An Idaho nuclear research scientist, Veronica Rutledge, was killed Tuesday in a horrific accident where her 2-year-old son pulled a loaded handgun from her purse and shot her at a Wal-Mart. The gun was in the Christmas gift that Rutledge had received from her husband: a purse with a special pocket for a concealed weapon.
Rutledge, 29, worked at the Idaho National Laboratory and (like her husband) was a gun aficionado.
The loss in Idaho for this family is truly horrific. I do not believe (as some have suggested) that this tragedy is an indictment of gun ownership or even the expansion of concealed weapons permits. In Idaho, more than 85,000 people — 7 percent of the state population — are licensed to carry concealed weapons.
What I do believe that the tragedy shows is the still rudimentary state of firearm technology. We have previously discussed how the introduction of “smart guns” could eventually lead to product liability claims in cases of accidental discharges, particularly involving children. One of the most disturbing aspect of this accident is the ease with which a round can be discharged by a toddler. It is not clear if the safety was on the weapon, though as an experienced gun owner I assume that Rutledge had the safety on. However, it is not difficult for a child to switch of a safety. Many new guns will still not discharge without being held by the owner due to an activating ring or other recognition factor.
As noted earlier, there is a chance that “dumb” guns will be viewed as defective. At one time, seat belts and air bags were viewed as extravagances. Personalized guns, or smart guns, can use RFID chips or other proximity devices as well as fingerprint recognition or magnetic rings. Magnetic ring guns are already available. There are even new designs that would allow biometric sensors in the grip and trigger known as (DGR) Dynamic Grip Recognition, which the New Jersey Institute of Technology says can distinguish an owner with 90% accuracy.
Under the two basic tests for product defects such new designs can change the legal equation. Under the Second Restatement test of 402A, product design is defective is it is more dangerous than the expectations of the ordinary consumer. New technology can shape such expectations as smart guns become more prevalent. Under the Third Restatement, “a product is defective in design when the foreseeable risks of harm posed by the product could have been reduced or avoided by the adoption of a reasonable alternative design … and the omission of the alternative design renders the product not reasonably safe.” This could be claimed as such an alternative design if the costs come down and there is no real alteration in functionality.
While the public safety benefits are obvious, the NRA has generally opposed these guns as having the potential for gun control options in future legislation. In all honesty, it could. While the Supreme Court has recognized that individuals have Second Amendment rights to bear arms, it did not rule out reasonable limitations. Mandatory safety designs would likely pass muster in some cases. Torts and technology have long had a unique relationship in the law. This is one technology that may be coming not only to a store but a courtroom near you.
Rutledge was valedictorian of her high school class and graduated in 2010 from the University of Idaho with a chemistry degree. She published several articles, including one that analyzed a method to absorb toxic waste discharged by burning nuclear fuel.
Source: Washington Post
I am sorry about this event. If you are going to carry a loaded weapon it has to be out of reach of a two year old. I understand how this happened, it is a terrible tragedy, but it shouldn’t have happened.
From her perspective at least the two year old did not kill himself or another child, but such things happen too.
BTW…I have rattled on & on on this thread because I take any weapon safety v-e-r-y seriously. It is a good conversation to have, to dispel many myths, and it is tragic that the incident cited occurred to sponsor this post. It occurred because of a lack of safety knowledge, innocent but tragic none the less.
Olly…that sure is a lot of white cops picking on those of color. Oh, wait….
You just cited the elephant in the room vis a vis homicide.
BarkingDog…I get your point about the “mistake”…an all too frequent situation sorry to say. It began with the purse for a holster.
The shop & range where I shoot will not let you use the range or buy a pistol if you can’t convince them you’ve got the experience to handle one. I saw a couple of Hmong guys try to use the range and were denied…they were honest about their experience…which was obviously zero anyway. One of the “regulars” there stepped up and said he would go with them and coach them in their first experience. We purported “gun nuts” really prefer anyone wanting one should be taught how to be safe. First. Had the other guy not stepped up, my daughter and I would have done so…minor language barrier be danged.
Standing directly close behind a new shooter, in a booth if possible, I can make sure he/she does nothing untoward. It takes patience, but it is how I was taught long long ago, and how Kim was taught, and a couple others in the past year…you pay it forward. Starting with “range discipline.”
My most terrifying “teaching” experience was as Cadre teaching new Judge Advocate Lieutenants and Medical Doctor Captains how to shoot a pistol and rifle…on open ranges. Yee gawd save me from the overly intelligent and curious 🙂
Absolutely tragic and accidental; Chicago yawns.
Chicago statistics this December:
Shot & Killed: 40
Shot & Wounded: 202
Total Shot: 242
Total Homicides: 42
Chicago year to date:
Shot & Killed: 388
Shot & Wounded: 2231
Total Shot: 2619
Total Homicides: 456
Sandi Hemming…if you acquire a pistol (or any other weapon for that matter), by all means take all the instruction you can find. Practice regularly if you can. Also, buy nothing in the pistol category that does not have a manual de-cocker mechanism, such as the models I have cited. No reason today not to have that safety feature, especially for a beginner. A purse or brief case is not a safe place to keep a pistol, for reasons cited earlier, and tragically apparent in this disaster.
Modern revolvers also have a de-cocked status…e.g., the hammer, when down, is blocked by a metal bar until the trigger is pulled back all the way. Old timey Colt Army .45’s not so much (including most similar designs up through about 1960 or so)…in those you carry 5 out of 6 and make sure the hammer is down on the empty chamber. Best feature for “peacemaker” style pistols is that they make pretty good clubs when the bullets are gone. Wyatt Earp was famous for his use of his revolvers as clubs…he rarely shot them, except at the OK Corral and thereafter.
Paul Schulte: Jesse James was from Missouri. He was kinda like a rattler. I could have named the snake after Winnie the Poo or a nice guy from Saint Louis like Sherman or Pershing. Kids should not have open access to loaded guns or rattle snakes. This lady made a mistake. She paid for it. The kid is gonna have a rough life. Perhaps adopt him out to a family in Australia and delete the story from his life. He will forget it. He is only 2.
Striker fired pistols make me nervous because of the ease of having an accidental discharge. No Glock, or similar design striker fired pistol, that I know of has a true de-cocker system, regardless of the claims that they are de-cocked by virtue of being half-cocked and firing from a nominal “double action” mechanism. I have one striker fired pistol, but it does have a manual safety that is more or less snag proof…or I wouldn’t have it. I may replace it sooner than later with a small pistol that has a true de-cocker system, like the Beretta PX4 Storm I mentioned earlier…if they are anywhere near as compact and handy…e.g., single stack magazines with no more than 7 rounds in it (that compactness feature disqualifies the Beretta…it is fat in the grip handle)…don’t need the 15+ models as I am neither a cop nor in military combat. Walter makes the only striker fired pistol, the P99 9 mm, with a real de-cocker. It has a true manual de-cocker mechanism that relieves completely the tension on the striker (similar to the firing system in a bolt action or semi-auto rifle) by a complex design that still allows a decent half inch travel 9-10 lb double action pull for a first shot, then about 4.5 lbs shorter travel thereafter in single action mode. As far as I can tell from the literature, it has the same safety features as my FNX-45 … when I get a chance to try one and if it comes in a “compact” version it might fit my requirements.
No 2 or 3 year old human child has the grip or hand size to fire my FNX-45…which as I noted earlier has a “de-cocker” and is hammer fired, not striker fired. Same would apply to the design of the Walter P99 or Beretta PX4, Their only “drawback” (IMO) is that they do not come in.45 ACP caliber…my preference. That said, shot placement is critical and 9 mm will do the job if you can handle it accurately. It will have done its best job, period, if you never have to draw it off your hip. Situational awareness is part of safety. It’s like personal insurance…normal people do not want to collect on it.
The debate over loaded or unloaded is a cliche’…all guns are always loaded. It is a manual; process, to be taken every single time you pick one up, to determine the status of loaded or not.
Why do I carry? 1.) Because I can 2.) Because I live in and travel around a large city. 3.) Because if that “firefight” cited cynically earlier ever breaks out, I do not intend to be the one armed with marshmallows and prayers.
“Olly –Has a “threat” EVER knocked on your door? Do you live in dread of a gunfight breaking out?”
Jay,
That was sarcasm if you hadn’t noticed. No, the problem is bad guys don’t follow civility rules; they don’t have the courtesy to make an appointment or ring the doorbell. Everyone I know that is self-reliant about personal defense doesn’t dread a gunfight breaking out. If I were to dread anything it would be allowing a dependent and ignorant electorate to sit idle while our weaponized, administrative state diminished our natural right of self-defense.
Great comment, raff.
Some of you questioned owning a gun. I’ve never considered a gun necessary, but we are rethinking. We don’t often watch our local news because it’s generally about criminals. But they are growing. And more and more deaths. Having a gun, in a safe place in your home, seems prudent in the world we’ve become. A neighbor had a car stolen from her driveway. Houses have been broken into. We’re in a gated community. The I’m entitled persona has gotten bigger. We’re 3,000 miles away and there have been protests downtown about Ferguson and NYC. I don’t want to be a victim, I want to take care of myself. But I will take every lesson I can get for sure.
As usual the hype is reported without the details. Perhaps the woman was trying to get it out of the kid’s hands and it fired.
Use this as a personal lesson to be shared with friends. I would never take a gun into a Wal-Mart, Costco, Target, etc., lock it in your glove compartment. The store has security. If you feel you must, keep it on your person. Hopefully, these tragic stories will cause further thinking on the owner’s part.
And the 2-year-old may have a faint memory, but probably not. I feel so badly for the father. He’s probably in his own personal hell. I wish I could hug him.
rafflaw…you are correct, as far as it goes now….e.g., as far as what we know will let us determine. Carry in a purse is not a safe way to carry because periodically that purse (or briefcase) is out of your immediate control. “Concealment” is not the problem, safety is the problem. Without knowing the make and model of the pistol she had I can’t say one way or the other…except that whatever it was, it wasn’t enough. I am just guessing but I imagine she had a small striker fired 9 mm Parabellum (Luger) or 9 mm Kurtz (aka a “380”). They are popular today and some makers even make them in colors, even pink. Go figure.
dhymrs, I think calling this lady with her education “dumb” is incredibly unkind!
Wow. Once again a tragedy caused by a parent having a concealed gun and near children.
mmm, I think the full definition of “Darwin in action” implies that the “victim” has removed their genes from the pool before reproducing … unfortunately for all concerned (poor little stinker, to have to live with this for the rest of his life), Ms Rutledge doesn’t QUITE fit the profile…
@ Karen my father stopped a man from breaking into the house in the middle of the night, simply by chambering a round.
Ah yes :-). The sound of a pump action 12 gauge shotgun chambering a round. Nothing like it.
KA-Chunk!
Jay said: Why do people go around with loaded guns? Is there THAT much of a chance of a firefight breaking out?
Guns are for protection. If you live in some areas the answer to your question might be yes. If you live in other areas a firefight is not the reason to be armed.
I live in a rural area. The last time we needed a cop/sheriff it was an over 2 hour response time. Two HOURS before they showed up It isn’t their fault because we have very few sheriffs and huge geographical area to cover. Fortunately, it wasn’t a call that required protection, guns or anything of that nature. However, a normal response time is still going to be at least 45 minutes to an hour. I don’t have time to wait or hold off any danger without being armed for that length of time.
In addition to the wild life danger as quoted by Karen: coyotes, mountain lions, bears (oh my) we have a the danger of robberies at home and even armed home invasions have occurred. Rarely. But they do happen. When the bad guys know that help is hours away, they are not deterred when they know you might be alone at night.
Driving on isolated rural roads is also a dangerous experience, depending on where you are driving and at what time of night or day. The surrounding National Forest lands are full of drug dealing, pot growing, Mexican Cartels. If you are taking a Sunday drive on a back road, you’d damned well BETTER BE ARMED.
So….Jay…..if you don’t feel the need for a weapon for protection…..or hunting which we do also…..that is YOUR choice. and you are free to expose yourself. Our choice is to be armed when we go out, especially at night for predator protection (animal and human) and armed at home.
Nuclear research scientist!
I am signed up for the waiting list of an NRA women’s only all-day gun class that I’m really looking forward to. It covers everything, from safety to target shooting to breaking weapons down for cleaning.