A passenger checking a gun accidentally discharged his weapon on the curbside of Terminal 1 of Salt Lake City International Airport.
The passenger was declaring his weapon to a Sky Cap when he either mishandled or dropped it, said David Korzep, airport operations superintendent. The semiautomatic pistol had one bullet left in the chamber, Korzep said, and when it struck the pavement, shrapnel hit the foot of the Sky Cap employee. He was treated on the scene and not transported to the hospital.
"The injuries are pretty minor," Korzep said.
Airport police were questioning the passenger.
To properly check a gun, the weapon must be in a hard, locked case and the entire weapon, including the chamber, must be cleared. The ammunition must be stored separately.
First of all, I say one strike you're out. Let me ask you this. Would you trust a guy like him to be in the presense of your family, a guy who's proven to be capable of this kind of gun handling? Are you of the opinion that accidents can happen to anyone? Doesn't that violate the personal responsibility I keep hearing about? Accidents happen to people who commit them, wouldn't you say?
Secondly, why would someone not pack their gun properly at home before heading to the airport? Wouldn't that be the safest and smartest way to do it, minimizing the handling necessary at the busy check-in station? Do you think he was concerned he might have a shootout with some bad guys on the way to the airport?
This illustrates one of the problems with the gun mentality. You sure don't want to need the gun and not have it, so carry it at all times, even at the cost of common sense. That's what they do in Utah, and elsewhere. It's a subtle type of fear that causes people to arm themselves in situations in which their needing the gun is extremely unlikely.
What's your opinion? Do you think gun owners are motivated by fear? Please leave a comment.
"Let me ask you this. Would you trust a guy like him to be in the presense of your family, a guy who's proven to be capable of this kind of gun handling?"
ReplyDeleteNo. And I wouldn't trust a guy like this either.
The guy messed up very badly--no doubt about it. Since, though, it is utterly, grossly unacceptable for there to be a requirement for government "permission" to own a firearm (or 10,000 firearms), there must, of course, be no mechanism by which to deny that "permission."
ReplyDeleteIt's a subtle type of fear that causes people to arm themselves in situations in which their needing the gun is extremely unlikely.
Rather than arming oneself only when one expects to need to be armed, one would probably just avoid being in situations where being armed was likely to be necessary--I know I would. In any 24-hour period, the farthest I am from a loaded firearm is when I'm in the shower (it is a few feet away then)--not because I expect to need it, but because the need can come at any time and any place.
"because the need can come at any time and any place," the prudent and responsible man keeps meteorite protection nearby.
ReplyDeleteI realize you're being serious and I'm being silly, but it's to make the point that many of you guys don't need guns like you keep saying you do.
It's called the Bill of Rights MikeB, not the bill of needs.
ReplyDeleteMikeB303200:
ReplyDeleteYou're wrong that Zorro and others like him don't need guns. They need them, just not for the reasons that they put forward.
Mikeb says:
ReplyDeleteI realize you're being serious and I'm being silly, but it's to make the point that many of you guys don't need guns like you keep saying you do.
And you might have some success in making that "point," except for the facts that A) violent attacks--as rare as they are--are many orders of magnitude more frequent than meteorite strikes on humans; and B) effective preparedness for surviving/prevailing in violent attacks involves a not unmanageable amount of effort, while I can't imagine how one would effectively prepare to be hit by a meteorite and survive.
MikeB: "I realize you're being serious and I'm being silly, "
ReplyDeleteAre you referring to this post or your entire blog? ;)
-TS
I ddon't think gun owners are motivated by fear, I think anti-gunners most certainly are though.
ReplyDelete