Toddler mistakes gun for Wii controller, shoots herself

[Pepperlynns]

no I don't blame the Wii

Police in Wilson County, Tennessee say 3-year-old Cheyenne Alexis McKeehan learned to play shooting games on the family’s Wii game console using a controller that is designed to look like a real gun.

This familiarity with fake guns, they say, led the little girl to picked up a loaded .380 caliber pistol her stepfather had left on the living room table. 

Whether she truly thought it was a toy or was just being curious, what happened next is horrifying:  She shot herself in the stomach.  Cheyenne was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at Physicians at University Medical Center in Lebanon.

Her parents, Douglas and Tina Ann Cronberger, say the gun is usually kept in a locked cabinet but had been brought out to scare off what they thought was an intruder outside.  No criminal charges have been filed, but the shooting is still under investigation.

Some people may use this tragedy as an example of why kids shouldn’t play shooting games.  That, of course, is ridiculous.  Shooting games didn’t cause this to happen.  A careless parent did.

Still, my heart goes out to the Cronberger family.  The only thing more tragic than the death of a child is the death of a child from something so easily preventable.

source

[Talee]

 Oh no...=(

[stormcris]

Now I wonder how long it will take to form a campaign to take away the gun controllers.

[lanceandhailey]

Definitely the parents fault, how sad! I hate having guns in the house...

[Friday]

 Why was a 3 yr old left unsupervised, much less with a loaded gun?

Tod: You know, Mrs. Buckman, you need a license to buy a dog, to drive a car - hell, you even need a license to catch a fish. But they'll let any butt-reaming asshole be a father.

[TraceNspace]

What kind of moron leave a loaded gun on the table with a toddler around?

[cherry41089]

I hate when I haerd things like this, I'm pro-guns but we do need to have stricter laws on who can get a gun, maybe less idoit will get them like the parents of this toddler. Serious who leaves a loaded gun laying around? I do have loaded guns in my house but they are in a gun safe under own bed and it's  loaded in case we wake up to someone in our home

[athenax3]

Terrible- very sad. I don't think it indicates anything about games or guns, only poor choices made by parents.

[GoodMomma24-7]

 I don't think it's because of the Wii game, or gun games.  I think it's because the step-father was an idiot who left his gun out in the reach of his toddler.  What an idiot.  My heart goes out to this poor family too, but step-daddy needs to feel guilty.  This was his fault.  Who leaves a gun on the living room table unattended!!!

[Army_Wife41]

Careless parents is right. I am the kind of person that would not be able to go on with my day if I knew a gun was sitting out. It would gnaw at my mind until I put it away somewhere safe.

This is so sad.

[Joqui]

This is a case of irresponsible parents not putting away their gun in a place where their child could not get a hold of it.. and also by not showing their child the difference between a wii control and a GUN! hello?! Responsible gun owners teach their children... at least that's what I thought