But I think rather than linguistics we should be looking towards culture for an answer.
To say that the shooting was an “accident” (IMHO) lessons the culpability of the mother. To label it negligence fully puts the blame where it belongs.
In such cases, an accident should be something that is not really foreseeable - or something that you don’t really expect to happen. In this case - having a child digging into mummy’s bag is something relatively likely to happen, so it shouldn’t really thought to be an “accident”.
Furthermore, we would normally take precautions against an accident (slow down for curves, wear a seatbelt, fence the pool) - what precautions were present in this case?
I’ll be curious to see that as well. I’m betting semi; revolvers just don’t go off all that easy unless you are packing it cocked or some freak circumstance cocks it.
Idaho at least used to have some sort of state license to buy and/or sale; at least back in the late 70s. I know; I got one to complete the private sale of a shotgun from a relative while I was visiting there.
Not sure about Idaho today but for the most part a CCW would allow a purse and could - depending on the state and other specifics a car. “Unattended” again can vary greatly and you would need to check a lot of specifics to really get a feel.
(A common thing in PA is for a woman who “carries” in her purse to get to work, lock (or simply place) the purse in a desk drawer, go about her days employment and remove it to go home. The gun is loaded and ready to go all day. Locked in a drawer is it under her control? Technically yes based on the couple cases I know. Is it wise? Not really)
That poor kid. I doubt there is any way for him to grow up without knowing what happened.
Who knows her story? Perhaps she lived with a realistic fear of a violent former spouse. Maybe she made a stupid mistake with her gun. Maybe she was just an idiot.
I guess I am one of the few here who had a stereotyped view of the victim as probably a lower-middle class redneck type person–unlike the rest of you. Instead:
She got her degree before she started working at INL, who can guess how the radiation might have affected her since. Or maybe her son became some kind of advanced mutant because of her working there while carrying him. Be careful with that uranium, folks.
Maybe it’s my own weapons training speaking, but to me, “accident” and “negligence” are synonymous as far as firearms are concerned. There is no such thing as an accidental discharge that wasn’t caused as a result of negligence. Guns don’t just “go off”; if they do, it’s because someone screwed up.
In an effort to clarify, is it your contention that the word “accident” can never be legitimately used when speaking of any event in which the unintended discharge of a firearm occurs?
Maybe a purse with a gun compartment that just zippers just is not secure enough for concealed carry, or should never be put down while it contains the weapon. Certainly a gun should not be loaded and ready to fire where someone other than the intended user, in particular a child, has any ability to access it. I suspect these purses designed for concealed carry with a zipper closed pouch will soon be off the market.
But I do agree with the father-in-law in this case - grandstanding over one tragic event out of what has been estimated as over 11 million concealed carry permitted individuals in this country seems wrong.
The negligence in this case (that resulted in her accidental death) may be product design than the woman’s.
It’s hard for me to imagine that leaving a loaded gun where a toddler can reach it isn’t considered child neglect or abuse. Indeed, in my state, I’ve had to report a similar situation that was less egregious than this appears to be.
Fact is, it’s safer to have a purse with a dedicated holder for a weapon than a purse with a gun floating around loose among the lipsticks, facial tissues, and Og know what else might be in there.
Of course, it’s even safer to leave your gun at home.
I’m wondering if, in the past, she was used to having the gun in some sort of holster rather than in her purse, so in the past a toddler digging around in the purse wasn’t such a hazard. She recently acquired this purse, maybe she only recently started carrying her gun in her purse, and forgot (because that can happen to human beings), placing her purse next to her son in the shopping cart seat.
