Girl's Death Linked to Realistic Gun-Shaped Wii Controller

[TechNoFear]

It is a common misconception but not many handguns actually have safeties. The line of reasoning being that if someone who shouldn't have access to the weapon has access, than a tiny switch would be no greater a deterrent to use than the trigger itself.

Why put extra safety measures (child proof caps) on bottles of pills but not on require any on a firearm?

[Safeties are required by law in Australia, if you can get a permit to keep a firearm. In my state it also requires the firearm to be kept in a locked safe at all times the firearm is not in use.]

Despite it's looks, I'm pretty sure even a 3 year old can tell the difference between a 2oz light gun and a 2-pound pistol. And that's not factoring the 8-pound-average trigger pull.

Spot the difference in weight, yes. Understand the signifigance of the extra weight, no.

Not many 3 year olds have a firm grasp on the concept of 'death' or 'time' let alone understand the danger of playing with a loaded firearm with the safety off...

 

[ultrachicken]

I thought all replica guns had to have some form of distinguishing mark on the barrel?

It was picked up by a three year old. I doubt she would be able to distinguish it from the fake gun with or without the mark.

 

[CopperBoom]

Geez... Anyone investing in that kind of WiiMote add-ons should be questioned.

If the article didn't tell me which gun was real, I would've said it was the lower one.

My first thought was the same thing. If the situation is as black and white as the writer makes it seem, then... jeez!
Such a dumb and tragic mistake.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

-Cut down for length-

You my dear sir, need to know something about the topic before you speak. If we start with the most obvious, why would a three year old reach for a wii control? Well, because every three year old is a curious little bugger that wants to touch, feel and potentially taste everything they get their hands on. A gun shaped wii-controller is an awesome toy for a three year old (especially a three year old who has seen its parents play with it, pointing it and pulling the trigger at stuff).

As for the whole "firing a gun by accident", it isn't all that hard to see the girl in question sitting down with the gun in her lap and pulling the trigger with the barrel aimed at her. Kids don't always follow the ergonomics created by adults and it isn't improbable that the three year old also managed to turn off the safety by sheer experimentation. That is, if the safety was even on to begin with. Someone who leaves a handgun loaded in the open on a table obviously doesn't have a big regard for firearm safety, even if the actual leaving of the gun on the table might just be a case of absent mindedness.

Anyway, now we get to the real running point. What really bugs me about your post. The implication that parents would be ready to blow their children to kingdom come once the realize the "chores" of being a parent. You see, as anyone who has ever had children can tell you, it is the best thing in their life. No matter how annoying, snotty and bratty their kids are, the parents will love them. It is as hard-coded into the human being as things get. Parents might get frustrated at their children, but only mentally ill parents actually ever consider hurting their children or killing them.

That you and I might sometimes get the feeling of "Can't someone shut that bloody kid up?" when out on town and being close to a particularly annoying kid is in no way transferable to that kids parents. They might be frustrated and emberassed. But there will be absolutely no thought in their about "getting rid of the burden" or "going back to the easy life".

Your thougts are indeed disturbing, luckily however, they are merely the thoughts of someone who doesn't know enough on the subject of parent psychology.

 

[Korolev]

That ain't right. Toy guns should never, EVER resemble the real thing. And parents shouldn't ever leave a gun on a table where a child under the age of 13 might be able to touch it.

Ban the peripheral, fine (but don't jail, since they've suffered enough) the parents, and let's hope that nothing like this ever happens again.

 

[Vern]

Geez... Anyone investing in that kind of WiiMote add-ons should be questioned.

If the article didn't tell me which gun was real, I would've said it was the lower one.

Me too. Why is the real gun got wires coming out of it?

It's not a wire but a plastic strap. I'm not in the force, but two guesses would be: hanging/handling the evidence without touching it directly and/or showing that it has been emptied.

Yeah, that'd be my guess - run a cord through the empty grip and chamber to show it is completely devoid of bullets and cannot be fired.

Plus the cord keeps the slide from coming all they way foward and thus keeping the hammer from tripping.

It keeps the breach from fully closing and chambering a round. Thus it can't fire. I have a trigger lock for a shotgun that works the same way, it goes through the ejection port and keeps it from chambering a shell.

 

[Tequnuki]

Besides, there is a huge difference between some poor kid swept up in a system that wanted him forgotten... and sterilizing some hick family from Tennessee for careless handling of a firearm and negligence leading to the murder of their child.

Yes, my point was that once you start sterilizing [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_sterilization] (which was is part of the eugenics programs/the point of the article), or preventing people from breeding based on intelligence/genetics then the line between what is acceptable or not acceptable has been moved, and will continue to be moved according to different groups/lobbyists opinions of who is inferior to them.

" The problem is we still allow stupid people to have both children and handguns." Your absolutely correct about this though. Those two things need to be dealt with (children/handguns) though education and tighter monitoring of who has one, the other or both, and whether they are capable of being responsible with either.

[sorry if this post sounds off topic to people just joined]

 

[Markness]

SHE'S THREE!

For God's sake you can't expect a three year old to be able to differentiate between an actual gun and a Wii controller.

And also, why was a loaded, unsafetied weapon left within reach of a three year old child? As far as I'm concerned that should be an offence worthy of jail time in itself you dopey morons.

I would also like clarification of the fact that the family owned this version of the WiiAutoPistol-whatever-it-is, since I haven't yet found evidence of that nature.

I return again though to my point that a three year old would find it difficult to distinguish, but anyone who leaves a loaded weapon where a child can get it is a colossal moron.

I don't know is someone's answered already, but the guy thought he heard prowlers in the yard. Then later forgot he left it there and went to bed. Really, really stupid.

 

[Smudge91]

Wow idiotic parents. When my dad brought even a little pellet gun he gave me and fran a lecture of safety and had to show him we understood. The same with my bows, i had a lecture with that on safety and the same when he brought an rifle.
This should at least be criminal negligence and clear gun safety neglect. Who leaves a gun lieing around with the safety not on, although she could have probably turned if off by accident but i doubt it and why did they not move it when the mother got up. I'd notice a gun on the table which was close to my 3 year old child. Seriously, this is going to whip up some lovely anti-gun/gaming hysteria.

 

[jspheonix]

I would say this has nothing to do with gaming, while I see the similarities between the guns (and disapprove) it again falls back to the parents. As many of you have pointed out, who the hell leaves out a loaded gun in the vicinity of a 3 year old girl?

While I am sure there cannot be many people in the world feeling shittier about themselves right now I struggle grasp the idea that the blame falls anywhere else, the big concern now is (other than some more idiotic parents leaving out firearms) how people like Michael Atkinson will use the death of a 3 year old as though it is the game industries sole fault.

Point is, this is a horrible tragedy that should never have happened, no-one can deny that, and despite their obvious responsibility my sympathies go towards the family.

 

[Daverson]

Why am I unsurprised to find that the Chinese are somehow involved...

I'm sorry, but in my mind this clears up the matter entirely. There's a reason that Lasertag guns, light guns and whatnot look nothing like the real thing, so people can easily tell the difference.

The "HaiHongChang" (is that really all one word?) Electronics Company must have been aware that something like that would eventually happen. And they've instead decided to forego common sense to make something more marketable to people who think they're "hardcore" (protip, if you're holding a wii controller, no matter how much it's dressed up, you are not hardcore)

Heck, even I thought the bottom one was the real handgun at first glance...

 

[Nova5]

Impressively negligent, but this doesn't surprise me in the least.

As much as people want to say, "Oh noes, guns is (insert rhetoric of good/bad here)", it doesn't make a difference. Someone stupid enough to leave a gun out around a 3-year-old daughter is equally likely to run their child over while they're playing in the driveway. This isn't a question of firearm control - it's a question of negligent turds becoming parents. And there's nothing anyone can or ever will do about it.

In other words, a non-issue in my book. Don't really feel one way or another.

 

[Hondor64]

Geez... Anyone investing in that kind of WiiMote add-ons should be questioned.

If the article didn't tell me which gun was real, I would've said it was the lower one.

I was wondering If I was the only one who thought the bottom one was the real gun.

 

[Epitome]

I am right with ya on that one. My god...how is this being left unpunished? It should be a crime in itself to act like nothing like this ever happened!

Their daughter is dead, that's a pretty big punishment if you ask me.

Not even close to a large enough punishment, sure tehy lost their child. But that child lost its life, because they were both stupid in equal parts that little girl will never get a chance ot experience life. That child was wronged by her guardians when they failed her. Their own failure is the reason they should be punished and not the punishment itself. People who are willing to keep both a gun and a child under the same roof must be held accountable for whatever happens.

 

[joshuaayt]

'The night before, her step-father had left the gun on an end-table, having thought he heard intruders'
...As one does.
Society will never progress as long as people like this own firearms. Or children.

 

[chiefohara]

Its America's fault for giving the public easy access to firearms.

You're shitting me, right? Please tell me that you're joking here. That you don't REALLY think that some douche who teaches his his kid to play with guns and then leaves a loaded gun where said kid can get it is the victim of a society that should have seen this coming and made it harder to own a gun just to save this guy from his own stupidity.

I think his point was that it would have saved other people from his stupidity, in this case specifically a three year old.

Some States have waiting periods and background checks and some states let you walk right out of the store with a weapon. Surely if the former was the norm across the board there would be a lot less stupid impulse buyers around to be careless with their weapons?

 

[samsonguy920]

Chalk up another thing from China out to kill Americans.
I, for one, wouldn't even have any gun related games on my family console until my children were at least the age to learn gun safety. Which used to be 7 back in the day, but I guess these days is more 21.
This seems more and more an argument not to bother with peripherals for the Wii, they are either designed to destroy your tv or other equipment, or set up a situation to cause someone harm.
There is a great invention out there people, it is called a gunlock. USE IT!

 

[samsonguy920]

'The night before, her step-father had left the gun on an end-table, having thought he heard intruders'
...As one does.
Society will never progress as long as people like this own firearms. Or children.

So it would have been better if he left a lighter or book of matches on the endtable after lighting candles or such? Maybe we should ban those as well since people can't be held responsible for children burning themselves or others?
That step-father should be pistol-whipped for his laziness and shortsightedness for leaving a dangerous weapon in the open like that. Unfortunately he is paying an even worse punishment now. Even if there weren't any children in the household his action was stupid, since if there was a prowler and he just went to bed, that prowler would have had access to his weapon.
It is people like this that just give me ulcers, who can't respect firearms or other dangerous weapons, and then wonder what went wrong like they were innocent.
Society won't progress, either, if people are restricted by what they can or can't do. Nobody can tell who really is intelligent enough for some privilege. I've seen adults with down syndrome raise children much better than a lot of unaffected adults.
This is a tragedy beyond measure, since it could have been prevented. Though I can not forgive the stepfather for his lack of thought after a tense moment, I feel for their loss, and know how they will feel in the coming years knowing what they lost. I can only hope that they have learned from this mistake and choose wiser courses in their lives. And that they don't choose to be merely reactionary to it. As too many do these days.