When I first head the story of three year old Cheyenne Alexis McKeehan, and the circumstances that led to her death, which was basically how she confused a real gun that her stepfather had stupidly left unattended with a Wii peripheral, numerous thoughts crossed my mind. Like, how sad the incident was, along with what an idiot her father was. Plus, I naturally assumed that the fake gun in question was probably all white, like every Wii add-on. Not this one though:
I can easily see someone much older than Alexis making the same mistake upon first glance. As a comparison, that’s a real gun up top (a Smith & Wesson semi-automatic) and the fake one at the bottom (which looks reasonably like an actual piece). According to Kotaku, it was more than likely purchases online, and is from some Chinese outlet. Given the laws that are in place, such an item would never be sold at stores in America. But thanks to the splendors of the internet, etc. Still, is it their fault? No, it’s her stepfather, who clearly should not have a loaded firearm just lying around, within reach of someone unable to fully comprehend what it truly is.