2 year old boy shot and killed his mother!

the world's best mom

Tue, Jan 06 2015, 11:42 pm

I just heard about this story today. This woman was shopping in Walmart in Idaho and her 2 year old got her purse, got out her little gun from a secret pocket inside, and shot her fatally.

I feel so bad for the poor family. Now, the kid keeps asking where his Mommy is- he has no idea what he did to her. But I can't imagine what will happen when he grows up a bit and finds out the real truth. What kind of life will he have?

I have never been very opinionated about gun laws, but now I'm definitely against having too many weapons around civilians. It's just too risky. What do you think?

FranticFrummie

Wed, Jan 07 2015, 12:36 am

I'm a gun owner, and I have a purse similar to the one she was using.

The thing about the purse is, the side pocket for the gun has a LOCK on the zipper, that can only be opened with a special key. She had the purse in the cart with the child, and the zipper UNLOCKED. Also, she didn't have a trigger lock on her gun.

Stupid, stupid! Banging head

I'm all for concealed carry by civilians, but only if they know how to do it responsibly. Guns don't kill people, idiots (or their innocent children) kill people.

What makes this whole situation so tragic. Not only was it a horrible accident, it was 100% preventable. Crying

youngishbear

Wed, Jan 07 2015, 12:42 am

We have too many guns in the US. Gun control laws do not accomplish what they should. The villains will always have guns illegally, anyway, and the nice guys who have guns end up in trouble when they kill unarmed intruders or their grandkids accidentally fire at each other.

We need better gun laws or some plan with the goal of preventing precisely such tragedies. It is true that guns don't kill people, but in this case, the little person pulling the trigger would not have killed if the gun wasn't there.

And it is not the first time such things happen. May it be the last.

youngishbear

Wed, Jan 07 2015, 12:55 am

FF, or anyone else who owns a weapon, especially a safely concealed one: feel free to ignore my curious questions...

How fast are you able to get to your gun in case of attack? Will it really come in handy in a situation of a matter of seconds? Why do you feel the need to own a weapon? Are you not afraid of a smart curious child figuring out how to work the lock? Is the small possibility of safety in case of the small possibility of an attack worth the danger of potential misuse or accident chv?

These and some other questions are what I've always wanted to ask regular people who own guns... I don't know anyone IRL, so thanks to imamother I might learn something new.

FranticFrummie

Wed, Jan 07 2015, 1:54 am

I'll give you an example of a good reason to carry a gun. I used to work downtown, and I had closing shift. I had to walk to the bank to make the last deposit of the night, and I'd regularly be carrying several thousand dollars in cash. I owned the business, so I couldn't exactly expect my employer to protect me.

A family friend of mine is a cop, and he didn't like the idea of me walking around in the dark like that, so he bought me a gun and a set of lessons for my birthday. He also bought me the purse to go with it. When I walked down the street, my gun was unlocked and my hand was in the side pocket, ready to draw. Honestly, I think there was something about my posture that made more than a couple of shady looking people decide that I was not an easy target. My advice - walk as if you had a gun in your pocket, and people will leave you alone!

At Walmart, there is no expectation of you getting robbed, and there is no excuse for not having your gun secured - ESPECIALLY when you have small children with you.

DD has never seen my gun. She doesn't know where I keep it. She doesn't even know where my safe is. We have an escape plan, just like you would in case of a fire or any other emergency. She locks the bedroom door and hides in the closet, and I go get the gun. The whole thing takes about 15 seconds.

Personally, I'm waiting for gun manufacturers to perfect the trigger lock that is coded to the owner's fingerprint. That's the way of the future, and it makes a ton of sense. In the meantime, I'm extra careful.

A gun is like an insurance policy. It makes you feel better to know you have one, but at the same time you pray that you'll never have to use it.

Raisin

Wed, Jan 07 2015, 8:10 am

The thing is, I'll bet you are all thinking the parents must be uneducated rednecks. But no, they were educated, intelligent people. the mother was a nuclear research scientist! They were not idiots. There is no such thing as an idiot - just people who do idiotic things.

Me I would never own a gun. I am way to prone to losing things and not locking things up. I'm not an idiot.

I can see the value of owning a gun in certain situations - say, living in the West Bank. There the potential upsides outweigh the risks. But, outside semi war zones, I think gun ownership carries more risks then benefits.

youngishbear

Wed, Jan 07 2015, 10:12 am

FF I totally see why you needed weapon in the situation you described. You had it handy when you were carrying large sums. No surprise attacks, you were ready in case of robbery.

It just seems to me that in cases of personal attack (say rape) the assailant can knock me out before I have a chance to grab the gun. I wouldn't walk around with my hand on a weapon all the time. I like your suggestion of pretending to have a gun...

For me, the risks of accidental misuse is greater than the potentially lifesaving protection a gun offers.

FranticFrummie

Wed, Jan 07 2015, 8:16 pm

gp2.0 wrote:

FF, you kept the safety off while it was in your purse? That's incredibly dangerous...was that what happened here? The safety was already off?

Dangerous for who? I'm only keeping it unlocked when I'm in a dangerous situation to begin with. Otherwise, it's locked and hidden.