We wondered how a real gun was mistaken for a Wii gun, and with new information on the tragic death of a three-year-old girl, that question has been answered.
Yesterday, The Escapist reported that a young girl had mistaken a gun for a Wii controller. Normally, a Wii controller, even a Wii gun controller, looks nothing like a real gun, but here, that was not the case.
Take a look at the picture here. The gun shown on top is an actual Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistol. The gun shown on the bottom is a Wii peripheral known as WiiAuto Pistol, a realistic gun-like Wii attachment manufactured by Chinese company HAIHONGCHANG Electronics Company. The peripheral is widely available on eBay, and was in possession of the family.
The girl, identified as Cheyenne Alexis McKeehan, was playing in the living room a few feet away from her mother, who was on the computer. The night before, her step-father had left the gun on an end-table, having thought he heard intruders. Cheyenne, mistaking the real gun for the controller, picked it up and shot herself.
The police have filed no charges, but this does bring the situation into further light. It begs the question, why would you leave an unsecured weapon in reach of your daughter when she is already used to seeing such a thing as a toy? Furthermore, the parents specifically purchased a realistic gun peripheral, and then left a real gun well within reach. This tragedy could have been averted. If nothing else, this will hopefully be a lesson to other gun-owning households on keeping their guns out of reach, especially if their young children view them as toys.
Published: Mar 10, 2010 01:00 am