"Accidental" discharges can happen to the most experienced.
So, applying the one-strike-you're-out rule, we've got to include the seller of that gun, the one who handled it when in "accidentally" went off all by itself, and of course, the organizers of the show.Two men were injured in an accidental shooting Saturday morning at the ECA Gun and Knife Show at Bloomington’s Sale Barn.
An attendee at the show was handling a mini-14 semiautomatic rifle at about 11:15 a.m. As the patron was laying the rifle back on a vendor table, the gun accidentally discharged, said McLean County Sheriff Mike Emery.
“The round went through a post, through a person and then into another person,” Emery said.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
"So, applying the one-strike-you're-out rule, we've got to include the seller of that gun, the one who handled it when in "accidentally" went off all by itself, and of course, the organizers of the show."
ReplyDeleteLet's call that rule by what it is - it's the "MikeB is King rule". You just want to be able to rule over other people...too bad you aren't king and you aren't going to be king - EVER!!!
"“The round went through a post, through a person and then into another person,” Emery said."
ReplyDeleteSounds like good ad copy for the ammo manufacturer. Not so much for the Eddie Eagle campaign.
Because firearms ARE dangerous and it's nearly impossible to verify the safe gun handling skill of visitors, every gun show I have been to has a strict "no loaded firearms" policy at the door. The actions of all vendor guns must be zip-tied closed (or open) and anyone bringing a gun in must do the same (they have a couple of experienced gun handlers that check the firearm and zip-tie the actions).
ReplyDeleteWhether they had such a policy at that gun show, or how that firearm even got a loaded round in the chamber, would be very interesting indeed.
...Orygunner...
Many years ago I was in a gun store and I was a regular. I would hit it when ever my work took me in that direction.
ReplyDeleteThere was two patrons who were very odd acting and kept handling every shot gun on the rack furthest from the counter. Even the clerk noticed it and got my attention and I walked back to that area of the store. As I approached they seemed quite furtive and after a couple of whispers left the store. The clerk followed them out and had a conversation with them and they took off to a bus stop. When he returned I was trying to put the guns they had been handling back in order. As is my custom every gun I touch was opened to check the action. The third or forth gun I opened had a live round in the chamber. I immediately called the clerk over and we went through every gun on the rack. These a-holes had loaded nine shotguns intentionally and put them back in the rack.
To blame the gun shop owner would be ridiculous, he was called names by the two hoodlums who had done this as they were leaving and called a racist for singling them out. Fiendish want to cause an accident? Were they planning on returning and using the loaded guns as tools in a robbery? No one knows but they had intentionally created a deadly accident waiting to happen.
This is why the four rules are so absolutely critical to follow no matter what the situation. Guns don't go off unless someone pits the booger hook on the bangswitch
P: So, in other words, you're saying the owner of the gun shop has no responsibility for the firearms he's trying to sell?
ReplyDeleteThe firearms he's in charge of?
Wow.
Anonymous I don't know that I would necessarily penalize the gun show organizers for believing they had allowed a safe, sane and sensible person into their gun show as a vendor or as an attendee.
ReplyDeleteIf they have a second accidental shooting, then that would suggest the organizers are incompetent.
But for the vendor to not know or to fail to be sure weapons are not loaded? WHY would it be a fair or desirable not to penalize this person?
Or the customer? Just setting down a firearm and it goes off, without that person being careless, or arguabley reckless?
The MikeB rule is common sense, not some monarchistic megalomania.
Perhaps you are unfamiliar with that, anonymous, at least when it comes to firearms? That suggests you are an unimaginative ideologue,since you can't even come up with an original identity for yourself.
No. That is absolutely not what I am saying. What i am saying is fromthe information we have, blaming ANYONE is premature. Someone, either intentionally or mistakenly, loaded that firearm.
ReplyDeleteIt clearly did not load it self. The rifle in question, if the media report is correct has a removable magazine. To have a round show up in a chamber is not easy to explain.
I have a belief this will be determined to either be criminal negligence or mischief...
I am not absolving anyone nor am I accusing anyone we simply do not have enough evidence to go forward. My previous post was to show that sometimes despite the best efforts of a diligent and attentive sales person, stuff might happen.
Dog Gone is much more reasonable than I am. While I was writing the post, deciding monarchically whom to blame, I seriously considered a blanket punishment for everyone in the building and all their relatives.
ReplyDeleteBut, not wanting to be as extremist in the other direction as some of my antagonists, I settled on the ones I mentioned.
C'mon P, the guy handling the gun, who put his "booger hook on the bang-switch" as you put it, has to be held responsible for that, and even more so the owner of the gun. I could be swayed by Dog Gone to leave the organizers alone, but those two should definitely pay.
Again twisting my statements.
ReplyDeleteI said we do not have enough evidence From the facts available to make any judgements. The firearm in question has a detachable magazine. If the mag was out of the weapon and the action was zip tied, getting it loaded would have taken some effort.
Seeing as a gun show is a public event we have no idea of the clientele or their motives. I believe it's very possible the gun was loaded without the knowledge of the clerk/owner
Again, P, the guns belong to the gun shop. They are owned by the gun shop. They are the responsibility of the gun shop.
ReplyDeleteIf patrons come in and are allowed to handle the weapons, the firearms remain the responsibility of the gun shop.
This isn't sarah Brady talk; this is Gun Safety 101. If I own a firearm, I am responsible for that firearm. Period. No caveats, clauses, or excuses.
The fact is gunloons like to talk a big game about responsibility except when they actually have to take responsibility. Then it's someone else's fault.
Especially scary black men.
Where does the race card come from. It was never even mentioned.
ReplyDeleteYour logic is faulty. If someone intentionally tried to cause an event, how do you hold the gun owner liable if it was the person who loaded the gun who was shot?
If you go to a kitchen supply store and cut yourself with a knife you are handling, are you to blame? Or is the store owners fault for selling sharp knives?
If you test drive a car from the dealer and drive recklessly and kill someone, are you to blame or is it the dealers fault?
P, Don't you see how you're playing right into Jadegold's hand?
ReplyDeleteHe said, "The fact is gunloons like to talk a big game about responsibility except when they actually have to take responsibility. Then it's someone else's fault."
And you provided two or three more examples of exactly that.