Toddler shoots mom in a Wal-Mart

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

http://news.yahoo.com/police-boy-2-accidentally-kills-mom-wal-mart-201635957.html

[LadyCrimson]

So did the toddler accidentally switch the safety off while rummaging about in the purse, too, or did mommy not have it on? Or maybe it was a handgun with no safety.

 

Well, it's sad, but ....

[Woldan]

Thats what happens if people own guns without knowing how they work, there is no way a toddler could have disengaged the safety of a gun, so this one surely was ****ed and ready to rock, rolling around in a goddamn purse. 

 

Sad, but at least no innocents were hurt. 

Edited December 31, 2014 by Woldan

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

So did the toddler accidentally switch the safety off while rummaging about in the purse, too, or did mommy not have it on? Or maybe it was a handgun with no safety.

 

Well, it's sad, but ....

Darwin at work?

[MasterPrudent]

Thats what happens if people own guns without knowing how they work, there is no way a toddler could have disengaged the safety of a gun, so this one surely was ****ed and ready to rock, rolling around in a goddamn purse. 

 

Sad, but at least no innocents were hurt. 

Jesus, that's cold. At the very least there's a two year old out there who is going to grow up with the burden of having killed his mother and a family without a daughter/husband/mother.

[Guard Dog]

Woldan is right. The only way this plays is there is a round in the chamber and the safety is off. That is just stupid. No double action pistol should ever be kept with a live round in front of the pin unless you are getting ready to fire it. If it's a single action then not only was the pistol loaded with no safety but it had to be ****ed too. I seriously doubt a baby could pull that off otherwise.

 

This is just a tragic accident that resulted from carelessness. Sad but true.

[HoonDing]

Guess that kid will become a supervillain now?

 

 

I also wonder how that girl who uzi-ed that instructor is doing.

[Orogun01]

I'm starting a political party called **** the Children, or stance is **** the children they ruin everything. Whenever some comes up with some think of the children type of news scare we just go **** 'em

[teknoman2]

besides the stupidity of having a loaded and primed gun with the safety off on you (and within reach of a child) and the fact that every fool without any knowledge about gun safety can take a gun for a stroll, the real problem is the need of the average Joe to carry a gun around "for personal protection" in a civilized country... it shows just how civilized the country is.

[Orogun01]

besides the stupidity of having a loaded and primed gun with the safety off on you (and within reach of a child) and the fact that every fool without any knowledge about gun safety can take a gun for a stroll, the real problem is the need of the average Joe to carry a gun around "for personal protection" in a civilized country... it shows just how civilized the country is.

Well, considering that in the US you don't enjoy a "special relationship" with the cops (translation: they aren't obligated to do **** for you) I'd say that it is a must have. Plus the response time of cops isn't immediate.

[Meshugger]

News like these are a dime a dozen in states with lax gun laws. Give me news where a gun saved someone instead.

[Gromnir]

am mildly revolted by some responses... mild.

 

at worst, we see a woman who were extreme irresponsible. her error in judgement may have caused her own death.  there is, of course, the possibility that an unfortunate confluence o' small errors resulted in a single tragic accident-- in our line o' work, we see this all the time. what if it were the husband who put the gun in her purse after cleaning? would mrs. ruteledge still deserve a death sentence 'cause she failed to check to make sure the safety were properly on before leaving the house? she might be irresponsible, but deserving of death? story says mrs. rutledge were shopping with her son and three other children. well gosh, is it possible that one o' the children, an older child, had reached into her purse and disengaged the safety on her gun whilst she were driving?  mrs. rutledge were visiting relatives. as noted elsewhere, a toddler cannot disengage a safety on any reputable handgun-- would invalidate the point o' a safety in the first place if such were possible. nevertheless, mrs. rutledge's typical routine regarding gun safety may not have taken into account the presence o' relatives. routine has been the undoing o' many a man, or woman. etc. sadly, we can come up with any number o' hypotheticals that alter the scenario at the walmart from being illustrative of a wanton disregard for even the most basic "rules" o' gun safety and transform mrs. rutledge into a largely innocent victim o' happenstance. however, even assuming a worst-case-scenario, the implication that abject stoopidity should carry a death sentence is vulgar. the events described in the linked story is a tragedy.

 

even thirty years ago, the rutledge family woulda' had the option of moving and starting a new life. yeah, the toddler who killed his mother woulda' had to grow up without a mother, but perhaps the family coulda' gotten a fresh start where nobody knew what happened to mrs. rutledge. "oh, she died in a car accident when _________ was two."  who would question such a story?  perhaps mr. rutledge would be unable to forget the events in the walmart, and that might affect the raising o' his child, but one may hope and pray that the child were too young to remember or to be traumatized by what occurred.  move to a new town and family gets a new start.

 

is 2014... for at least a few hours more. we got internet. type "veronica rutledge" into any search engine from now until armageddon, and the walmart shooting accident will be readily discovered.  even assuming that the toddler is unaffected by the memory o' what happened, the loss o' a mother, and the possible trauma done to his remaining parent, the child is likely never gonna be able to escape this tragedy. wherever he goes, people will know what happened to his mother and the child will be treated different because o' that fact.

 

am mildly revolted.

 

as an aside, a single incident, should, with extreme rare exceptions, never be taken as a commentary on civilization... that is just silly.

 

ps other than off-duty cops and the like, we is against carrying handguns on one's person. is not simple because we has comical bad aim with handguns neither. 

Edited December 31, 2014 by Gromnir

[Blarghagh]

 

A jump to conclusions mat.

[Guard Dog]

While there should be no restrictions on gun ownership there are, and should be restrictions on concealed carry. I don't know where this happened but in my state proficiency and safety training are a requirement for a Concealed Carry permit. It seems like both might have helped here. But the truth is we are all adults and it is incumbent upon all of us to act in a responsible way and at first glance that does not seem to have happened here and something terrible happened. Besides, she may very well have completed the proper safety training and still done the wrong thing.

[Walsingham]

The only lesson I take from this is not to let toddlers handle loaded firearms.

 

However, my emotional reaction is still sadness.

[Elerond]

While there should be no restrictions on gun ownership there are, and should be restrictions on concealed carry. I don't know where this happened but in my state proficiency and safety training are a requirement for a Concealed Carry permit. It seems like both might have helped here. But the truth is we are all adults and it is incumbent upon all of us to act in a responsible way and at first glance that does not seem to have happened here and something terrible happened. Besides, she may very well have completed the proper safety training and still done the wrong thing.

 

When you carry a handgun in a purse (or similar) there is possibility that the gun's safety gets switched off by hitting some other object in the purse, which is why I would always recommend one to carry gun in holster if they must carry one with you even when you carry them in purse, bag, back-bag, suite-case, etc..

 

And from my observations people that are most relaxed on how they handle guns belong those who perfectly well know how guns should be handled, but are blinded by their experience which causes them act carelessly, which is when accidents are bound to happen. I would say that this is also true to any dangerous object that people use, people (at least some) are just bound to become more relaxed in handling things when handling them becomes routine, rising possibility of accident at least some degree.

 

But when we speak objects that have ability to kill people we never will be able to prevent all fatal accidents with them as long they exists because there will always be (chain of) unseen circumstances that will lead such tragedy.

[Luridis]

News like these are a dime a dozen in states with lax gun laws. Give me news where a gun saved someone instead.

 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/10-potential-mass-shootings-that-were-stopped-by-someone-wit#.tj1YYnn4E6

 

Clear enough?

Edited December 31, 2014 by Luridis

[Woldan]

 

Thats what happens if people own guns without knowing how they work, there is no way a toddler could have disengaged the safety of a gun, so this one surely was ****ed and ready to rock, rolling around in a goddamn purse. 

 

Sad, but at least no innocents were hurt. 

Jesus, that's cold. At the very least there's a two year old out there who is going to grow up with the burden of having killed his mother and a family without a daughter/husband/mother.

 

 

That toddler didn't kill the mother, she killed herself. 

 

Maybe its cold but I'm simply completely fed up with such idiots. They're not just killing themselves and endangering other people, no, they're also causing collateral damage in many more ways, like giving responsible gun owners a bad name. We live in a time where generalization and jumping to conclusions is extremely popular and where mistakes like this can and will lead people to make gut decisions that further butchers rights of millions others who don't deserve that.

And this isn't just aimed at guns, this is true for a lot of other activities and things that can be potentially dangerous, like fireworks, fast cars, mountain climbing etc. (With the latter becoming a serious problem here in Austria, this year a dozens of people died in the mountains, most of the times because of lack of practice and self overestimation)

 

are just bound to become more relaxed in handling things when handling them becomes routine, rising possibility of accident at least some degree.

 

I don't know, that statement does make a lot of sense but still, my experience says otherwise. The past 8 years I spent 6+ hours per week at the shooting range practicing, oftentimes as range officer, and I have never witnessed a single accident, not even minor ones, myself included. And a lot of people there have been shooting firearms for decades.  If you obey the universal fire arms safety rules (Which are very simple) an accident cannot happen, even if it has become routine. There are 3 main rules and you'd have to disobey them all to have an accident happen. 

Same goes for the military branches, shooting accidents are very rare if you consider the amount of firearms and training that happens there on a daily basis. 

 

According to my experience those who are not used to guns are prone to accidents. 

Edited December 31, 2014 by Woldan

[Luridis]

While there should be no restrictions on gun ownership there are, and should be restrictions on concealed carry. I don't know where this happened but in my state proficiency and safety training are a requirement for a Concealed Carry permit. It seems like both might have helped here. But the truth is we are all adults and it is incumbent upon all of us to act in a responsible way and at first glance that does not seem to have happened here and something terrible happened. Besides, she may very well have completed the proper safety training and still done the wrong thing.

 

I grew up in Chicago, next door to a prison guard with a federal level firearm permit. He took me range shooting a lot. Full auto assault rifles, submachine guns, you name it. First thing he taught me was that there is no such thing as an unloaded gun.

 

Strangely enough, I don't own one now. But, that's because I've never really felt I needed one. Of course, if the nature of this place continues to become more draconian, I'll go get one. I've already got CJIS background clearance, so it's likely not going to take long to get a permit if I were to apply.

[Luridis]

What I find most puzzling about gun control advocates... And, I'm not speaking of the ones who just want better background checks and/or better and more regular training. No, I mean the ones who think civilians should not own guns... period. What I find puzzling about them is that they actually believe that the government does not abuse it's position of power, when we've seen nothing but that since the Patriot Act.

 

Gitmo, NSA, Stop & Frisk, Bad Cops, people held without charges or bail.

 

So, what are you going to do? Throw rocks at them if they turn on the populace?

 

Personally, I don't think Obama or anyone else up there is trying to take over the world. I worry about the expansion of powers, and the psychopath who's sitting in a cell somewhere writing a book titled, "My Plan". Because, that's pretty much how it happened then. An overpowered government office + 1 single psychopath seeing it for the opportunity it is.

 

Anyway, that's the real threat to me. Not the banks or Illuminati or new world order any other fanciful stuff that will happen one way or another, regardless of who's responsible or it being a conspiracy at all.

 

The crazy but charismatic person seeking public office. The one who has an axe to grind against a specific group of people he feels wronged him and is cold, contemplative and calculating enough to talk his way into power, power the civilians didn't fight hard enough to keep in check. That's the real threat.

Edited December 31, 2014 by Luridis

[Woldan]

*Beep* *Beep* *Beep* Whats this? Major can of worms alert. 

[Luridis]

Of course, we as a society could try something breathtakingly rational as to reach out to people before they flip their damn lid and shoot up a school.

 

Society feeds that kind of rage with it's self-centeredness and apathy. Just look in this very forum, a guy comes here reaches out, says he's lonely. What do people do... charge into the thread and poke fun and derail the whole thing into a conversation about hookers.

 

You really want to know why people are going bonkers? Look at how they get treated. If just one person stopped to listen or help, some of them might not have spilled over into crazy.

[Malcador]

Canadians are wanking themselves over this on news sites here, rather funny that. Wonder what type of gun she had.

 

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/12/31/the-inside-story-of-how-an-idaho-toddler-shot-his-mom-at-wal-mart/

 

Guess there was no safety.

Edited December 31, 2014 by Malcador

[Luridis]

*Beep* *Beep* *Beep* Whats this? Major can of worms alert. 

 

Yea, I know... CNN and Fox do a damn good job of keeping the general public at diametrically opposed positions on these things. Watching TV has never been more poisonous to the rational mind.

[Hiro Protagonist]

All the other shoppers in Walmart dodged a bullet that day.