Tennessee Teen Critically Wounded in Gun Accident - No Charges

Local news reports

Police have ruled the Monday night shooting that critically wounded a Nashville teen as accidental. 

William Blackwell and Robert Goodner, both 18, were handling Goodner’s pistol while visiting a Woodridge Drive home, according to a statement from police. 

Goodner noticed the safety was off and asked to see the gun. Goodner told police he mishandled the weapon when it fired, hitting Blackwell in the neck. 

Responding officers performed CPR on Blackwell and were able to stabilize him. Blackwell was rushed to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for further treatment. 

Two other witnesses talked to police. Investigators deemed their statements to be consistent with an accidental shooting.

Louisiana 5-Year-old Dead - No Charges

Local news reports

 Five-year-old Jon-Qualon Pitre, critically injured when he was shot in the head in an incident at his home Thursday, was taken off life support and died at our lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge Saturday. 

    Opelousas Police Chief Perry Gallow said the boy was shot in the head as he and his 7-year-old brother apparently were playing with a gun in the yard of his home in the 500 block of martin Luther king Dr.

     Police recovered the weapon, a .22-caliber, long-barrel revolver, at the scene.

     Gallow said "the best information they have is that only two people were in the yard at the time of the shooting, the 5-year-old and his 7-year-old brother".

     He adds no charges are currently being contemplated.

Extraordinary Photo Taken Three Seconds Before Texas Gun Nut Shoots Girl Scout in the Foot

Washington Man Pleads Guilty in Accidental Shooting Death of Young Boy

Trevor Braymiller


Local news reports with video

A convicted drug dealer will spend the next eight years behind bars in connection with the death of a 4-year old who accidentally shot himself.  

Trevor Braymiller told the Skagit County Court that he is sorry and accepts responsibility in the death of Dwayne Kerrigan. 

Kerrigan died last July in a Sedro Woolley home from a self-inflicted gunshot. Investigators determined Braymiller left the stolen handgun in the home he shared with Dwayne's mother in a location where the boy could find it. 

On Friday, Braymiller pleaded guilty to manslaughter.  The prosecutor's office joined the defense in recommending 95 months in prison.

Judge Needy agreed to the sentence, nearly eight years in prison, but noted this was the second accidental shooting death he'd presided over just this year.  

"It's an issue that continues to grow and continues to cause scenes like this in our courtrooms because of irresponsible handling of those weapons," Needy said.

Yeah, it's an issue that continues to grow.  That's from a man who should know, right?.  Yet what he sees is only the tip of the iceberg. For example, in this case the mother of the little boy was not charged. Was she not equally responsible?

And how many negligent shootings don't even merit charges at all? Usually if the guilty party has no criminal past and doesn't lie to the cops about what happened, they skate.

The judge is exactly right, these incidents are on the increase.  it's an epidemic that is growing despite all the nonsense we keep hearing from the pro-gun folks.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Colorado Man Gets 18 months for Accidental Shooting

Local news reports

A 25-year-old man was sentenced Thursday in an accidental shooting that killed a man at a Colorado Springs hotel.

Billie Thomas Allen was ordered to serve 18 months in jail in the February death of 29-year-old Justin Dore at a Days Inn on Rusina Road.

A jury convicted Allen of reckless manslaughter at an October trial after hearing testimony that both Allen and Dore were high on methamphetamine when a gun went off while Allen was handling it.

Manslaughter carries a normal presumptive range of up six years in prison.

You see, one way to ensure that the authorities take your negligent gun handling seriously is to be using drugs at the time of the incident. That almost guarantees there will be no slap on the wrist or shrugging it off entirely.

New Hampshire Man Charged in Dropped Gun Incident

Joshua Thompson

Local news reports

A Haverhill man was arrested Monday after accidentally shooting his girlfriend in the leg.

Police responded Monday night after a report of a gunshot wound. When police responded, they found Joshua Thompson, 22, of Haverhill and a 19-year-old Plaistow woman with a gunshot wound to her leg.

“We believe it was an accidental discharge,” Deputy police Chief Kathleen Jones said. “He dropped it and it went off.”

Police charged Thompson with second-degree assault.

“In New Hampshire, recklessly causing injury to another by means of a dangerous weapon is means for assault,” Jones said. “He was being careless with the firearm.”

West Virginia Woman Wounded in Accidental Shooting through the Wall

Local news reports

The incident happened around 6 p.m. at an apartment in the 1400 block of Quarrier Street, said Lt. H.P. Hickman of the Charleston Police Department.

The woman was coming up the stairs in her apartment building when a man fired a handgun in another part of the building, Hickman said. The bullet went through a wall and into her shoulder, he said.

She was taken to CAMC with non life-threatening injuries.

The man left the scene without speaking with police, Hickman said.

"The detectives bureau is investigating," Hickman said. "At this time we think it's an accidental shooting, but they're out just to make sure."

You see, they don't want to arrest the dangerous idiot.  They just want to "make sure" it was an accident which can easily be shrugged off as part of the deal. It's part of the freedom deal.

Belmont NC Cop Back to Work after New Year's Eve Negligent Discharge

Local news reports 

 

PA Man who Shot Girl in Skunk Costume About to go to Trial

Local news reports - here's our original post.

A Pennsylvania man who apparently shot a young relative after mistaking her costume for a skunk has been ordered to stand trial on charges of assault and reckless endangerment. 

Police said the girl was in a black costume with a white feather or tassel on her hat during a Halloween party at a New Sewickley home on Oct. 20. The Beaver County Times reported investigators said the girl was lying face down and motionless during a game of hide-and-seek when she was shot. 

Grant's attorney called the shooting a "tragic accident." He said he'll ask to have the charges dismissed.

What do you predict, guilty to a lesser charge and keep the guns? That's my bet.

Please leave a comment.

Virginia is for Gun Lovers

If we ever had any doubt that VA is one gun-loving state, this report should put our minds to rest.

A Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court judge Thursday found a man not guilty of reckless handling of a firearm in the accidental shooting of a 3-year-old girl.

The judge acquitted Matthew Bairey, who was 24 at the time of the June 26 incident, of the misdemeanor charge.

The shooting occurred in the 5500 block of Seawall Court as Bairey was trying to check whether his pistol had a round in the chamber. His thumb slipped, causing the gun to fire a bullet through the floor of his second-story apartment and into the apartment below, striking the girl in the arm

This is a blatant and disgraceful miscarriage of justice.  How in the world could an act like than NOT be reckless handling of a firearm? 

I'm sure some of our gun-rights friends will be happy to tell us.

Please leave a comment.

Negligent Owner of Wild West City Gets a Slap on the Wrist

NJ.com reports

Harris, a cowboy actor who was playing the role of frontier lawman Wyatt Earp, was shot in the forehead by a 17-year-old actor who loaded his .22-caliber handgun with live bullets instead of blanks during a dramatization at the theme park on July 7, 2006. 

The shooter used bullets that had been left in a lockerroom by another cowboy actor who brought two boxes of ammunition to the park. One had blanks and one had live rounds, which he had fired at a shooting range earlier in the day.

Today, Conforti sentenced Stabile, on behalf of Western World Inc., to one year probation and ordered the company to pay a $7,500 fine for unlawful possession of a handgun without a carry permit. The company pleaded guilty to the third-degree charge in April.

Does that sentence seem light to you? A man was severely injured, yet the responsible person gets only probation and a measly $7,500 fine?  What gives.

This isn't the first time we've seen reports of shenanigans at Wild West Shows.  What do you make of that?

Please leave a comment.

Disgraceful Negligence by Carlisle Police Chief Stephen Margeson

Yahoo News reports with video

Someone stole a loaded gun from a police chief's car in central Pennsylvania. 

Carlisle police Chief Stephen Margeson's .40-caliber Glock was taken from his unmarked police SUV, which was parked in front of his home. Police said it happened between 1 p.m. Wednesday and 8 a.m. Thursday. There were no signs of forced entry. Police said it's unclear whether the vehicle was unlocked or someone knew the combination to open the keyless entry door.

Yeah, sure, someone knew the combination. Or, maybe the aliens did it.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting of Self by FFL Guy in North Carolina

Local news reports

A gun dealer shot himself in the hand just before a gun show in northern Charlotte Sunday morning.

Police haven’t released the name of the man, but said he was a dealer at the Dixie Gun & Knife Classic, which was held this weekend at the Metrolina Expo on Statesville Road.

“He was taking the gun out to display it and pulled the trigger and it went off,” said Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Capt. William Boger.

Detectives from the department’s assault with a deadly weapon unit are investigating, though the man is not expected to face any charges, Boger said. The man’s injuries aren’t life-threatening.

The event continued as scheduled.

The guy had a Federal Firearms License (FFL) and probably a concealed carry permit, but no one is checking on that.  In North Carolina you can get one of those without leaving your house.

Is it too severe to apply the one strike you're out rule to a guy like this?  I don't think so.

What do you think?

Accidental Shooting at the Metropolitan Museum - No Charges

The New York Times reports

Shortly before 3 p.m., a single shot rang out at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Not in the Russell B. Aitken Gallery of firearms, where the 16th-century double-barreled wheellock pistol made for Emperor Charles V and the 17th-century gilded French flintlock are housed.

It was down in a basement locker room, where a security guard cleaning his .38-caliber Colt accidentally shot himself in the leg.

The guard, whose injuries were not life-threatening, is one of a limited number at the museum authorized to carry weapons, said Harold Holzer, a spokesman for the museum. They are not allowed to take them out of the building, Mr. Holzer said, so they maintain and clean them on the premises.

I can just hear Michael Corleone yelling, "WHERE MY WIFE SLEEPS, where my children come to play with their toys." I would have said, "WHERE REMBRANDT'S PAINTINGS HANG, where my children come to visit on summer vacations."

You know what the story tells us, don't you. No place is safe. Too many lawful gun owners, even professionally trained men, actually turn out to be unfit and dangerous.

Yet, the gun-rights fanatics resist at every turn the simple restrictions which would weed out some of the worst of these characters. And to make matters worse, they just love to issue nothing more than a slap on the wrist when one of them does demonstrate negligence.

What's your opinion? I can't repeat it enough. One-strike-you're-out is the appropriate response to any incident of negligence. Gun rights must be removed from the unfit and irresponsible.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

In Gun Friendly GA

via Ohh Shoot

Law enforcement officials say accidental firearm discharges are very common, especially during hunting season.