It was either him or her...

    Are you freaking kidding me? A two year-old found his mom’s pistol and instead of blowing his own brains out, turned the electronics display at an Idaho Walmart into a bio-hazard with hers. And then we read that she was a scientist working for an obscure agency charged with design and development research for our government. 

    More proof that even brilliant minds can’t stand up to stupid in an unfair fight. A son has lost his mother in a way that surely will affect his care and keeping in the years to follow this wholly preventable occurrence. Further details are pending and warranted.

In the meantime, I don’t believe there is any malice in a two year-old, so I have to ask as a gun owner and parent, what style of weapon did she carry and why did she keep a round in the chamber? 

If it was an automatic, then she paid the ultimate price for her negligence. I do not care if I’m certified King of the World Champion Over All Others with that exact weapon, I would be guilty of reckless endangerment for carrying it with “one in the pipe,” in public.

If however, the weapon in question was a revolver, then it had a very slick action. One that could be squeezed by a two year-old. If that is the case, there is a reason that the old-timers kept only five rounds in their six shooters. To prevent this very thing from happening. 

With either design, this tragedy could have been averted with the “specific” knowledge required for the weapon in question. All the advanced academic degrees in the world cannot replace acute experience and self-awareness. 

I will pray for the shattered family she has left behind. I will also pray for a renewed sense of responsibility on the part of owners of firearms. Let us not let this happen again.