It doesn't get any more plain and simple as this.
Posted on 01/19/2013 11:54:01 AM PST by backwoods-engineer
RALEIGH, N.C. — At least two people were injured Saturday afternoon in an apparent accidental shooting at the gun show being held at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds.
Emergency crews responded to the scene shortly after 1 p.m., and two people were loaded into ambulances.
A witness told WRAL that a gun went off after being checked by an official at a safety check-in location, hitting a man in the hand and a woman in the side.
The Raleigh Fire Department confirmed that the Dixie Gun and Knife Show would be closed for the remainder of the day Saturday. There was no word on whether the show, which is held inside the Jim Graham Building, would continue Sunday.
(Excerpt) Read more at wral.com ...
I’ve had a CCW for nigh on 20 years. I’ve also been to enough gun shows, at least here in my State of Georgia, to know that they will not allow a loaded weapon to enter the premises, period. Any CCW holder should know this, especially if he/she has been to a gun show here before.
Meanwhile.....
Central Michigan university student kidnapped and raped by a parolee with a long history. Sentenced to 15 and out in 5 and raping college students within months. His “gun” was a BB gun. Fortunately he won’t be taking up and more of our time.
And what if he/she has not been to a show before, particularly if a visitor holding a CCW from another state?
To assess the possibilities, it would be necessary to know how many dumb ass cops there are and how many dumb ass gun show attendees.
Gun show attendance has been incredibly high since the recent shooting, probably double or triple the usual attendance. This means that a great proportion, perhaps as much as half of attendees are new to gun shows and many of those are new to GUNS.
The number of attendees who are not familiar with guns might be up by a factor of ten or more.
At the same time, the number of police officers who must be assigned to check guns at gun shows is probably also up, perhaps by double.
In doubling the number of officers assigned, it just might be that the number of officers being assigned who have not done the job before might be up by a factor of ten or more.
If you multiply the number of people who might ignorantly bring a loaded gun to a gun show by a factor of ten, and you multiply the number of officers that are incompetent to check weapons by a factor of ten, then you just might increase the likelihood of an incident by one hundred or more.
Given the incredibly high number of guns being sold in the last two months, many of them probably to new gun owners, I would predict a pretty large increase in the number of negligent discharges by this population of gun owners.
AR-15s have their own set of unique idiosyncrasies. If a new owner puts a loaded magazine into the rifle, purposely NOT loading a round in the chamber, and then locks the bolt back so that it is easy to inspect the chamber, then they may have set themselves up for a problem.
The AR-15, with the bolt locked back so that the chamber is open, requires just the slightest bump on the stock to release the lock and send the bolt forward.
A new owner unfamiliar with the situation might not realize that he has just chambered a round. If he then removes the magazine and fails to then empty the chamber (remember, he went to some trouble NOT to load the chamber) then he has created the potential for a negligent discharge.
We can further complicate this situation by realizing that there is now an ammo shortage for .223 rifles. This will result in some individuals perhaps trying to make some money by reloading their own .223 and selling at gun shows.
Commercial reloaders are expected to eliminate improperly seated primers from their product. Less experienced individuals might not be so attentive.
If we revisit the scenario above, where a slight bump sends the bolt home, chambering a round, it's not impossible that a round could fire if its primer is not seated.
The several times I have introduced friends to the AR-15, I have always chambered a round and then removed the round to show them how the inertial firing pin behaves in this rifle. There will be a slight dimple where the firing pin hits the newly chambered round. It's a good way of driving home the gun safety rules, including especially that the gun should never be pointed at something (or someone) you don't wish to destroy.
I’d say felony charges for negligent conduct, attempted murder, recklessness, etc., and all that under color of authority.
No, I have not been to that specific gun show. Between common sense and insurance requirements, there is bound to be signs posted there. Convention Centers do NOT like negative publicity or liabilities. These people could sue the building owners which leads to another scenario. Was it staged for the insurance? It is unfathomable in my mind it was not posted “No Loaded Firearms”.
Okay...I can buy that....I’m only going with what I’ve seen over the last 20 years here in Georgia....still doesn’t explain a dumb ass cop who can’t check a weapon though..
Be that as it may, should any gun owner be held in any way responsible for negligent discharges caused by surrendering their weapon to a cop who demands it?
I can respect your problem breakdown re: probabilities and likelihoods, etc. However, one would also likely agree that an attendee who transports a gun to a show, especially a loaded one, has a high likelihood of being familiar with/licensed for/cognizant of laws regarding loaded weapons, wouldn't they? If they are attending WITH A GUN, then they must not be that new to guns, would they? Just seems a little improbable to me, that's all.
We are in utter and complete agreement.
Out of the thousands of gun shows and millions of attendees in any given year, ND’s are so rare that I actually don’t remember one, although I am sure there have been.
The fact that the one we all hear about was done by a cop and not an ordinary law-abiding gun owner who understands the responsibility associated with firearms ... fine by me. Hard for the press to make hay over this one.
I'm not saying it wasn't, but is it unfathomable that the person could be funneled into the entrance area BEFORE any such posting could be seen, and thus "forced" into the challenge from a guard?
Get the word spread far and wide that it was a cop.Who is the cop? Is there any possibility that it was deliberate?
The gun owner should not be held responsible for the negligence of the cop. If the cop had been following The Four Basic Rules of Firearms Safety this incident would not have happened. Anyone with an IQ above 75 can do it.
http://mondaynightshootingleague.org/pdf/FourBasicRulesOfFirearmSafety.pdf
The Four Basic Rules of Firearms Safety*
1. All guns are always loaded.
Treat every gun as if it was loaded, at all times, no matter what.
Think and BELIEVE every time the gun is handled, it could fire.
2. Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not
willing to destroy.
Be conscious of the direction your muzzle is pointed at all times.
This includes at yourself, any other person, animal, or property
unless you are either intending to or do not care about destroying or
killing that person/object.
NEVER handle a gun behind other people or bend over with a gun in
your hand on a shooting range.
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights
are aligned with the target.
Pay attention to what you are doing while handling a firearm.
DO NOT let your finger contact the trigger until the gun is on target.
4. Be sure of your target and its surroundings.
Pay attention to what is going on around your target.
YOU are responsible for the terminal resting place of the bullet,
intentionally fired or not, no matter what happened.
*Base rules from Col. Jeff Cooper, American Pistol Institute, 1977
Exactly.
Also open the action to make sure the chamber is empty. Guns do not go off accidentally with an open action, and don’t injure people unless it’s pointed at someone. This is horse s@#*.
I wanted to post that it was a cop in the comments under the news story, but that story is closed for comments.
You will please note the "headline" says nothing about "cop."
Think of the most petty, vain, vindictive, two-faced, back-biting, eighth grade girl, and you start to understand the average "journalist."
That vid never gets old! Thank goodness no one else was injured or killed.
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