Michigan man shot when cat knocks gun onto floor

The Associated Press ^ | 3/9/2005, 1:17 p.m. ET

[mark502inf]

BATES TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — An Upper Peninsula man cooking in his kitchen was shot after one of his cats knocked his 9mm handgun onto the floor, discharging the weapon, Michigan State Police said.

Joseph Stanton, 29, of Bates Township in Iron County, was shot in his lower torso around 6 p.m. Tuesday, the state police post in Iron River reported. He was transported to Iron County Community Hospital.

Michelle Sand, a spokeswoman at the Iron River hospital, said Stanton was treated there before being transferred to Marquette General Hospital for further treatment. But Marcie Miller, a representative of the Marquette facility, said there was no record of the hospital receiving a patient by that name.

A telephone message seeking comment was left Wednesday at Stanton's home.

State police said he was cooking at his stove when the cat knocked the loaded gun off the kitchen counter behind him.

[samadams2000]

Real men with guns do not own cats. The problem started there.

[Ladysmith]

Oh, I don't know. My brother was here one day while I was out shopping. He was very thankful that I came home because my cat, who normally likes him, appeared ready to jump on his face and rip it apart!

Beware of the Attack Killer Kitty-Cat.

[SusaninOhio]

Hey - watch what you say about tailless cats! My 2 manx cats read the comments on this forum -

[mark502inf]

I rarely cook with a loaded gun. Am I normal?

No.

[Dead Corpse]

Bite your tongue. We've got two cats. Although I may be in the market for a puppy here pretty quick.

The guy in the article though... should be a lesson for us all. What that lesson is exactly may be a bit more difficult to pin down...

*BAM* Kick it up a notch...

[Jaysun]

I beg to differ. My cat attacks solicitors and buries Dem propaganda in his litterbox.

LOL! Fair enough.

[Larry Lucido]

Always keep kitty happy.

[Jaysun]

I mean, what possible NEED could someone have for something like that?

I don't know. Maybe cats attract chicks these days?

[bmwcyle]

Every morning and evening, I thank God that the cats hovering over their dishes don't have guns. They do have a nasty look.

[The Spirit Of Allegiance]

"He shouldn't have had a cat in the first place. They're really quite useless. That's why you never hear of a seeing-eye cat. Totally useless unless the blind guy does a lot of sleeping followed by a frisky scamper along a bookshelf."

LOL...I recall a Road Runner cartoon where RR swallows a big box of ACME bullets and gets the hiccups...

[TorahTrueJew]

A modern handgun should be 100% safe to keep with a chambered round. Glocks are designed to be carried like this. When SHTF, do you want to be racking the slide? You may not even have a free hand to do so. That being said, this is why modern handguns are designed to be drop-safe. I'd be surprised if this was a Glock, Sig, Beretta, etc. Probably some knock-off POS, or a pocket-pistol. Many of them are not drop safe. I like Kel-Tecs, but I don't own a P11 because I know it is NOT drop safe.

[Jaysun]

...plus you never know where those rat catching paws have been....!

Which is why you should never adopt the habit of sucking on your cat's paws. ;o)

[Bacon Man]

Hey I'm not bangin on tailless cats here. I have two manx kittens myself.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

[TorahTrueJew]

This thread also needs more pics:

[mark502inf]

Looks like they caught the perp in the first photo, but one of his friends is mounting a rescue effort!

[sonofatpatcher2]

Fans of the British comedy "Are You Being Served?" may remember the very same thing happened to Mrs. Slocombe's cat.

To which, Mr Humphries said, "Did this teach you anything, Mrs. Slocombe?"

"Yes indeed," Mrs. Slocumbe replied, "From now on, I will always keep my handgun and my pussy well apart!"

"Excellent decision," added Captain Peacock.

[FlashBack]

Great Pic!
We've got two cats...one named Turd and one named Freak...needless to say we keep them unarmed!!!
As you can see by the names I'm not a big cat fan, but these two are prety cool...the two dogs we have are Great Americans BTW!!!!

[Bacon Man]

Wonder what brand of gun it was. Modern handguns are supposed to have safety features built into them so things like this don't happen. Sounds like a defective product to me.

I was thinking the same thing but it could also be a really old pistol that doesn't have those features. In fact the 1911 is the only "old" model I can think of that has that kind of saftey. Not that I'm an expert in old firearms.

[Dead Corpse]

With some cats... it's just better not to tick them off...