Young mom shot with her own gun by her toddler won't see the new year!

Ralphy1

Ralphy1

Well-known Member
Legally carrying a concealed weapon that her child managed to get out of her purse and pull the trigger in a Wal-Mart was a sad and shocking story. But the question for me was why couldn't she just carry mace or pepper spray for protection rather than a gun?
 

Yes, and what about the safety?
 

When I read that story, I have to say that I didn't feel the least bit sorry for that woman. What a fool! We baby proof our houses, put bumper pads on coffee table corners, put heavy objects out of their reach, guard them when they toddle down the sidewalk holding our hand.....and she parks a loaded gun on the grocery cart seat beside her baby! What is that, Darwin's law at work? At least no one else's family was impacted by her stupidity. Does that make me sound hard? Don't care. I'm only sorry that little kid will grow up knowing that his little pudgy hand was the one that killed his mommy and that he will carry that forever.
 
I think it is sad.

This woman was a wife, a mother and a scientist. A moment's lapse, and haven't we all had those when taking the kids shopping, and she is suddenly dead.
At the risk of labouring the point, that's the danger of firearms. They are designed to kill and they are only safe when they are unloaded.

The saddest thing of all is that this young mother probably thought that the gun would make her family safer.

When the very real risks are weighed against the supposed benefits of having one always are your fingertips, I cannot understand why so many people want to own a gun for any purpose other than their occupation, competitions or hunting.
 
It's sad... What is sad is that those children will not have a mother growing up.. What is sad is that it's because their mother was stupid and careless.. I feel sorry for the children.. escpecially the little boy that will know his entire life he killed his mother.. I don't feel sorry for her.. she did it to herself and she died exercising her "Constitutional Right". I'm just glad that the bullet didn't hit and kill an innocent bystander or one of the other children..
 
Dame Warrigal said:
... When the very real risks are weighed against the supposed benefits of having one always are your fingertips, I cannot understand why so many people want to own a gun for any purpose other than their occupation, competitions or hunting.
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Perhaps because the number of such incidents / accidents are FAR outweighed by the number of times they are successfully used to defend themselves?
 
SifuPhil said:
Perhaps because the number of such incidents / accidents are FAR outweighed by the number of times they are successfully used to defend themselves?
Click to expand...


But no one hears about those times... Do you have statistics at least? How many lives have been actually saved because of a gun on someones person? I'd like to know.. Post something... K?
 
I have never known any woman to carry a gun. I know one who is real estate agent and carries pepper spray...
 
SifuPhil said:
Perhaps because the number of such incidents / accidents are FAR outweighed by the number of times they are successfully used to defend themselves?
Click to expand...
Frankly I don't believe this assumption because it smacks of propaganda.

I carry nothing, never have, and my only self defence is to shriek at the top of my lungs.
I've only ever had to do this once, in Paris, when some gypsies got my wallet out of my handbag.
I shouted, "Thief, thief, thief", people surrounded the gypsies and I got the wallet back.

Minutes later a second group of gypsies attempted the same manoeuvre but I was now a wakeup.
I glared at them with maximum hostility written on my face and snarled "Bugger off", which they did.

These are my only brushes with crime over the last 72 years.
Now, based on that lived experience, why would I need a deadly weapon in my handbag?
A rat trap in my handbag might have been useful in Paris, but a gun?
Dangerous and pretty useless at the same time.
 
QuickSilver said:
But no one hears about those times... Do you have statistics at least? How many lives have been actually saved because of a gun on someones person? I'd like to know.. Post something... K?
Click to expand...

That's a tough request, for several reasons ... first we have the media's reluctance to mention any successful defense involving guns. They love to print articles about 95-year-old ladies who kick a mugger in the crotch and save their purse, but they don't like to write about gun defenses because it would serve to increase even more the number of people applying for permits, and that's NOT on their agenda.

A second reason stats are hard to come by is because how can you include the number of occurrences of non-lethal self-defense involving the use of a firearm? I believe that many of those are never reported to the police, hence never make it to the people who collect the stats.

And there's the third bugaboo. The NRA claims 1.5 - 2.5 million cases of defensive gun use per year. That's probably grossly overinflated. Yet organizations such as the Violence Policy Center claim annual cases of defensive gun use per year of around 68,000 - and that's probably on the low end.

Bottom line as I see it? Even if you take only only one-tenth of VPC's estimate, that's still a LOT more lives saved than lost through firearm accidents.

QuickSilver said:
My son used to be a meter reader for the Gas Company and they supplied them with Pepper Spray. So he gave me some.. I carry that..
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Debby said:
And at least no one will die from that. Good for you QS!
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Actually there are numerous cases of perps dying from pepper spray ... most often from over-enthusiastic use by police or civilians, and usually cited as only a contributing COD, along with heart problems, high blood pressure, asthma, etc. Also, police-issue O.C. (oleoresin capsicum, the active ingredient in pepper spray) is usually a bit stronger concentration than commercially-available pepper sprays.

Dame Warrigal said:
Frankly I don't believe this assumption because it smacks of propaganda.

I carry nothing, never have, and my only self defence is to shriek at the top of my lungs.
I've only ever had to do this once, in Paris, when some gypsies got my wallet out of my handbag.
I shouted, "Thief, thief, thief", people surrounded the gypsies and I got the wallet back.

Minutes later a second group of gypsies attempted the same manoeuvre but I was now a wakeup.
I glared at them with maximum hostility written on my face and snarled "Bugger off", which they did.

These are my only brushes with crime over the last 72 years.
Now, based on that lived experience, why would I need a deadly weapon in my handbag?
A rat trap in my handbag might have been useful in Paris, but a gun?
Dangerous and pretty useless at the same time.
Click to expand...

You are one of 7 billion people on this earth, Dame. Luckily, it seems as if you have led a charmed life. There are some people (ahem) who, whether because of their occupation, their lifestyle, their travel habits or their plain bad luck, have undergone enough tests in 56 years to make Hercules' Tasks seem like a Sunday-morning "To-Do" list.

I'm truly glad that you've never needed a firearm, but please don't take away the right of ownership of those who do.
 
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I found this..

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/pro-gun-myths-fact-check

Myth #4: More good guys with guns can stop rampaging bad guys.
Fact-check: Mass shootings stopped by armed civilians in the past 30 years: 0
• Chances that a shooting at an ER involves guns taken from guards: 1 in 5


Myth #5: Keeping a gun at home makes you safer.
Fact-check: Owning a gun has been linked to higher risks of homicide, suicide, and accidental death by gun.
• For every time a gun is used in self-defense in the home, there are 7 assaults or murders, 11 suicide attempts, and 4 accidents involving guns in or around a home.
• 43% of homes with guns and kids have at least one unlocked firearm.
• In one experiment, one third of 8-to-12-year-old boys who found a handgun pulled the trigger.


Myth #6: Carrying a gun for self-defense makes you safer.
Fact-check: In 2011, nearly 10 times more people were shot and killed in arguments than bycivilians trying to stop a crime.
• In one survey, nearly 1% of Americans reported using guns to defend themselves or their property. However, a closer look at their claims found thatmore than 50% involved using guns in an aggressive manner, such as escalating an argument.
• A Philadelphia study found that the odds of an assault victim being shot were4.5 times greater if he carried a gun. His odds of being killed were 4.2 times greater.


Myth #7: Guns make women safer.
Fact-check: In 2010, nearly 6 times more women were shot by husbands, boyfriends, and ex-partners than murdered by male strangers.
• A woman's chances of being killed by her abuser increase more than 7 times if he has access to a gun.
• One study found that women in states with higher gun ownership rates were4.9 times more likely to be murdered by a gun than women in states with lower gun ownership rates.

 
Strange item also. Most females who carry use special purses that have separate compartments. To easy to grab the lip gloss. The press alludes to this. Usally the compartments are on the side of the handbag. Also most revolvers require a5-6 lb. pull, difficult for a 2 year old. Gun was probably an automatic with a safety feature the kid was able to disable. Being from Idaho it doesn't surprise me the kid was a good shoot. That part of Idaho has very large wild animals that will stomp your ass into a mud puddle in a grocerystore parking lot.
I think it's NJ. Female real estate is suing for the right to carry concealed after being raped. She will win this one, overturning NJ ridiculous laws.
Most uses of defensive firearms go unreported. What is the point. Over 30 years I needed it 4 times. No shots fired. Mostly rest stops along the interstate where anything could happen.
pepper sprays that are rated for bears work pretty good, because they have 34 ft. Of nasal sinus. They taste with their nose. Mercaptor lachrymators (tear gas) are marginally more effective. They all depend on the quality of the aerosol dispersion. Hopefully the wind isn't blowing, and if your close enough that it doesn't, good luck with that.
 
Fact.most mass shootings occur in gun free zones

fact. If it wasn't a gun it would be something else. Assumes that if guns were not there the incident wouldn't happen.


next . There are factual studies contrary to these see the one posted in gun watch

females make up the largest sector of new gun buyers

motherjones and snoopes use the same recreational drugs
 
QuickSilver said:
I found this..

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/pro-gun-myths-fact-check

Myth #4: More good guys with guns can stop rampaging bad guys.
Fact-check: Mass shootings stopped by armed civilians in the past 30 years: 0
• Chances that a shooting at an ER involves guns taken from guards: 1 in 5


Myth #5: Keeping a gun at home makes you safer.
Fact-check: Owning a gun has been linked to higher risks of homicide, suicide, and accidental death by gun.
• For every time a gun is used in self-defense in the home, there are 7 assaults or murders, 11 suicide attempts, and 4 accidents involving guns in or around a home.
• 43% of homes with guns and kids have at least one unlocked firearm.
• In one experiment, one third of 8-to-12-year-old boys who found a handgun pulled the trigger.


Myth #6: Carrying a gun for self-defense makes you safer.
Fact-check: In 2011, nearly 10 times more people were shot and killed in arguments than bycivilians trying to stop a crime.
• In one survey, nearly 1% of Americans reported using guns to defend themselves or their property. However, a closer look at their claims found thatmore than 50% involved using guns in an aggressive manner, such as escalating an argument.
• A Philadelphia study found that the odds of an assault victim being shot were4.5 times greater if he carried a gun. His odds of being killed were 4.2 times greater.


Myth #7: Guns make women safer.
Fact-check: In 2010, nearly 6 times more women were shot by husbands, boyfriends, and ex-partners than murdered by male strangers.
• A woman's chances of being killed by her abuser increase more than 7 times if he has access to a gun.
• One study found that women in states with higher gun ownership rates were4.9 times more likely to be murdered by a gun than women in states with lower gun ownership rates.
Click to expand...

Mother Jones? Please. They are not exactly an unbiased news source. I've been disgusted with them ever since they proposed housing the criminally insane in low-rent apartments, those insane enough to do things like start fires, and the heck with those of us honest people (this was still back when I was raising a child alone with no child support after having taken a $7,000 a year pay cut to keep her safe from her father) who have to live in low rent apartments. I'm still 100% they want to warehouse the insane amongst the working poor so that they don't have to run the risk.

Well, given that I did run the risk at one point in my life, I am all for having a gun for protection. I've had some interesting neighbors over the years.

It's easy to say it's not needed when you live in a "safe" (nothing is really safe, but well safer) neighborhood and if you've been fortunate enough to not need to defend yourself in your life. Some of us have had to and no, we don't go reporting everything to the police. You think I want to put in a police report and get investigated for pulling a weapon and have to file a report giving the creep my name and address? I don't think so.
 
As for this mother, she deserves this year's Darwin award for putting the gun within her 2yo's reach. Stop acting like all gun owners are that retarded.
 
Concealed carry should be kept on the person, not in a handbag and the safety should have been on, or no bullet in the chamber. Glad she was the one to get shot, not the kids or someone else, I have no sympathy for her.
 
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