Does this graphic look familiar? It should: I used it only a month ago, and for the exact same reason.

From the Washington Post:

“A toddler reaching for an iPod in his mother’s purse grabbed a loaded gun instead before shooting both his parents in an Albuquerque motel room on Saturday, according to news reports. Police said the bullet hit the father in the buttock and the mother, who is eight months pregnant, in her right shoulder, but did not strike a 2-year-old child who was also in the room, according to Fox News.”

Gee, I guess Monique Villescas and John Reynolds, the lucky parents in this near tragedy, were so amused at the death of Veronica Jean Rutledge at the hands of her toddler that they just couldn’t resist trying the old “let’s leave a loaded gun where a small child can reach it” trick themselves. Or, I suppose, they might just be irresponsible fools.

Observations:

1. Two of these incidents in a little more than a month ?! What are the odds that Rutledge and these boobs were the only Americans leaving loaded guns within the reach of young children?

2. Someone needs to ask these two dangerous knuckleheads if they happened to read about Rutledge’s Walmart end in December, and still did this. That would be useful information regarding just how irresponsible they are….or, in the alternative, it would be a cautionary tale about the dangers of not paying attention to the news, especially if you need to hear about a women getting killed to figure out that leaving your loaded gun in a small motel room with two toddlers is a bad idea. Of course, people this foolish would probably explain, “But that was a Walmart! This is a motel, so we thought we’d be OK.”

3. If the bullet had killed either of the children, the parents absolutely would have been prosecuted. If the bullet had killed one of the parents, I wonder. Then it would be called “a tragic accident” and it would be argued that the surviving parent had “suffered enough.” Yet the wildly irresponsible, incompetent, reckless and criminal act of leaving a loaded pistol for a child to grab and use is exactly the same regardless of where the bullet ends up…or even if the gun is never found or fired by the child at all. This moral luck in its purest form.

4. The Post writes, “Both children were placed on a 48-hour hold with the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department, according to KOB-TV.”

Why just a hold? Why aren’t the children considered to be endangered, at least until mommy and daddy can make a persuasive case that they have more parenting skills than the average crack addict?

5. And this: “Investigators said they think the shooting was an accident but still plan to talk with the couple’s 2-year-old daughter.”

Wait…what? They think the three-year-old may have shot both his parents intentionally? If so, and this incident typifies the level of care they have lavished on their children, the three-year-old should plead self-defense.

6. And: “This case will be forwarded to the DA’s office and pending charges of felony criminal negligence will be reviewed on both parents,” Albuquerque police spokesman Simon Drobik said.

Since they both were criminally negligent, the DA should charge them. What possible justification could there be for not charging them, and don’t say, “it was an accident.” That’s what negligence is: reckless, unacceptable carelessness that causes an accident. Is the DA really going to say, “That’s OK, folks, you got away with it without anyone getting killed. Now READ that gun safety brochure I gave you, you crazy nutballs! I mean it! Now kiss your kids and get out of here”?

7. Explain to me why any American who is this reckless with a firearm shouldn’t be banned from owning one, at least for a good long while.

8. I am wrestling my brain to the ground to avoid making the same suggestion about being allowed to be parents.

9. Let me reiterate the conclusion from the last time I wrote about this incident (well, it was technically different, but ethically the same):

This is res ipsa loquitur: if you get shot by a toddler because you left your loaded pistol, safety off,  where he could get it while you are in a public place with 4 kids under your care, you ARE irresponsible: negligent, incompetent, reckless, ignorant of gun and safety obligations, careless. The facts speak for themselves; no further proof is necessary.