Yesterday, the Tennessean reported that three-year-old Cheyenne Alexis McKeehan shot herself in the abdomen with the family’s handgun in their Wilson County home. Sheriff Terry Ashe said the girl’s stepfather had taken out his gun to try to frighten off dogs that had been hanging around the home, and then put said loaded gun on a table in the living room. Cheyenne had been playing a Wii game with a controller shaped like a gun that looked very similar to the real handgun. The apparently unattended toddler then pulled the gun off of the table and it went off, killing the three year-old. No charges have yet been filed.

Sadly, what do most people remember about the above story? That a three year-old was playing video games and died. Now normally I just report the news around these parts and keep most of my two cents to myself, but this time, I have to scream. Why did the reporter feel the need to even mention that the girl was playing a video game? What if she’d mistaken it for a water gun? What if she’d just been curious? She was three years old!!! You don’t leave a three year-old alone with a butter knife or an actual glass, who in the world is moronic enough to leave one alone with a loaded gun?

It’s true the controller these same idiot parents purchased does closely resemble the hand gun. While they could have easily purchased one in vibrant orange and white, they opted for the realistic model (most likely because they’re gun enthusiasts – tragically irresponsible ones), but that’s their right, and while the controller itself may have contributed to the situation, it was not the Wii, the controller or even the child that caused this. It was the stepfather. Before all of you go off to storm Nintendo HQ with letters about how they could have avoided this, scroll back up. This situation was caused by an idiot that thought it would be cool to use a loaded gun to scare some dogs off of his property, and then left it lying around for a toddler to get her hands on!

And before you start with the sympathy pleas about how the parents are suffering enough…stop. I don’t feel sorry for them and only want to know why the Sheriff hasn’t already charged them and thrown them under the jail.