# Did Maggie Simpson Shoot Mr. Burns on Purpose? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 30, 2000, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-maggie-simpson-shoot-mr-burns-on-purpose/47761 "2000-12-30T04:23:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-maggie-simpson-shoot-mr-burns-on-purpose/47761/1 "2000-12-30T04:23:44Z")
So I was watching The Simpsons tonight, like I do every night. Tonight was “Who Shot Mr. Burns?” (Spoiler here for those who haven’t seen it. Though if you HAVEN’T seen it, you deserve to have it spoiled! ;)) Now, we all know Maggie Simpson shot Mr. Burns, when his gun fell out of the holster, and she grabbed it and shot him. We also know that Maggie witnessed a lot of horrible things happening to her family members because of Mr. Burns’ selfishness. At the end, Marge says it was an accident and she didn’t mean it…but then we see this spooky close up on Maggie. It sure did LOOK like an accident. Maggie couldn’t have known Mr. Burns had a gun on him. It wasn’t as though she **planned** to kill him, and she is just a baby, albeit a smart one. My question is: WAS it an accident? Did Margaret Simpson wound C. Montgomery Burns with malicious intent? That is up to the dopers to debate. NB\* Mods, if you think this is unimportant enough to be a Great Debate, you have my gracious approval to move it to IMHO. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-maggie-simpson-shoot-mr-burns-on-purpose/47761/2 "2000-12-30T08:09:56Z")
Maggie DIDN’T shoot Burns. If you watch, you’ll see that she doesn’t put a finger on the trigger (one hand is on the barrel, and one is on the trigger guard… wrong angle for her to pull the trigger). And the gun goes off the instant it falls into her hands. Apparently, Burns’ gun was so unstable that it’d go off if it was struck hard enough anywhere on the chassis by any object. ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-maggie-simpson-shoot-mr-burns-on-purpose/47761/3 "2000-12-30T13:09:09Z")
[Moderator Hat: ON] Yes, Zoggie, I think this is IMHO, not GD; so that’s where it’s going. * * * David B, SDMB Great Debates Moderator [Moderator Hat: OFF] ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-maggie-simpson-shoot-mr-burns-on-purpose/47761/4 "2000-12-30T21:06:54Z")
Fine, David. If that’s how you feel. 🙂 Whoa. So really, NO ONE shot Mr. Burns? After all. Can Matt Groening really expect us to believe than an infant could be capable of…attempted murder? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2000, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-maggie-simpson-shoot-mr-burns-on-purpose/47761/5 "2000-12-31T00:02:50Z")
Yes, it was an accident. Or was it? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA ---
**Author:** ![Anonymous\_c38f64651bbfc0fca993c5b066c30099](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@Anonymous\_c38f64651bbfc0fca993c5b066c30099](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anonymous_c38f64651bbfc0fca993c5b066c30099)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2000, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-maggie-simpson-shoot-mr-burns-on-purpose/47761/6 "2000-12-31T01:39:14Z")
Of course she did. And she gets off scott free.Yea! That’s the root of all evil, stealing candy from babies. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2000, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-maggie-simpson-shoot-mr-burns-on-purpose/47761/7 "2000-12-31T01:51:14Z")
Uh…Smiley face. Are you sure she did it on purpose? I mean, is she THAT protective over her candy? So we have: She didn’t do it at all! 1 She did but it was justified: 1 She didn’t…or DID SHE?! 1 Will the world ever know? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2000, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-maggie-simpson-shoot-mr-burns-on-purpose/47761/8 "2000-12-31T02:16:19Z")
If you factor in that in other episodes: 1. She has masterminded the overthrow of a daycare 2. She has been suspected of apparent attempted patricide as a result of her tv cartoon watching then you may conclude that she’s capable of sophisticated antisocial behaviour. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2000, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-maggie-simpson-shoot-mr-burns-on-purpose/47761/9 "2000-12-31T10:57:34Z")
How COULD she have done it? Her finger wasn’t on the trigger. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2000, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-maggie-simpson-shoot-mr-burns-on-purpose/47761/10 "2000-12-31T19:35:48Z")
Telepathy!! Remember, her father is an alien. (OK that was the Halloween ep whiich lacks continuity, but bear with me…) Or perhaps…Maggie’s patriarchy shouldn’t come into questioning. Perhaps she’s just a poltergeist, who can control things after enough concentration. (A la Mathilda.) There are plenty of supernatural explanations, Bo. Just because she didn’t touch, doesn’t mean she didn’t do. It. :o ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2001, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-maggie-simpson-shoot-mr-burns-on-purpose/47761/11 "2001-01-01T08:38:48Z")
I am so happy to find a thread on The Simpsons. I don’t have a personal opinion on the shooting of Mr. Burns. I think that we are not really ment to know. Well I love the Simpsons (I believe I have every episode on tape), so if anyone wants to grill me on some Simpsons Trivia, I’m game. E-mail me. [cs302b@yahoo.com](mailto:cs302b@yahoo.com)