Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Toddler mistakes gun for Wii controller

A US toddler has been killed after accidentally shooting herself while apparently mistaking a gun for a Nintendo Wii video game controller.

Cheyenne McKeehan, 3, picked up the pistol from a living room coffee table and fired it into her abdomen while her mother sat a few feet away, the Tennessean reported.

The girl, from rural Tennessee, had learned to fire a gun from playing a Nintendo Wii game with a special gun-shaped controller, a statement from the Wilson County Sheriff's office said.

Sheriff Terry Ashe said parents need to make sure they keep guns out of reach of children, especially considering the similarity between the Wii controller and an actual handgun.

"If you have a live handgun and a toy that looks the same — for parents some bells and whistles need to go off," he said.

"You can see by the comparison of the toy weapon and the real weapon that there's little chance a three-year-old would differentiate between the two."

The semi-automatic handgun belonging to Cheyenne's father Douglas Cronberger was normally left in a cabinet but had been loaded and left out after he thought he heard a prowler.

When he came back inside, Mr Cronberger left the gun on the table and went to bed, reports said.

Cheyenne was pronounced dead soon after her arrival at hospital.


After reading this news article online, really made me think. Game consoles are bringing out so much stuff to make playing the games so realistic, but are they going to far.

I know this happened in America, but whos to say the same thing wouldnt happen here. Wii have brought out all the attachments to put onto the wii controller to make it feel like your actually holding the gun or the golf stick. They are making the game more real i suppose, but are they making it to real.

There is also the issue of the parent leaving the gun lying out. How many parents just leave things lying around the house that toddlers can get a hold of, even drugs and alcohol. Kids are alot different from what they were 10 years ago, in my opinion there exploring things alot more.

I think the gaming world need to be careful how intense and real they make there games and also, parents need to me more cautious of what there leaving lying around, especially around toddlers.

How many other kids are at risk of dying?....

Peace
Nat :)