Girl Confuses Wiimote with Loaded Gun, Dies

wow a loaded gun + 3 year old kid + reachable place = Bad.

At least they could have put it somewhere where she couldn't reach.

I, like everyone else here, hate when videogames are wrongfully blamed for anything. But in this case, I believe the Wii controller did play some part in this tragedy, even if it was not the main cause. I don't think we should automatically dismiss videogames as a negative influence because of our affinity for them.

Another senseless death of a child. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge second amendment supporter, but when I here these stories it just drives me crazy how stupid parents can be.

Words fail me...

Why would you have a loaded .380 with a three year old running around.

It's because of people like this that there is so much gun control.

You're right we shouldn't dismiss because we like them. We should dismiss them, because FREAKING PARENTS SHOULDN'T BE STUPID!

This is a little 3 year old girl. A gun in reach.. Really wtf would you leave a loaded weapon, and walk away from it when you have a baby in the house. Unacceptable.

This should probably would've done the same freaking thing even if they didn't have a wii.

Also games, videos, music are not to blame. Lack of parenting and common sense is.

Darwin award?

These people...combined with the two who let their child die of malnourishment a few days ago...wow

This is just sad...sad sad sad!

That is obviously a lie, since any real gun would need a certain amount of pressure that no 3 year old has, to be able to fire. And by "unloading the ammo" do you mean the gun only had 1 bullet? And also a 3yearold girls hand is too small to shoot a gun. AND whats a 3 year old girl doing playing video games, theres an age for everything and that age isnt at all for gaming.

Korean parents kill their kid by playing a game while he starves. It isn't so different than killing a kid by giving them a gun. Bad parenting is bad parenting, and no law will ever be good enough to stop everyone. Like the saying goes, 'Make something idiot proof and evolution will give us a better idiot.'

No charges should be filed against the parents, living the rest of their lives knowing their daughter died like this is punishment enough.

I wouldn't be that harsh on the parents, the stepfather just had a small lapse in mental judgement that unfortunately resulted in the worse imaginable thing for these parents. These parents could have been great, and this just an unfortunate accident.

Think about it, you hear something outside or inside your house at night, you get your gun to check it out only to find out nothing is there. You are only half awake and maybe set your gun down on a table after you realize nothing is there, your wife maybe calls your name to tell you to come back to bed and distracts you, and you go back to bed leaving your loaded gun with safety off on the table.

Accidents happen all the time, one lapse in mental judgement when you own guns and have small kids can result in tragedy.

That is why i think civilians should not be able to buy and own guns.

Any child that age will pick up anything, remote, controller, or in this case, a gun, and not know necessarily which way your supposed to hold it. What I can't figure out is why anyone would leave a loaded weapon anywhere that a 3 year old could reach it. I can't even call that a mistake or an accident! That was just plain stupidity!

Stupid father should be sent to prison for man slaughter

sometimes its just not worth having a gun in the home in this case he wished he never had one

Folks, calm down on the defense. I'm sure the parents understand that it was a bad move but it was a terrible accident. You guys are being terribly callous.
Also, I don't believe that the article directly shifts blame to Nintendo - it just mentioned a valid fact. Yeah, I know you guys see trouble brewing, just don't attack a family that lost their kid while you're defending your medium - it isn't cool and makes us look like the desensitized jerks that some of the media makes us out to be.

I can imagine anti-video games lobbies will be leaping on this, even though it is a tragic mistake where a loaded weapon was left out.

Though it does raise the question of whether young children should be playing these games. I'm not saying the games are bad but I don't think that young, impressionable children should be playing them. It is teaching them that violence is a positive thing that is fun. In someone that young it is going to leave deep-seeded traits that will affect their behaviour later.

I love games, especially FPS's but I do not think that parents should be letting their young kids play them if they are violence .

I can imagine anti-video games lobbies will be leaping on this, even though it is a tragic mistake where a loaded weapon was left out.

Though it does raise the question of whether young children should be playing these games. I'm not saying the games are bad but I don't think that young, impressionable children should be playing them. It is teaching them that violence is a positive thing that is fun. In someone that young it is going to leave deep-seeded traits that will affect their behaviour later.

I love games, especially FPS's but I do not think that parents should be letting their young kids play them if they are violence .

She confused the loaded gun with a wiimote.
She did not confuse the wiimote with a loaded gun.

kids cant shoot guns? I direct you to this video on Youtube......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tXkPu0Tobg

dont get a big one you guys if i though there was somhing outside my window i would shure as heck pull out my gun if it meant i could protect my wife and 3 year old.... the wii is not to blame and while the parents did make a misake i would not like to see them spend life behind bars.... should this man stiil be able to own a gun? now thats another story

Hard to believe how she points the gun at herself and is strong enough to pull the trigger. A 3 year old girl would need some workout for that.

"The whole issue of the girl confusing the gun with a Wii controller should be thrown out the window. Little children are curious, and will even dig through the contents of a trashcan in search of hidden treasures. It's in their nature. Leaving an armed weapon within the child's reach is pure negligence no matter what the resident Wii controller looks like. Games aren't the blame here: bad parenting is"

let's just hope the media sees it the same way..

Whatever. Mod me down daft gun-freaks, but anybody getting a loaded gun out and putting the safety off after hearing a noise outside is already a fool in my book. To leave it then on the living room table with a 3-year old around just shows once again that there are a lot of stupid people incapable of dealing with a weapon doing such permanent damage. See, it's not so much guns I dislike, it's just my lack of faith in the intelligence of fellow human beings.

In the spirit of pointless speculation of us civilians (as opposed to the police investigating this), it sounds like the parents killed thier daughter in a way that would match the details of the acount they are telling police. Hearing a prowler outside requires no physical proof to verify or prove false. Every thing about thier story gives off the apperance of a mock up.

Everyone attacking the parent as if it couldn't happen to them. That's a mix a misfortune and negligence. Sure the parents will be tried, but none of this would have happen without a gun in the first place.
I've no problem with hunting rifle, but with handgun, who really needs them? Except to kill another human being.

This is why little kids should not play fps games. Also those parents are stupid.