Accidental should be replaced w/Negligent

[Paraguy]

Another example of someone using the word "accidental" when a firearm goes off when it wasn't supposed to and forgetting to point out the negligence that was involved.  I know they meant someone did not intentionaly shoot the poor kid, but they left out a good teaching moment for others who are doing the same.  Keeping a gun (they should all be considered loaded) under a pillow with a 4 year old in the house is an accident waiting to happen, but it is the negligence of the gun owner, not the kid or the gun that is the problm here.  I hope he recovers fully and that the parent is investigated for their capacity to own a gun, care for a child, drive, fish.......

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Authorities say a 4-year-old boy has shot himself in the chest in Philadelphia with a gun he found under his mother's pillow.

The shooting happened at around 7 p.m. Saturday in the Mayfair section of northeast Philadelphia. Police say the boy shot himself once in the left side of the chest with a handgun.

Officer Chris Bennett tells The Philadelphia Inquirer (http://bit.ly/HK2oxZ ) that the shooting appears to be accidental.

Police tell the newspaper that the boy is in critical condition and undergoing emergency surgery at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children.

[tombogan03884]

If you have kids and guns you have a whole different set of considerations about safety than a single person.Discipline and training are fine with older kids but 4 is to young to depend on that.

[jaybet]

Of course there is negligence involved. In context, though, the police said the shooting was accidental probably as opposed to intentional. (As in it was not a suicide attempt)

[MikeBjerum]

In law enforcement or records for research (hospital and death certificates) negligent does not answer many questions.  Accidental clears up whether the intent was to cause harm, while negligent leaves the question of intentional or unintentional.

[Pathfinder]

When dealing with a 4 year old, I am not sure either term applies. The negligence was on the part of the parents who left the kid and gun within reach of each other. It was an accident the kid got shot. He's 4, the gun was a toy for him, nothing more.

[Sponsor]

[Tyler Durden]

i was thinking about calling them Un-Inentional Discharges.....UID's but I reckoned one day I would slip and call it an IUD.

[santahog]

I think you'd be hard pressed to blame a 4 y/o of negligence, being the person that discharged the weapon. I'm not prepared to drag the mom out and stone her in the public square for her negligence. I think the woman is gonna suffer enough on her own..
I think it was Jeff Cooper who changed the term within the firearms community.