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The Guardian reports that the woman who was accidentally shot dead by her two-year-old son in an Idaho Walmart is described by those who knew her as a gun lover, a motivated academic and a successful nuclear research scientist who worked for Battelle’s Idaho National Laboratory and wrote several papers there including one on using glass ceramic to store nuclear waste (PDF). Rutledge was raised in north-east Idaho and always excelled at school, former high school classmate Kathleen Phelps said, recalling her as “extremely smart. … valedictorian of our class, very motivated and the smartest person I know. … Getting good grades was always very important to her.”
Veronica Rutledge and her husband loved everything about guns. They practiced at shooting ranges. They hunted. And both of them, relatives and friends say, had permits to carry concealed firearms. “They are painting Veronica as irresponsible, and that is not the case,” says Terry Rutledge, her husband’s father. “… I brought my son up around guns, and he has extensive experience shooting it. And Veronica had had hand gun classes; they’re both licensed to carry, and this wasn’t just some purse she had thrown her gun into.” Many locals don't discern anything odd with a 29-year-old woman carrying a loaded gun into a Wal-Mart during the holiday season. “It’s pretty common around here,” says Stu Miller. “A lot of people carry loaded guns.” More than 85,000 people, 7 percent of Idaho's population, are licensed to carry concealed weapons (PDF), “In Idaho, we don’t have to worry about a lot of crime and things like that,” says Sheri Sandow. “And to see someone with a gun isn’t bizarre. [Veronica] wasn’t carrying a gun because she felt unsafe. She was carrying a gun because she was raised around guns. This was just a horrible accident.”
(Score: 5, Insightful) by frojack on Saturday January 03 2015, @12:29AM
Still trying to figure out how a two year old manages a trigger pull on a purse sized handgun. Most of these small double action guns have a trigger pull in excess of 10 pounds, sometimes as high as 15 pounds.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 03 2015, @02:16AM
Kids have surprisingly strong grips. There was an article here or on Slashdot about how this likely evolved so that babies could hold onto their mother as she climbed a tree or something similar. The average birth weight is between 5.5 and 10 pounds, so any kid should be able to grip at least that much.
Unfortunately since you're one of those self-entitled assholes who pollute the discussion comments with signatures, especially with one saying you ignore posts that haven't been vetted by better users who take the time to moderate, you're never going to learn that. Some of us practice what we preach about security, profiling, and tracking and thus don't create accounts whenever possible.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 03 2015, @02:42AM
It's all about the leverage. Their fingers is just that much shorter.
(Score: 2) by Daiv on Saturday January 03 2015, @03:38AM
I wanted to support your reply after reading your first sentence, then I kept reading and really wanted to support your reply. Now I'm sad because the second part is really true and makes me feel like replying to anyone, ever, is worthless...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 03 2015, @03:52AM
So do you agree or disagree with his second part, the meta-comment?
- different AC
(Score: 2) by Daiv on Saturday January 03 2015, @03:26PM
Yes. Confusing, right? Sometimes, I envy people who can choose to see the world as black and white, that this OR that can be "right."
(Score: 1) by tftp on Saturday January 03 2015, @05:14AM
With both hands - sure. With one or two fingers? That is harder to accept. Merely pulling the gun out by the trigger won't fire it, as the bag itself will move. Still, somehow it did happen. The child should have never had access to the weapon. Perhaps familiarity breeds contempt?