Toddler shoots herself with a wii gun

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The publicity may have more to do with the "need to know" than upset it was a gun. At this point, parents are aware of the dangers of a pool. If they aren't, they haven't been paying attention. What I did not know was the popularity of the wii might confuse a toddler to accept and use an item they were otherwise unfamiliar with (although why she would point a wii gun at herself is beyond me). Point being, the hazard can be seen as "new," given common changes in home environments, and there is always more publicity when a harzard is perceived as previously unrecognized (in the past, you would have expected a toddler to explore the gun, but not intentionally use it / the problem was usually accidental discharge).

That might explain some of the news coverage, but it certainly doesn't explain the level of outrage at the parents, which is doubly odd considering that you'd normally expect compassion for someone who's lost a child regardless of the circumstances. I'm just saying, people really should try to think about things before they give in to emotion or worse, try to exploit a tragedy for political gain.

Gun on top is the real one.


This might seem an odd point, but the handgun in question is a Smith and Wesson Sigma Subcompact .380, which has one external safety feature: an 8 to 10 lb trigger pull which is also very long. That is more than ten times the weight of the gun itself and considered on the heavy side for a handgun, the very similar Glock models typically have a 4.5 lb trigger, though there are kits to increase that installed on some police models. My point is that 8-10 lbs is considered heavy enough to act as a safety feature for an adult male user; so how the hell did a 3 year old girl manage to get the gun in such an awkward position to shoot herself in the stomach and still manage to reach the long trigger and pull it all the way through? That model is loaded with internal safeties against accidental discharge, the only way it could have fired was having the trigger pulled fully and held to the rear, and given the hand strength and size of toddlers I find that to be a questionable possibility in the situation described. I'll be really surprised if this story holds together, if anything I can see one of the parents mistaking the real pistol for the admittedly similar looking off-brand Wii peripheral and being the one that actually pulled the trigger, but it's tragic however it happened.

It's 100% the stepfathers fault for leaving the gun were she could get it. No doubt that the parents will have to live with the mistake for the rest of their lives. He should face some charges. Nintendo is not responsible for this tragic accident nor is the NRA. They will not get away with suing Nintendo, who has powerful lawyers that will prove parents fault.

Title of thread is misleading. I was thinking at first "...so she's completely fine, then?"