Girl Confuses Wiimote with Loaded Gun, Dies

[theangrygimp]

Oh yea, what was the kid doing up in the middle of the night if they though there was an intruder? Why wasn't the kid in her crib/bed on top of the gun issues? The kid could of been drinking drain cleaner for all they knew, or licking roach poison.... People using this to validate their hatred of guns never think about what would of happened if no one had guns to protect themselves against the nazi's..... The triggers don't pull themselves, and a gun can be made by hand even. Should then, then only people who can make guns be the ones with that kind of power? And if guns are so evil, then why are there never any mass shootings at guns shows where there are thousands of them being handled by THOUSANDS of people?? I DARE you to try and start a shoot out at a gun show, wouldn't get 2 shots off before someone capped you, and stopped you from killing any more people. Insane laws don't stop insane people who don't care about them in the first place. Remember, all the terrible shootings of recent all happened in "Gun Free" zones where no one had guns to protect themselves with... If gun bans worked, the kids at columbine would still be alive. I'm sorry, but as much as I WISH they were completely unnecessary, that's just idealist thoughts from people privileged enough to live in areas of little crime.

 

[Guest]

US and their easy access to guns...
Way to go and thumbs up!

At least some countries still have strict policies about owning guns and thanks to that also low criminal rate...

 

[anamaniac]

Just reading this hurts.

I generally bitch when you turn news into a blog Kevin, but this time, I fully agree.[citation][nom]lapalm[/nom]Everyone attacking the parent as if it couldn't happen to them. That's a mix a misfortune and negligence. Sure the parents will be tried, but none of this would have happen without a gun in the first place. I've no problem with hunting rifle, but with handgun, who really needs them? Except to kill another human being.[/citation]
I'm fully against guns in the first place. But here's the thing about free speech, they have to listen to you, but you have to listen to them. I have just as much a right to demand guns be made illegal as they do to demand computers be made illegal (and both have valid arguments).

I was actually going to buy my 3 year old nephew a Wii. No way in hell will there be a Wii gun...

 

[loomis86]

As for why a small child would be pointing a handgun at herself...yes this happens a lot. little kids are not strong enough to pull the trigger. But if they are clever they figure out that they can pull the trigger using their thumbs. But doing so results in the gun being pointed backwards.

They grab the gun in both fists and put both thumbs on the trigger...a very common tragedy.

It is a result of a strange way human hands develop. Humans start out in life with the thumb being the strongest digit on the hand. then at a later age, the index finger is the strongest, then a little older yet, the middle finger is the strongest finger. Older men often have the the ring finger as the strongest finger on their hand.

there is method of rapid firing a semi auto handgun called "slam fire", or "bump fire". look it up on youtube. It is theoretically possible for this to happen when a small child uses her thumbs to pull the trigger. All that is really required to do a "bump fire" is a weak or relaxed grip...something a small child could accomplish without consciously choosing to do so.

 

[nelsonngyw]

Authorities please investigate this case!

A real handgun is much heavier, and is not something a 3 year old can lift up, put to her abdomen and pull the trigger. Someone is covering up a homicide!

 

[jamesedgeuk2000]

If America had banned civilians from owning guns in the first place the would be much less violent crime (proven fact) and accidents like this wouldn't happen, its sad that in trying to create a society with more freedom than the British empire they only succeeded in creating one with more fear

 

[geofry]

The story shouldn't be "Girl confuses gun with Wii remote" it should be "Yep, natural selection is alive and well."

Stupid people bring this kind of horible tragedy on themselves, unfortunately it sometimes means their actions affect their children too.

I'm also of the mind of redux fountain. Do you know how hard it would be for a 3 year old to fire a handgun? It would not only have to have the safety off, but also have a round chambered and the hammer cocked back in order for the trigger to be light enough to be pulled by a little girl.

 

[geofry]

[citation][nom]Clintonio[/nom]I absolutely love gun control. I'm glad they're almost entirely banned in the United Kingdom.

Surprisingly I'm not being sarcastic. People who support guns are idiots. Yes, all of you. Every. Single. One.[/citation]

Yes England, the wonderful land of absolutely no violence, were the cops will yell hault! and CCTV and anti-social behavior laws protects you from everything. (No not really)

I lived in East Anglia for the past 3 years. The Brits may not have guns, but they have a wide assortment of other items (stabbings are extremely popular) along with packs of youths, that will attack anyone that looks like like they are an easy target, out wandering the night.

The UK does not have a low criminal rate, the criminals just switched to something easier to obtain.

 

[Guest]

Lucky got no guns in UK

 

[Guest]

you people dont realise that you can change the presure needed to pull the triger for example on my stepdads air rifle there is a scre undernith that can increase or decrease it (and thats hat they mean by hare triger) to do this you turn down the presure you need to use to fire it and as hand guns just use a little hamer to dischare them it is posible to make the triger very light

 

[Vorador2]

This is beyond stupid. I hope the stepfather gets charged with negligence resulting in dead. Because leaving loaded weapons around your three year old children is perfectly safe /sarcasm

 

[Ryric]

I'm sorry but if the mother was in the same room, how did a 3 year old pick up a gun, point it at her chest and pull the trigger. Not exactly the easiest thing to do at 3.

And blaming it on the wii reeks of irresponsible parenting.

 

[wilburyan]

"apparently with the safety still turned off."

Rule #1... the "Safety" does not make a firearm safe... proper respect for the weapon does.

It was left out where a child could get ahold of it... this idiot should not have been able to own a gun.

 

[Guest]

Yanks just enjoy killing themselves and each other---just look at the murder, suicide, accidental death and vehicular death ratios per capita compared to other countries.
They seem to enjoy it, so leave them to it-- don't try and tell them what to do!!

 

[Guest]

There's no mystery as to why the gun was pointed at her abdomen when it discharged. A .380 caliber pistol, though small, is difficult for a child to pull its trigger. She obviously turned the gun around to get her thumbs on the trigger which would allow her to apply more pressure to the mechanism. Her death is very sad and is directly attributed to the father's negligence.

 

[jitpublisher]

I'll say the same thing most people here are saying that have any common sense. Leaving a loaded gun laying around in the presence of a 3 year old is an insane thing to do. And yes, a 3 year old has all the strength that is needed to pull the trigger on a pistol. It doesn't take much pressure at all. And if they had been used to squeezing the trigger on a game controller a thousand times a day, well you get the picture, but it has nothing to do with the game. This was a terrible accident no doubt, but the blame for this lies directly on the father and mother of this child. I have seen in the past few weeks a child killed in their own yard by a family's Pit Bull, another by a pet Rottweiler. I just read the article about the boy who was mauled nearly to death, left him partially paralyzed and permanently disfigured when his father's pet BENGAL TIGER bit down on his head when he was 6 years old? What is wrong with these people?

 

[miribus]

[citation][nom]frostfire626[/nom]I, like everyone else here, hate when videogames are wrongfully blamed for anything. But in this case, I believe the Wii controller did play some part in this tragedy, even if it was not the main cause. I don't think we should automatically dismiss videogames as a negative influence because of our affinity for them.[/citation]
That statement makes no sense. That's like blaming Koolaid for making their product look similar to antifreeze. The video game didn't have anything to do with anything, I don't honestly believe. The Child was 3, it saw a shiny object that their stepfather had, in it's reach.
She would've reached for ANYTHING...
Candy to choke on,
Knives,
Poisonous cleaners,
Coins to choke on.
The fact that it was a gun was incidental, and sad, children that young reach for nearly everything in their grasp and often it's unsafe and will kill, if not seriously injure, them.
Imagine if it was a glass of Vodka, or a Candle?
Bottom line is, the "Dad" was an irresponsible moron and has paid the ultimate price.
I truly think that if there were no Wii at all, the result would've ended up similar, this is just a way for the parents to deflect the blame when they (well at least the dad) knows it was his fault alone.

[citation][nom]canitplaycrysis[/nom]Darwin award?[/citation]
If this was some drunken 25-year old, I may have laughed.
Or if the kid accidentally shot the father, appropo.
However in this case we'd have to identify a 3-year old that knows no better as "dumb" and in which case, that doesn't make sense.
But in this case we'd be calling a 3-year old who knew no better.

 

[jabliese]

So, none of you guys ever hit the accelerator when you meant to hit the brake? So glad there is so much perfection in the world.

 

[Onus]

A Wii remote isn't used by pointing it at oneself. I suspect murder, by a jealous step-dad; mom may or may not have been complicit. Hey, it happens, and too often. It shouldn't take long to determine if the girl had gunpowder residue on her hands and arms from discharging the weapon herself.
If it wasn't murder, but instead an accident resulting from horrible parenting, it's a damn shame a little girl paid that price, but I'm not sure you can (or should) put someone on trial for stupidity.
Fwiw, in the few municipalities (e.g. Kennesaw, GA) that enacted legislation requiring gun ownership (knee-jerk silliness in response to anti-gunners, and exemptions were available), crime rates went DOWN.

 

[jitpublisher]

[citation][nom]jabliese[/nom]So, none of you guys ever hit the accelerator when you meant to hit the brake? So glad there is so much perfection in the world.[/citation]

Never, ever have I hit the brake instead of the gas. Never.
But have I made mistakes, certainly, and no one has ever died either.
But leaving a loaded gun lying where a child can reach it is NOT a mistake, it was a CHOICE. It was a choice made out of ignorance, complete total carelessness, and disregard of life and safety. He should be charged with involuntary manslaughter.