# How is this possible? (Mother shot by toddler at Walmart) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 30, 2014, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-possible-mother-shot-by-toddler-at-walmart/708569 "2014-12-30T21:49:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![manila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@manila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manila)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-possible-mother-shot-by-toddler-at-walmart/708569/21 "2014-12-31T00:49:15Z")
What can you say? People of Walmart! ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-possible-mother-shot-by-toddler-at-walmart/708569/22 "2014-12-31T00:52:26Z")
Just got an image in my head of a Walmart security guard shooting the next two-year-old who reaches into his momma’s purse. I’m SO going to hell. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-possible-mother-shot-by-toddler-at-walmart/708569/23 "2014-12-31T00:54:56Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > Once again the media misreports a negligent discharge as an accidental one. This was not an accident, it was an act of negligence. “Accidental” means it wasn’t intentional, not that it was nobody’s fault. Accidents are often the result of negligence. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-possible-mother-shot-by-toddler-at-walmart/708569/24 "2014-12-31T01:01:12Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > What kind of gun was it? 😕 The KREM (Spokane news station) site speaks of a “small caliber handgun” – probably something like a .32-cal “pocket pistol”. It also says that according to police the toddler was seated in the shopping cart so it may be a case where the kid’s sitting in the cart, and she negligently hangs the purse on the cart or puts it in the tray, forgetting she has a loaded gun in it, and it’s Hey Let’s Look In Mom’s Bag Time while everyone’s back is turned. Those poor kids ☹ The reports say she had a CCW permit but if so she was being reckless with it, the firearm should be properly holstered and you must be in control of it; if she just dropped it into her purse like it were a flashlight or cell phone she was already doing something **very** dangerous (what if a pen or something gets wedged through the trigger guard and something presses against that from outside?). \*\* Lord Feldon\*\*: in weapons safety discussions it is standard to emphasize “_negligent_” in order to impress in people’s minds precisely what you mention: that accidents are often the result of negligence, especially with weapons accidents are often avoidable but people are stupid or careless. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-possible-mother-shot-by-toddler-at-walmart/708569/25 "2014-12-31T01:02:52Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Hmm. I didn’t know Idaho is so dangerous that carrying a loaded gun in one’s purse in ready access of a toddler would ever make sense to someone. Learn something new every day. It’s in the town of Hayden, capital of the craziest right wing militia groups in the country. ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-possible-mother-shot-by-toddler-at-walmart/708569/26 "2014-12-31T01:07:01Z")
Darwinized-by-proxy. Too bad the proxy is her own spawn! ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-possible-mother-shot-by-toddler-at-walmart/708569/27 "2014-12-31T01:07:24Z")
She got a gun to feel safe and now she’s dead, if only there was some kind of lesson to learn from this. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-possible-mother-shot-by-toddler-at-walmart/708569/28 "2014-12-31T01:19:51Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > . . . \*\* Lord Feldon\*\*: in weapons safety discussions it is standard to emphasize “_negligent_” in order to impress in people’s minds precisely what you mention: that accidents are often the result of negligence, especially with weapons accidents are often avoidable but people are stupid or careless. This is perfectly reasonable. The issue was with **Bill Door** claiming that the word “accident” was an example of “misreporting.” Both the word “accident” and the word “negligent” apply here. **Bill Door** appeared (to some of us, anyway) to be suggesting that the word “accident” should not be used in this specific case. (If I’m misreading his comment and misunderstanding his point, my apologies.) ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-possible-mother-shot-by-toddler-at-walmart/708569/29 "2014-12-31T01:23:10Z")
Too bad we can’t see this woman’s home. What do you bet the kid already has toy guns and knows how to point, pull the trigger and say “bang bang!” Probably not the first time the kid has handled a \*real \*gun either. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-possible-mother-shot-by-toddler-at-walmart/708569/30 "2014-12-31T01:29:57Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > This is perfectly reasonable. The issue was with **Bill Door** claiming that the word “accident” was an example of “misreporting.” > > Both the word “accident” and the word “negligent” apply here. **Bill Door** appeared (to some of us, anyway) to be suggesting that the word “accident” should not be used in this specific case. > > (If I’m misreading his comment and misunderstanding his point, my apologies.) “Accident” does not apply. This was a case of stupid/careless handling of a loaded firearm. Therefore negligent. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-possible-mother-shot-by-toddler-at-walmart/708569/31 "2014-12-31T01:32:57Z")
So, is the Griffin family vacationing in Idaho? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-possible-mother-shot-by-toddler-at-walmart/708569/32 "2014-12-31T01:42:57Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Just got an image in my head of a Walmart security guard shooting the next two-year-old who reaches into his momma’s purse. > > I’m SO going to hell. Most of us are going there, but the best part is… there isn’t any such place!! 😃 The poor kid is going to grow up knowing he killed his own mom. What a great family dynamic that is going to create! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-possible-mother-shot-by-toddler-at-walmart/708569/33 "2014-12-31T01:53:26Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > “Accident” does not apply. This was a case of stupid/careless handling of a loaded firearm. Therefore negligent. Look, I’m generally fine with guns and all, but it’s certainly an “accident” by any definition of the word that I’m aware of. Plenty of factory “accidents” are the result of negligence or safety miscues. Same with traffic accidents, for that matter. Usually, someone is being an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-possible-mother-shot-by-toddler-at-walmart/708569/34 "2014-12-31T02:12:57Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > “Accident” does not apply. This was a case of stupid/careless handling of a loaded firearm. Therefore negligent. > [@pulykamell](#): > > Look, I’m generally fine with guns and all, but it’s certainly an “accident” by any definition of the word that I’m aware of. Plenty of factory “accidents” are the result of negligence or safety miscues. Same with traffic accidents, for that matter. Usually, someone is being an idiot. I’m with **pulykamell** here. The event was both. It was a case of serious (lethal) negligence…and an accident, just as any household spill. If I set my coffee down on the very edge of the table, and knock it over, I was negligent…but the event was an accident. The idea that negligence causes an event to be non-accidental is, in my opinion, bad linguistics. (I hate debates that involve appeals to dictionary descriptions of words, but, hey, seriously: [the word has a meaning](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accident).) (I think this may be the first time in my entire SDMB history that I’ve cited a dictionary. Sigh. I feel so…dirty.) ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-possible-mother-shot-by-toddler-at-walmart/708569/35 "2014-12-31T02:20:08Z")
Ok, she had a concealed carry permit. What does that mean? She can leave her weapon unattended in a purse, or her car? It doesn’t need to be actually on her person? ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-possible-mother-shot-by-toddler-at-walmart/708569/36 "2014-12-31T02:42:42Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > It’s in the town of Hayden, capital of the craziest right wing militia groups in the country. Exactly. Not a surprise to those of us in the PNW, I’m afraid. [Prepper Capital of America](http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/01/06/1176714/-Far-Right-Wing-Preppers-planning-a-walled-town-on-a-N-Idaho-Mountaintop) ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-possible-mother-shot-by-toddler-at-walmart/708569/37 "2014-12-31T02:44:58Z")
(answer to **seal\_cleaner** ) No, all it means is she can carry a concealed weapon with her anywhere she is not lawfully forbidden to do so. She still has to observe proper safety and most certainly is not to give unsupervised access to it to minors. But there’s just too many people who simply get their permit and proceed to act like they don’t need to pay attention to the weapon. She would have probably been safer open-carrying in a secure holster. Or maybe she would have found it too tight and hung it from the shopping cart, too, never underestimate a fool. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-possible-mother-shot-by-toddler-at-walmart/708569/38 "2014-12-31T02:48:16Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > “Accident” does not apply. This was a case of stupid/careless handling of a loaded firearm. Therefore negligent. Accidents are frequently, even _usually_, caused by carelessness and negligence. She would have been stupid and negligent even if this accident hadn’t occurred. (Accidents don’t _have_ to be caused by negligence, but most are. Taking a corner too fast and ending up in a ditch is an accident and negligent. Taking a corner too fast and coming within an inch of the ditch is not an accident, but still negligent. If you’re an undiagnosed epileptic and your first seizure ever happens on that curve, it was an accident but you weren’t negligent.) ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-possible-mother-shot-by-toddler-at-walmart/708569/39 "2014-12-31T02:49:15Z")
Does Randy Weaver still live up near there? ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-possible-mother-shot-by-toddler-at-walmart/708569/40 "2014-12-31T03:02:52Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Just got an image in my head of a Walmart security guard shooting the next two-year-old who reaches into his momma’s purse. > > I’m SO going to hell. I’m going to beat you there… only if he isn’t white… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-possible-mother-shot-by-toddler-at-walmart/708569.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-possible-mother-shot-by-toddler-at-walmart/708569.md?page=3)