It's hard to count the gun safety violations in this short story. But, one person shot in the leg isn't so bad, no one need be too concerned, right?Tracci M. King, 21, and friends had just wrapped up their shoot-’em-up flick at 9:15 p.m., in which they wielded realistic-looking toy guns, according to a police report. One of the friends, a 21-year-old who has a concealed-carry weapon license, laid down his loaded, semiautomatic .45-caliber pistol on an end table and walked out of the living room in the 289th Street home.
Several prop guns were still strewn about the room when Randy Schimmel, 21, unknowingly picked up the real pistol and pulled the trigger. Mr. King, who was sitting on a couch across the room uploading the video footage onto a laptop computer, was shot in the left leg.
Actors making a "shoot-'em-up flick" should practice basic gun safety even with toy props. Does anyone disagree with that? Perhaps their concealed-carry friend who was watching could have schooled them? Except he violated an even more basic law than the famous 4 Rules of Gun Safety. He actually failed to maintain custody of his weapon.
What's your opinion? Is maintaining custody of your gun an even more basic rule than the Famous Four? What kind of concealed carry training do you think that young man had? Do you think they may have touched upon this very issue in the class? Of course they did, which means in this case, like in too many others, the training just didn't take.
Many gun-rights folks talk about always carrying, always everywhere. Home carry saves lives, they say. They say the safest place for the gun is on your hip. What do you think about that? I often accuse them of being paranoid and fanatical, but I must admit, this kind of "accident" would never happen to one of them.
What do you think? Please leave a comment.
"Is maintaining custody of your gun an even more basic rule than the Famous Four? What kind of concealed carry training do you think that young man had? Do you think they may have touched upon this very issue in the class? Of course they did..."
ReplyDeleteMaintaining control of your firearm is very important. One of my arguments against restaurant carry is that you are forced to surrender your gun to an empty vehicle instead of maintaining control of it while you dine or even just pick up take-out. In a home, especially one with small children like mine, maintaining control is more important than ever. On the few times I carry a gun at home, it is because I have returned from somewhere where I did carry and I have not made it to the lock-box yet. I will not set a loaded gun down in the house.
"...which means in this case, like in too many others, the training just didn't take."
Like my dad used to say, you buy 'em books and send 'em to school but you can't fix stupid.
"Many gun-rights folks talk about always carrying, always everywhere. Home carry saves lives, they say. They say the safest place for the gun is on your hip. What do you think about that? I often accuse them of being paranoid and fanatical, but I must admit, this kind of "accident" would never happen to one of them."
I don't maintain a home where I fear an attack at any moment. If I did, I would move. You have to have a place that you can live like a sheep in condition white.