3-year old kills self playing with gun, parents blame Wii

[figmentPez]

ARGH! Blame the parents, not Nintendo, you stupid reporters!
Wilson County (Tennessee) Girl, 3, Fatally Shoots Self

LEBANON, Tenn. -- A 3-year-old Wilson County girl accidentally shot and killed herself Sunday night, said local police.

The incident happened at about 6:15 p.m. at a home of located off of Cainsville Road. The girl was identified as Cheyenne Alexis McKeehan.

Cheyenne's stepfather, Douglas Robert Cronberger, said he believed someone was trespassing on their property, so he stepped outside with his semi-automatic gun. When he returned inside, he placed the gun on the counter.

Cronberger said Cheyenne mistook the weapon for a Wii video game controller and fatally shot herself in the abdomen.

Cheyenne was rushed to University Medical Center in Lebanon where she was pronounced dead.

As of Monday morning, no charges had been filed in the case.

I'm almost glad that the local news outlets in Tennessee seem to have kept Wii out of the actual headlines (not so for Fox News), but why is this being reported as part of the story? Would it have been included if the parents had assumed the kit thought the gun was a hair dryer?

 

[@Li3n]

Wii's, more dangerous then leaving guns around the house!...

 

[Hylian]

 

[makare]

The wii thing is stupid but damn that is sad. When I was a kid my friends older brother accidentally shot their younger brother in the head. They didn't blame video games or anything it was just a horrible thing. Now Im sad

The forum has gotten super depressing.

 

[Hailey Knight]

That's the only time the Wii is mentioned. Not once does it blame the Wii; it just says she mistook it for one. Obviously they shouldn't leave a gun lying around.

Calling them sensationalists? Pot calling kettle black.

 

[Dave]

Guns don't kill people....people...oh yeah. Guns do kill people. It's kinda their thing.

 

[Chibibar]

That's the only time the Wii is mentioned. Not once does it blame the Wii; it just says she mistook it for one. Obviously they shouldn't leave a gun lying around.

Calling them sensationalists? Pot calling kettle black.

It shouldn't have been mention AT ALL. If by mentioning in passing (like above article) people will come to conclusion on their own and thinks the Wii controller promotes killing since people are likely to blame others than themselves.

The SMART gun owner DO NOT LEAVE their guns lying around when you have kids around (heck don't leave lying around period. Always have it on you or lock up.)

 

[Hailey Knight]

So it's not that the news is calling the Wii a killer, it's that other people might read the news and call the Wii a killer. Without prompting, but just because it was mentioned.

 

[Dave]

I was going to complain that there's no way a kid could mistake a Wii controller for a gun but then I saw this:

Still doesn't make it anything more than an accident, but I could see a 3 year old doing this if they've learned how to use the controller.

 

[@Li3n]

What move does it do when you point it at your gut?!

 

[sixpackshaker]

The information does not add up, unless the gun was locked and cocked, then it does not matter what the child thought it was.

 

[Dave]

Obviously it was ready to fire and safety off. The guy thought he heard something so of course the first thing you think of is, "Get yer gun!"

Then you find nothing and set it on the counter. Not the brightest move.

 

[Chibibar]

Obviously it was ready to fire and safety off. The guy thought he heard something so of course the first thing you think of is, "Get yer gun!"

Then you find nothing and set it on the counter. Not the brightest move.

Heck, if the gun is lock and cock and lay on the counter, accidentally knocking off the counter COULD set it off. Yea. The parent is totally to blame on this one.

 

[SpecialKO]

The information does not add up, unless the gun was locked and cocked, then it does not matter what the child thought it was.

This.

 

[Chazwozel]

That's the only time the Wii is mentioned. Not once does it blame the Wii; it just says she mistook it for one. Obviously they shouldn't leave a gun lying around.

Calling them sensationalists? Pot calling kettle black.

It shouldn't have been mention AT ALL. If by mentioning in passing (like above article) people will come to conclusion on their own and thinks the Wii controller promotes killing since people are likely to blame others than themselves.

The SMART gun owner DO NOT LEAVE their guns lying around when you have kids around (heck don't leave lying around period. Always have it on you or lock up.)[/QUOTE]

It was reporting a fact. She mistook the gun for a Wii controller. FACT. There is no bias or spin.

 

[Denbrought]

I don't care if the kid had spent his whole childhood playing Persona 3 (the characters shoot themselves in the head with a gun-looking device regularly, for gameplay reasons), the culprit here is the dude that left an unsupervised loaded gun in a place accessible to a child. Parenting is not the kind of job at which you can afford this kind of slip up, not even once.

 

[Chazwozel]

Obviously it was ready to fire and safety off. The guy thought he heard something so of course the first thing you think of is, "Get yer gun!"

Then you find nothing and set it on the counter. Not the brightest move.

What ever happened to a good ol' fashioned baseball bat for protection? I got a 2 iron and my Louisville slugger for just such an occasion. I don't think a gun is ever a good idea for general protection. I've got one, in a safe, in the closet with a lock on the trigger and bullets in another locked container. But it's my 'doomsday' 9mm, meaning I'll only get it out if I see zombies knocking on the door.

I really don't see the need for active guns in the house. Like I said, all you need is a bat and a nice big German Shepherd.

 

[sixpackshaker]

That's the only time the Wii is mentioned. Not once does it blame the Wii; it just says she mistook it for one. Obviously they shouldn't leave a gun lying around.

Calling them sensationalists? Pot calling kettle black.

It shouldn't have been mention AT ALL. If by mentioning in passing (like above article) people will come to conclusion on their own and thinks the Wii controller promotes killing since people are likely to blame others than themselves.

The SMART gun owner DO NOT LEAVE their guns lying around when you have kids around (heck don't leave lying around period. Always have it on you or lock up.)[/QUOTE]

It was reporting a fact. She mistook the gun for a Wii controller. FACT. There is no bias or spin.[/QUOTE]

I thought you would know what a fact is. I doubt the 3 yo called out... "wow, look at this wii controller, I will now play duck hunt on my belly." It is totally unverifiable what was going through a 3 yo's head.

 

[Chazwozel]

I don't care if the kid had spent his whole childhood playing Persona 3 (the characters shoot themselves in the head with a gun-looking device regularly, for gameplay reasons), the culprit here is the dude that left an unsupervised loaded gun in a place accessible to a child. Parenting is not the kind of job at which you can afford this kind of slip up, not even once.

nah, everyone would be screwed as a parent if this were true. But leaving a loaded gun on the counter ranks up there with dipping your nuts in a piranha infested pool.

 

[Shegokigo]

What move does it do when you point it at your gut?!

This one:

 

[Denbrought]

I don't care if the kid had spent his whole childhood playing Persona 3 (the characters shoot themselves in the head with a gun-looking device regularly, for gameplay reasons), the culprit here is the dude that left an unsupervised loaded gun in a place accessible to a child. Parenting is not the kind of job at which you can afford this kind of slip up, not even once.

nah, everyone would be screwed as a parent if this were true. But leaving a loaded gun on the counter ranks up there with dipping your nuts in a piranha infested pool.[/QUOTE]
I don't mean any kind of slip ups, I mean *that* degree of slip up ("this kind"). I understand nobody's perfect, but that's a freaking firearm.

 

[Cajungal]

That's just terrible. Poor kid... there's no room for that kind of carelessness if you must own a gun. That's going to haunt him forever, and even though it was a REALLY stupid mistake, I pity him very much for that.

 

[Chazwozel]

That's the only time the Wii is mentioned. Not once does it blame the Wii; it just says she mistook it for one. Obviously they shouldn't leave a gun lying around.

Calling them sensationalists? Pot calling kettle black.

It shouldn't have been mention AT ALL. If by mentioning in passing (like above article) people will come to conclusion on their own and thinks the Wii controller promotes killing since people are likely to blame others than themselves.

The SMART gun owner DO NOT LEAVE their guns lying around when you have kids around (heck don't leave lying around period. Always have it on you or lock up.)[/QUOTE]

It was reporting a fact. She mistook the gun for a Wii controller. FACT. There is no bias or spin.[/QUOTE]

I thought you would know what a fact is. I doubt the 3 yo called out... "wow, look at this wii controller, I will now play duck hunt on my belly." It is totally unverifiable what was going through a 3 yo's head.[/QUOTE]

Fact:

Reporter: Mr. Cronberger, why do you think that your daughter picked up the weapon.
Dumbass: Well I reckon she thought it was that new fangled Wii controller.
Reporter writes:
Cronberger said Cheyenne mistook the weapon for a Wii video game controller


Fiction:
Reporter: Mr. Cronberger, why do you think that your daughter picked up the weapon.
Dumbass: Well I reckon she thought it was that new fangled Wii controller.
Reporter writes: Cheyenne mistook the weapon for a Wii video game controller after first shooting the TV (insert further embellishment).


The reporter did their job. They asked questions and reported what they were told with no spin on the facts.

 

[Deschain]

Protip: Hot guns are always kept in hand, holster, or sight.

And a bat is a terrible defense weapon. What if he had a gun too?

 

[Hailey Knight]

That's the only time the Wii is mentioned. Not once does it blame the Wii; it just says she mistook it for one. Obviously they shouldn't leave a gun lying around.

Calling them sensationalists? Pot calling kettle black.

It shouldn't have been mention AT ALL. If by mentioning in passing (like above article) people will come to conclusion on their own and thinks the Wii controller promotes killing since people are likely to blame others than themselves.

The SMART gun owner DO NOT LEAVE their guns lying around when you have kids around (heck don't leave lying around period. Always have it on you or lock up.)[/QUOTE]

It was reporting a fact. She mistook the gun for a Wii controller. FACT. There is no bias or spin.[/QUOTE]

I thought you would know what a fact is. I doubt the 3 yo called out... "wow, look at this wii controller, I will now play duck hunt on my belly." It is totally unverifiable what was going through a 3 yo's head.[/QUOTE]

Fact:

Reporter: Mr. Cronberger, why do you think that your daughter picked up the weapon.
Dumbass: Well I reckon she thought it was that new fangled Wii controller.
Reporter writes:
Cronberger said Cheyenne mistook the weapon for a Wii video game controller


Fiction:
Reporter: Mr. Cronberger, why do you think that your daughter picked up the weapon.
Dumbass: Well I reckon she thought it was that new fangled Wii controller.
Reporter writes: Cheyenne mistook the weapon for a Wii video game controller after first shooting the TV (insert further embellishment).


The reporter did their job. They asked questions and reported what they were told with no spin on the facts.[/QUOTE]

This^. Nowhere does it give the impression of "It was the Wii that killed her! Goddamn video games! Those Japanese at Nintendo wanna murder our American gun-weilding children!"

 

[sixpackshaker]

Facts are verifiable. The reporter was repeating conjecture.

"Fact" a bullet struck a child. The rest is hearsay.

 

[Chibibar]

Facts are verifiable. The reporter was repeating conjecture.

"Fact" a bullet struck a child. The rest is hearsay.

It is easier to think the child thinks it is a toy and shot herself.

 

[figmentPez]

It was reporting a fact. She mistook the gun for a Wii controller. FACT. There is no bias or spin.

That's not a fact. That's the parents' opinion of what happened. Unless the child said, "Hey look at this Wii controller" they didn't know what she was thinking. The reports can't even agree if the mother or the father is the one who said that the child mistook the gun for a Wii controller.

 

[Hailey Knight]

The ad I'm getting is for the Firearms Training Institute.

 

[sixpackshaker]

The ad I'm getting is for the Firearms Training Institute.

I thought that was just me, since I go to a couple of gun and ammo sites.

 

[Chazwozel]

It was reporting a fact. She mistook the gun for a Wii controller. FACT. There is no bias or spin.

That's not a fact. That's the parents' opinion of what happened. Unless the child said, "Hey look at this Wii controller" they didn't know what she was thinking. The reports can't even agree if the mother or the father is the one who said that the child mistook the gun for a Wii controller.[/QUOTE]

It's a news report. What they hear is what is fact for their article. Jesus, it's Journalism, not a flipping scientific study or court proceeding. What the guy told her and what the reporter reported is a fact. This is how journalism works. The reporter reports answers to questions he or she asks to the witness of the report. The reporter in this case is not spinning the facts, or making slanderous claims to what he was told in order to make it seem like a Wii is the cause of the problem.

The reporters job is to report the interview; not cross check facts of the incident. That's the job of the police

 

[Dusty668]

Guns don't kill people....people...oh yeah. Guns do kill people. It's kinda their thing.

And if you believe a pistol has any other reason, you need to never have one. PERIOD.

Protip: Hot guns are always kept in hand, holster, or sight.

And a bat is a terrible defense weapon. What if he had a gun too?

Personally I would go with in hand only. A 5 second unload would have saved her up to 80+ years.

 

[Baerdog]

What is misleading here is the thread title...

 

[Chazwozel]

Protip: Hot guns are always kept in hand, holster, or sight.

And a bat is a terrible defense weapon. What if he had a gun too?

What if... What if it was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, then you'd be royally fucked with or without a gun.

Seriously, I can start making up awesome scenarios right now... I could sneak up around the corner and baseball bat the burglar's head before he even sees me. I could pull his pants down and flick his nuts while disarming him. I could shove the bat up his ass after throwing a pebble across the room to divert his attention. You're just as fucked with a gun as much so as with a bat. So you confront the burglar with your mighty gun, and he's got a gun. MEXICAN STANDOFF TIME!

 

[Chibibar]

Personally I would go with in hand only. A 5 second unload would have saved her up to 80+ years.

(agree)
I do feel bad for the parents, but at the same time the parent should be charge for reckless murder (or whatever manslaughter that match this situation). The gun was left on a counter, loaded, and probably cocked (the last was assumption on my part) If the gun is no longer in hand (and it seems that the threat is no longer a threat) the parent should have unload the gun.