Three-Year-Old Kills Herself With Game Controller-Shaped Gun

[wraggster]

http://cache-10.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/9/2010/03/160x120_guncontroller.jpg

A three-year-old in Wilson County, Tennessee died Sunday evening after accidentally shooting herself in the abdomen with a weapon she may have mistaken for a plastic Wii facsimile.

At least that's how the news is being reported today in The Tennessean. Three-year-old Cheyenne Alexis McKeehan had been playing a Nintendo Wii game in her living room using a gun-shaped controller which, according to the story, "looked very similar to the real handgun" her stepfather used to scare away dogs that were hanging about the family's home.

The child had been playing a Nintendo Wii video game, Ashe said. The game's controller was shaped like a gun that looked very similar to the real handgun, which her stepfather had put on a table in the living room. Ashe said the girl pulled the gun off the table and it went off.
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 fact that the child was playing with a Wii controller that looked like a real gun is a non-issue. This is a three-year-old we are talking about. Three-year-olds touch everything, regardless of whether or not it looks like something they were allowed to touch previously.

Not to mention the fact that most Wii gun controllers are either white and blue or Nerf-colored, none of which is a color commonly found on handguns.

This story is horrible, unfortunate, and tragic, but the way that things are worded here make me wonder if there aren't pair of parents out there thinking that had they not let their child play that Wii game, she would still be alive today.

I don't think the majority of our readership needs clarification on this, but just in case, no - if her stepfather had not left a loaded weapon within reach of a curious three-year-old's hands, she would still be alive today.

http://kotaku.com/5488356/three+year+old-kills-herself-with-game-controller+shaped-gun

[symbal]

One thing i'm happy about is UK laws mean that is almost impossible to happen to my daughter and anyone's kid, you'd have to be the child of a criminal for any chance of it.

[gamev8]

If humans on the average were not complete morons it would not happen in the US either.
I mean how damn stupid do you have to be to leave a loaded gun anywhere.
Firearm Safety 101: Don't have it loaded if you're not about to use it!

[psyfirefly]

Yet more anti-gaming propaganda. This has nothing to do with the wii at all. This has everything to do with a complete ****ing retard leaving loaded weapons lying around within a childs reach. Whoever is responsible should be held fully accountable for the death of the kid.

[osgeld]

One thing i'm happy about is UK laws mean that is almost impossible to happen to my daughter and anyone's kid, you'd have to be the child of a criminal for any chance of it.

It does mean however there are plenty of people in the UK that should have gone and shot themselves out of sheer stupidity, and thus dumbing your country down

[JDvorak]

Hey don't slam the USA because of our gun laws this guy is a freak'n idiot period!!!! What *sshole leaves a loaded gun on the table. I mean was there drugs or alcohol involved here. And come on what wii gun looks like a real gun? There white and plastic last time I looked at a real gun they aren't, but to a 3 year old they could look the same? And it is just insane to link this morons judgment to the fact they owned a wii. All consoles have gun controllers but that doesn't mean that the problem is them having a console system. But boy will legislators in the US run with this incident!

[darkriku2000]

Hey don't slam the USA because of our gun laws this guy is a freak'n idiot period!!!! What *sshole leaves a loaded gun on the table. I mean was there drugs or alcohol involved here. And come on what wii gun looks like a real gun? There white and plastic last time I looked at a real gun they aren't, but to a 3 year old they could look the same? And it is just insane to link this morons judgment to the fact they owned a wii. All consoles have gun controllers but that doesn't mean that the problem is them having a console system. But boy will legislators in the US run with this incident!

I agree with most stuff. But about the wii gun: don't forget, this is a 3 year old, they can't tell the difference, just like they'll think a dog is a cat. I don't feel like explaining it right now, so just go look up schemas.

[JDvorak]

I know a 3 year old doesn't know the difference, I was mearly pointing out that a wii gun looks and feels nothing like a real gun.

[noname1]

Wii games with guns must be at least 12+ games why would they ever let a 3 year old play that?

[fishears]

This is the product of a country that constitutionally allows any idiot to own a gun. Seriously, you don't have to be smart or pass a test or anything. That's how this happens. In the UK, our biggest problem is allowing any idiot to procreate! But at least that progeny isn't armed....:thumbup:

[Eviltaco64]

This is the product of a country that constitutionally allows any idiot to own a gun. Seriously, you don't have to be smart or pass a test or anything. That's how this happens. In the UK, our biggest problem is allowing any idiot to procreate! But at least that progeny isn't armed....:thumbup:

By that logic, alcohol should be banned because some dumbass could leave a bottle of Jack Daniels on the table and a 3 year old could mistake it as apple juice and die from alcohol poisoning.

Better yet, sharp edges should be banned because people can stab accidentally themselves to death. :P

[levis315]

By that logic, alcohol should be banned because some dumbass could leave a bottle of Jack Daniels on the table and a 3 year old could mistake it as apple juice and die from alcohol poisoning.

Better yet, sharp edges should be banned because people can stab accidentally themselves to death. :P


I do agree with it,unlucky accident.

[Hypershell]

This is the product of a country that constitutionally allows any idiot to own a gun. Seriously, you don't have to be smart or pass a test or anything. That's how this happens. In the UK, our biggest problem is allowing any idiot to procreate! But at least that progeny isn't armed....:thumbup:
Ideas are a lot more dangerous than weapons. You can't lock a stupid idea in a cabinet.

Boy, if only the U.S. was as open with firearms as you people think. It's a politically incorrect issue. Even though we're allegedly given that right, some minority is always fighting it, which in turn makes any non-critical discussion of weapons, much less education about how to properly handle them, a taboo subject. Case in point: the re-release of E.T. replaced pistols with CG walkie-talkies. If you are not law enforcement or a hunter, nobody tells you how common sense (which is not so common in any corner of the world) applies to a weapon.

I've known how to handle a firearm for the better half of my life, since I was 12. That is not typical where I live, mind you; my Medical Assistant classmates were quite shocked to hear it (because when not in the presence of anything potentially harmful, I tend to goof off). Weapons, be they bullet or blade, have valid uses, and require responsibility. Not only do you NEVER, EVER leave a loaded gun unattended (or even out of your hands, for that matter), you also do not point it at an animal you do not intend to kill, or fire into the air (arcing motion can still be lethal on the descent, depending on the angle). Why in the hell was this man using a pistol to "scare away dogs" in the first place? A whistle could have accomplished that.

Also, to the UK folks, you are deluding yourselves if you think that a gun is necessary for criminal child neglect (which is what this is, as far as I'm concerned) to result in death. Take a moment to educate yourself about electrical outlets, washing machines, swimming pools, old refrigerators, household cleaners, plastic bags, and pest control chemicals.