A University of Southern Mississippi student from Brandon remains in critical yet stable condition Friday after accidentally shooting himself in the thigh while sitting in his vehicle on campus.
Blake Ballard, 22, was found on the pavement outside his jeep Thursday afternoon on the service road adjacent to the Ogletree Alumni House.
The junior was rushed to Forrest General Hospital for treatment.
Because of his condition, police have not been able to interview the victim to determine the circumstances surrounding the shooting. But from all indications, police say it appears to have been accidental.
University officials say Ballard apparently was not in violation of state law by having a gun in the vehicle on campus because he was over 21 and had obtained an enhancement to a concealed firearms permit, but he may face university discipline for having a gun on campus at a later date.
This one's almost too funny to write about. What do you think?
When you have a point, I'll be happy to address it.
ReplyDeleteYou know all my points, several of which converge in this one story. 21-year-olds are too young to responsibly own guns, campus carry is a mistake, guns do more harm than good. And let's not forget that 90% of my stories take place in your beloved South.
Delete1. If someone is responsible enough to vote, sign contracts, and fight for the nation is responsible enough to own a firearm. You may reasonably argue at what age all of those things can be done responsibly, but it makes no sense to allow some but not others.
Delete2. Campus carry makes good sense for those who are trained. You demand perfection, while I recognize that the performance of license holders is well above reasonable expectations.
3. Guns do more good than harm.
4. Yes, gun accidents happen where guns exist. Rain happens where there's enough water in the air. The rate of accidents is sufficiently low as not to justify what you want.
Greg....I totally agree with your points. Seems that Mike has an agenda and no sense to back it up. We in the US have a 2nd amendment right...it's sad that the "beloved south" is the only place that sees the value in this right. Not sure where you are from Mike, but hoping that one day you are not placed in a position where you will need to defend yourself and not be able to do so. And of course, not to mention those 21-year-olds that are out there on a daily basis protecting your country, state and city.
DeleteYou mean the way all those 21-year-olds are protecting us from the Afghan and Iraqi threat?
DeleteMy guess is that he had a negligent discharge when he was disarming to go to class. This actually happens periodically with police officers also. I have to do the same thing at my school since the only thing that keeps me from carrying on campus is the school rules. However the rules also allow me to safely store my weapon in my vehicle.
ReplyDeleteThat explains it. It wasn't his fault at all, it's the fault of the immoral laws.
DeleteBe snide and sarcastic all you want, Mike. When a gun is holstered with the trigger covered, the chance of it discharging is as close to zero as possible. As soon as you start handling it, the change of a ND becomes non zero and rises with the amount of handling.
DeleteThis is why we don't care for places that make us remove our gun before going in--it increases the chance of something happening and it increases the chance of the gun being stolen from our vehicle.
But you don't care about that. You'd rather laugh and tell us about how hilarious you find this story. Hyena.
If the negligent and irresponsible gun owners would only follow the Safety Rules, we wouldn't be having this discussion. But, like it or not, many of you guys just can't seem to do that. And, naturally you blame the laws which force you to handle the guns rather than accept responsibility for your own actions.
DeleteThis student will have medical bills to pay and a period of recovery. That's his responsibility. You want to add additional burdens for no good reason.
DeleteWhere did we deny his responsibility? We just said that constant disarming and reholstering increases the chances of an accident.
DeleteMethinks thou dost protest too much.
Mike...why do you want to pin fault here.....fault for what. there was no one else injured in this accident.
DeleteSince when does "fault" depend on someone else getting injured?
Delete