death is a tragedy... but it could have so easily been avoided if the parents actually did what the hell you're supposed to with regards to firearms safety.

I live in the UK and have never handled a firearm before ever, and I still know more about gun safety than she does.

They left a gun...

On the table...

Loaded...

With a 3-year-old in the house...

How stupid could they possibly be?!

Just as stupid as some of the people on a few sites I've seen... something like 'idiots with guns' breaking a whole load of gun safety laws, usually by posing for a photo to try and look cool; this usually has them pointing the gun at the cameraman or themselves. With their finger inside the trigger-guard no less. Most of the time the gun's loaded, too!

Edit;
For your 'You people shouldn't be allowed near guns!' and 'What NOT to do' reference. [http://idiotswithguns.blogspot.com/]

 

[tsb247]

That or murder. I think they killed the girl and are trying to cover it up. I know it sounds paranoid but it's possible. Guns can be pretty heavy depending on the type of guns, even hand guns, A 3 year old would probably have difficulty picking one up let alone pulling the trigger. Setting a loaded gun with the safety turned off is also and impossibly dumb move, let alone setting it down on a table where a child can get there hands on it. Having a parent in the same room as the incident but not doing any thing about it?, come on how would you not?. Do you have kids?, would you let your child or any other three year old ever pick up a loaded gun?, even to be cute?. You wouldn't nor would any sane person on this planet. I'm reckoning a murder here.

Though I could be wrong and it could just be an accident.

I thought about that. However, the article specified a .380 caliber pistol was the weapon that ended the young girl's life. .380 is a typical caliber of 'pocket pistols' and sub-compact semi-auto handguns similar to this:

Spoiler: Ruger LCP

It is concievable that a child could mistake something this small and made of polymer (plastic) for a toy. Sub-compacts/pocket pistols also (generally) have a lighter trigger pull due to having smaller springs in them and smaller trigger mechanisms. This is yet another reason why handguns (especially small ones!) should be secured in some way.

 

[VoidEternal]

What Arbitrary Silliness.

Parents, always looking for something else to blame besides they're own failings.

They suck as a parent, therefore their daughter got killed. Natural Selection was not on her side.

Yet... the world keeps spinning.