Armed To Go to Wal-Mart

Published in La Presse
(Canada) on 31 December 2014
by Richard Hétu (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Kathryn Manz. Edited by Bora Mici.
I went to bed last night with this question: Why would a mother, accompanied by her children and other members of her family, ever feel the need to put a loaded gun in her handbag to go shopping in a Wal-Mart in an Idaho region best known for its potatoes? This morning, I read this more or less satisfying response, supplied by a police officer from the area:

“It’s pretty common around here — a lot of people carry loaded guns.”

According to this article, Veronica Rutledge, 29, had a permit to carry a concealed weapon. Yet, as everyone knows today, her two-year-old son, who was sitting in the front seat of a shopping cart, killed her while handling the gun that was in her handbag.

The saddest thing in this story, is to read this type of phrase in a dispatch from AFP:

“A two-year old boy accidentally killed his mother in an American supermarket by shooting her with the handgun she was carrying in her handbag, a tragedy that runs the risk of reviving the gun control debate in the United States.”

The risk is slim, even nonexistent, and other Veronica Rutledges will lose their lives in just as absurd a way in the United States, this country that is crazy about its guns.


Je suis allé me coucher hier soir avec cette question : mais pourquoi donc une mère accompagnée de ses enfants et d’autres membres de sa famille sent-elle le besoin de mettre un pistolet chargé dans son sac à main pour aller magasiner dans un Walmart situé dans une région de l’Idaho réputée pour ses pommes de terre?

Ce matin, je lis cette réponse plus ou moins satisfaisante, fournie par un policier du coin :

«C’est très commun ici – de nombreuses personnes portent des armes chargées.»

Selon cet article, Veronica Rutledge, 29 ans, avait un permis de port d’arme dissimulée. Or, comme tout le monde le sait aujourd’hui, son garçon âgé de deux ans, qui se trouvait sur le siège d’un chariot, l’a tuée en manipulant le pistolet qui se trouvait dans son sac à main.

Le plus triste dans cette histoire, c’est de lire ce genre de phrase dans une dépêche d’AFP :

«Un garçon de deux ans a accidentiellement tué sa mère dans un supermarché américain en lui tirant dessus avec le pistolet qu’elle transportait dans son sac à main, un drame qui risque de relancer le débat sur le contrôle des armes à feu aux Etats-Unis.»

Le risque est mince, voire inexistant. Et d’autres Veronica Rutledge perdront la vie de façon aussi absurde aux États-Unis, ce pays fou de ses armes.
This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

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