Two year old shot mother dead

Whitewater · 31 Dec 2014 at 00:24

It's too late to count as natural selection, she already passed on her genes.

Its a terrible loss for the family. I can only assume it was kept loaded out of some imagined fear for her safety - the gun would be easily accessible in case of emergency. I very much doubt it would ever have been needed, but that's paranoid America for you.

rickjames · 31 Dec 2014 at 00:28

'Meriuch

Woden · 31 Dec 2014 at 00:45

More gun control isn't the answer. If the 2 year old wanted to kill his mum he would still find a way.

Mynight · 31 Dec 2014 at 00:47

If the mum had another gun she'd have been able to defend herself.

Horrible waste of life

. Imaging growing up and finding out

.

Mr Badger · 31 Dec 2014 at 00:54

Werewolf said:
I think this is the second similar incident in two months

Tragic - hopefully not the same kid involved again :eek:

dowie · 31 Dec 2014 at 00:59

ElliorR said:
As its America I'm sure they try him as an adult.

not always - there are certain important factors the prosecutor will take into consideration before requesting that - the most important one is: is he black?

Werewolf · 31 Dec 2014 at 00:59

Mr Badger said:
Tragic - hopefully not the same kid involved again

IIRC the previous one in November (if memory is working correctly), was a 3 year old who got a gun out of his mum's bag and shot her whilst she was changing her younger kids nappy

I really think that Gun safety and safe storage of guns should be a requirement for anyone who has one, and putting them in bags your kids can reach would be a big failure.

Mr Badger · 31 Dec 2014 at 01:09

dowie said:
not always - there are certain important factors the prosecutor will take into consideration before requesting that - the most important one is: is he black?

Actually arresting black suspects in the US rather than shooting them on sight would be some progress at least...

dowie · 31 Dec 2014 at 01:20

Werewolf said:
I really think that Gun safety and safe storage of guns should be a requirement for anyone who has one

yup

some sensible legislation could prevent various deaths at home... in fact a firearm in the US is more likely to kill a member of the household than a burglar

just seems so ridiculous that interpretation of an ambiguous amendment to the constitution prevents them from being able to do anything significant

GreatAuk · 31 Dec 2014 at 01:27

Minstadave said:
Carrying a loaded gun in your handbag with a round in the chamber and safety off, that is sadly a recipe for natural selection.

This tbh, I just don't understand how anyone could be moronic enough to do this... But now everyone else has to pick up the pieces - heart goes out to them.

itchy · 31 Dec 2014 at 01:31

America!!

Guns and idiots what can go wrong! :rolleyes:

Stretch · 31 Dec 2014 at 02:07

Guns don't kill people, toddlers kill people.

mcast · 31 Dec 2014 at 03:47

Kenai said:
If the mother had been armed this wouldn't have happened /NRA

peed myself a little

edscdk · 31 Dec 2014 at 04:46

Minstadave said:
Carrying a loaded gun in your handbag with a round in the chamber and safety off, that is sadly a recipe for natural selection.

Baby was so shocked she took mom out of the gene pool and vows never to reproduce hahaha!

Sankari · 31 Dec 2014 at 05:24

If only she'd had a firearm, she could have defended herself!

Oh wait...

xentropa · 31 Dec 2014 at 05:37

thebennyboy said:
The boy probably thought it was a toy and fired it. Don't most firearms have a safety catch on them? Someone more knowledgeable in that area can enlighten me.

Depends what kind of firearm.

Most semi auto handguns do have a safety switch however revolvers do not.

For a gun like a revolver, they should normally be left in an uncocked position which would require a lot of force to pull the trigger and fire the bullet and probably cannot be fired by accident by a 2 year old. If the hammer of a revolver was drawn back (cocked) then the trigger becomes soft enough to fire even with a gentle squeeze which is probably what happened.

This happened in the state of Idaho. A state that is not well known for its high school graduation rates, low crime and high standard of living.

VaderDSL · 31 Dec 2014 at 07:44

xentropa said:
Depends what kind of firearm.

Most semi auto handguns do have a safety switch however revolvers do not.

For a gun like a revolver, they should normally be left in an uncocked position which would require a lot of force to pull the trigger and fire the bullet and probably cannot be fired by accident by a 2 year old. If the hammer of a revolver was drawn back (cocked) then the trigger becomes soft enough to fire even with a gentle squeeze which is probably what happened.

This happened in the state of Idaho. A state that is not well known for its high school graduation rates, low crime and high standard of living.

I'd have thought you'd leave a chamber empty as well on a revolver for extra safety. Isn't that what they used to do in the Wild West? they'd leave a chamber empty when carrying their revolvers so it wouldn't fire accidentally.

enkoda · 31 Dec 2014 at 08:09

xentropa said:
Depends what kind of firearm.

Most semi auto handguns do have a safety switch however revolvers do not.

For a gun like a revolver, they should normally be left in an uncocked position which would require a lot of force to pull the trigger and fire the bullet and probably cannot be fired by accident by a 2 year old. If the hammer of a revolver was drawn back (cocked) then the trigger becomes soft enough to fire even with a gentle squeeze which is probably what happened.

This happened in the state of Idaho. A state that is not well known for its high school graduation rates, low crime and high standard of living.

I think you'd be surprised at how strong toddlers actually are.

I was fortunate enough to go shooting in America and it really isn't that difficult firing off a round from a revolver, certainly easy enough for a 2 year old.

Tragic accident, but a completely avoidable one.

Cosimo · 31 Dec 2014 at 08:38

Poor kid. He'll be scarred for life when he finds out what he did.

Richdog · 31 Dec 2014 at 08:44

Of course, it's not even slightly irresponsible to go to a public supermarket carrying a loaded weapon in your handbag, apparently with the safety off, and within easy reach of your baby children in a supermarket? The one saving grace is that the unwitting toddler didn't shoot himself or any other random passer-by in the process.

End result: three kids now grow up without a mother, and that child has to live with the knowledge in later life that, even if by accident, he killed his own mother.

I have no idea how people can still stand behind America's liberal gun laws when things like this continue to happen. :confused: