So...this pisses me off

There has been a story floating around for the past couple of days about a three-year-old girl who tragically shot herself in the abdomen and subsequently died because she was playing with a gun which she mistook for a Wii controller.

If you've already read the linked story, you see where I'm coming from. My initial reaction was, "Well...how the hell could she mix up a gun with a Wii controller...they're freaking white and don't look anything like a pistol."

After seeing the peripheral in question, however...I see how the mix-up occurred. The thing looks like a damn gun.

That being said...it's still inexcusable.

Here's the thing: a lot of people are trying to blame either Nintendo or this Chinese company who makes the very pistol-like peripheral for this young girl's death. However, neither are remotely to blame.

Who is?

The fucking parents. (Sorry...this is where I get into the sweary part because I'm angry.)

Who the FUCK leaves a LOADED FUCKING PISTOL on their coffee table when there is a three year old running around the house. Nay...let me rephrase that.

Who the FUCK leaves a LOADED FUCKING PISTOL on their coffee table right next to an almost identical case for a Wii controller while there is a three-year-old running around the house.

Actually...who the fuck does that in the first place?

Most people seem to want to blame the video games but I just don't get it.

Sure, the case looked a lot like a gun. That being said, this is in no way Nintendo, nor the manufacturer of the peripheral's fault. The blame lays squarely at the feet of the parents. Nintendo didn't force them to import this peripheral from China, nor did the company that made it.

The parents purchased a black-market peripheral from China which looks exactly like an actual gun.

The parents let their three-year-old child get used to the idea of "gun-as-toy" by letting her play with the peripheral.

The parents left a loaded firearm which looked very similar to the peripheral out in the open for the child to find.

The parents ignored the fact that there was a three-year-old child AND a loaded firearm mere feet from them.

Here's the thing...if I sound judgmental...it's because I am in this case. It's quite simple. You don't leave loaded weapons around children. At all. Anyone who does and something bad happens as a result of that action should be criminally prosecuted...plain and simple.

This tragedy had nothing to do with video games and EVERYTHING to do with negligent parenting.