# Stupid Gun news of the day (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 29, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729 "2013-01-29T19:01:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 458
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/9144 "2020-01-25T10:21:09Z")
In the FBI drunk guy case, in all likelihood the gun fell out onto the floor due to backflipping and when drunk FBI guy quickly grabbed it to get it back he pulled the trigger enough to fire a bullet randomly into some guy. Very unlikely that such make and model would go off from falling on the floor. ---
**Author:** ![Skypist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skypist/32/169_2.png) [@Skypist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skypist)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/9145 "2020-01-25T15:52:18Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > In the FBI drunk guy case, in all likelihood the gun fell out onto the floor due to backflipping and when drunk FBI guy quickly grabbed it to get it back he pulled the trigger enough to fire a bullet randomly into some guy. Very unlikely that such make and model would go off from falling on the floor. Now that I’ve looked it up, I think this is what happened. You can actually see video of the incident and it doesn’t appear to go off until he frantically grabs it. ---
**Author:** ![margin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@margin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/margin)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/9146 "2020-01-25T16:30:32Z")
> [@Skypist](#): > > Guess he had to protect himself from that toddler! ☹ > > He really does need to be charged. None of that “suffered enough” crap. If it had been a babysitter that was concealed carrying and the gun went off, people would be calling for the babysitter’s head. If you can’t control the deadly weapon you are carrying, you shouldn’t be allowed to carry it anymore. > > I guess he felt threatened all the time, enough to risk carrying a deadly weapon on his body at all times. That is sad. Great going dad. You really protected yourself and your family! The boy died. I got a message that said you have chosen a post that is not part of this discussion. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/9147 "2020-01-25T17:07:36Z")
“X happened and it just went off” often upon closer scrutiny becomes something like “Y and/or Z happened in the right order while I was otherwise distracted so that when X happened it went off”. Which of course still means goddamn stupid use of a dangerous tool. > [@Skypist](#): > > Now that I’ve looked it up, I think this is what happened. You can actually see video of the incident and it doesn’t appear to go off until he frantically grabs it. Right - it did not fire upon hitting the floor but upon him rushing to grab it. Also, about safeties: as mentioned not all weapons have the same safety mechanisms, _ **and** _ some users either introduce factors that weaken those, such as installing a lighter trigger, or choose to ignore small but critical details such that for example a striker-fired pistol has no “decocking” feature so it’s even more imperative than usual to remember to keep both foreign objects and fingers out of the trigger guard. However, that said, you don’t engage in horseplay while you are carrying, no matter what. That is asking for trouble big time. ---
**Author:** ![Skypist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skypist/32/169_2.png) [@Skypist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skypist)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/9148 "2020-01-25T22:22:41Z")
> [@margin](#): > > The boy died. That is sad as hell. That dad needs to never have access to guns again, but it’s too late for his little boy. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/9149 "2020-01-27T19:07:18Z")
We all know that school shootings happen because ‘we took God out of the schools’- which makes church shootings particularly puzzling- so who knows why this member of the well-regulated militia was taking a gun to church. Was there criminal intent? Maybe he wanted to have it blessed. Maybe he intended to protect the flock. Maybe he was just putting the gun away after surviving the US’s well-known and harrowing traditional Sunday morning traffic jams. But PTL, hallelujah, and pass the hat- the only person he shot was himself! > **[Man accidentally shoots himself after gun discharges outside SW OKC church,...](https://www.koco.com/article/man-accidentally-shoots-himself-after-gun-discharges-outside-sw-okc-church-police-say/30666943?fbclid=IwAR01ma9FsBpr1AgU7slET7wsBxgC3KlT9acZlgs9QiuSAaa3iIewsoEP11Q)** > > A man accidentally shot himself Sunday morning outside a church in southwest Oklahoma City. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/9150 "2020-01-27T21:52:38Z")
> [@Skypist](#): > > That is sad as hell. That dad needs to never have access to guns again, but it’s too late for his little boy. Based on the dementia, the absolute crippling paranoia of the father, that he felt the need to have or gun on his person every moment of the day, we might find consolation in the inference that the boy would have most likely been raised in a way that would have exacerbated his probably faulty genes, turning him into an insane criminal. Thus, the gun took rid of someone who was a potential thug. That would be a good thing, right? Meanwhile, since the father has displayed his mental/emotional defect so clearly, he needs to be institutionalized (indefinitely), so that he can have space to deal with his grief, have his dementia properly treated and be kept well away from any firearms. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2020, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/9151 "2020-02-02T15:03:32Z")
Apparently you’re [allowed to bypass the metal dectector](https://twitter.com/Joe_Gerth/status/1223278777045856257) at the Kentucky state house if you have a gun, making it unclear why the metal detector is there in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/9152 "2020-02-07T19:53:05Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Apparently you’re [allowed to bypass the metal dectector](https://twitter.com/Joe_Gerth/status/1223278777045856257) at the Kentucky state house if you have a gun, making it unclear why the metal detector is there in the first place. > [@A comment at twitter above](#): > > I was there the other day. There’s still a sign says you can’t have posters on a stick, but the state police told me if I taped a poster to a rifle barrel, that’d be fine. Totally serious. But I don’t think there’s much mystery about the metal detector. Some gunslingers _are_ turned back. See anything different? Zoom in on their skin color. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/9153 "2020-03-15T15:47:43Z")
Wow, no stupid gun news in over a month? Unpossible! Just to what the appetite, here’s a minor one. It seems like there’s a “gun show” every other weekend around here. At one such show yesterday, a man shot himself in the leg outside the show: [https://www.kmov.com/news/man-accidentally-shoots-himself-outside-gun-show-at-st-charles/article\_e844b81e-6627-11ea-8fea-cf8bdc17405b.amp.html](https://www.kmov.com/news/man-accidentally-shoots-himself-outside-gun-show-at-st-charles/article_e844b81e-6627-11ea-8fea-cf8bdc17405b.amp.html) ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/9154 "2020-03-15T15:51:26Z")
Duplicate post. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/9155 "2020-03-15T18:10:21Z")
> [@Defensive\_Indifference](#): > > At one such show yesterday, a man shot himself in the leg outside the show: [News](https://www.kmov.com/news/man-accidentally-shoots-himself-outside-gun-show-at-st-charles/article_e844b81e-6627-11ea-8fea-cf8bdc17405b.amp.html) Over the course of my life I’ve handled a variety of deadly weapons. The rules for handling a gun safely are easy to remember and practice, especially when ignoring the rules means a bullet in your leg, the death of yourself or a bystander, pain and humiliation. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/9156 "2020-03-15T20:18:51Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Over the course of my life I’ve handled a variety of deadly weapons. The rules for handling a gun safely are easy to remember and practice, especially when ignoring the rules means a bullet in your leg, the death of yourself or a bystander, pain and humiliation. Heh. That reminds me of a friend back in West Texas. He was not what you would call a gun nut but did own a gun. And he was well versed in all the safety practices. But he still managed stupidly to shoot himself in the foot one day. A friend had picked him up to take him to a shooting range, and sitting there in the passenger seat of the car, he went and pointed the gun at his foot and pulled the trigger, suddenly surprised to find there was a round in the chamber. And this was a guy who in most regards could be considered a responsible gun owner. Level-headed, not a nut in any sense. He admitted the complete stupidity of his action, said he didn’t know what he was thinking of. But said by sheer coincidence, at the Emergency Room were two other cases of gun owners shooting themselves in the foot that same morning! ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/9157 "2020-03-16T23:41:35Z")
How can a person be “well versed in all the safety practices” and also “pointed the gun at his foot and pulled the trigger”? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/9158 "2020-03-16T23:59:38Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > How can a person be “well versed in all the safety practices” and also “pointed the gun at his foot and pulled the trigger”? That’s what makes it stupid gun news. Idiots doing dumb shit that they know they shouldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/9159 "2020-03-17T01:06:45Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > How can a person be “well versed in all the safety practices” and also “pointed the gun at his foot and pulled the trigger”? “There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.” -Morpheus ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/9160 "2020-03-17T10:49:11Z")
> [@Defensive\_Indifference](#): > > It’s amazing how often we’re told, “guns don’t just go off when they’re dropped” in spite of all the times they seem to do exactly that. Doesn’t matter what you think they _seem_ to do. That isn’t what happens. Unless it’s broken, half a century old, or it’s an early P320 in specific laboratory conditions, you’re not going to get a firearm to discharge simply by dropping it. What’s happening is people are pulling the trigger, or causing the trigger to be pulled, and they are so confused or so worried about getting into legal trouble, they tell investigators, “It just _went off_.” or “It fired when it fell.”. Ignorant reports write this as fact and then the uniformed read it and believe it. The FBI club video is a perfect example of this. There were several stories that all said the gun fired when it fell. That’s not what happened at all. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/9161 "2020-03-17T10:54:11Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Doesn’t matter what you think they _seem_ to do. That isn’t what happens. Unless it’s broken, half a century old, or it’s an early P320 in specific laboratory conditions, you’re not going to get a firearm to discharge simply by dropping it. What’s happening is people are pulling the trigger, or causing the trigger to be pulled, and they are so confused or so worried about getting into legal trouble, they tell investigators, “It just _went off_.” or “It fired when it fell.”. Ignorant reports write this as fact and then the uniformed read it and believe it. > The FBI club video is a perfect example of this. There were several stories that all said the gun fired when it fell. That’s not what happened at all. TBF there are some guns (mentioned in this very thread) that have been known to go off half-cocked [sic] because the drop shears off the pin. But I suspect you’re correct that most of these incidents involve accidental trigger pulls due to mishandling. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/9162 "2020-03-17T13:38:40Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Doesn’t matter what you think they _seem_ to do. That isn’t what happens. **Unless it’s broken** , half a century old, or it’s an early P320 in specific laboratory conditions, you’re not going to get a firearm to discharge simply by dropping it. What’s happening is people are pulling the trigger, or causing the trigger to be pulled, and they are so confused or so worried about getting into legal trouble, they tell investigators, “It just _went off_.” or “It fired when it fell.”. Ignorant reports write this as fact and then the uniformed read it and believe it. > The FBI club video is a perfect example of this. There were several stories that all said the gun fired when it fell. That’s not what happened at all. The bolded part is kind of the sticking point, innit? “Guns are perfectly safe, unless they’re broken.” Well, guess what? Mechanical things break. Mechanical things don’t always work as planned. Mechanical things sometimes have production problems. The brakes in my car stop the car perfectly… **unless something is wrong with them.** In addition, I’m not at all comforted by argument that the guns aren’t going off, it’s just gun owners being careless. Between “a gun is a poorly manufactured device that can go off when it’s dropped” and “a gun is a deadly device that requires utmost care and attention but we let any fuckhead have one” I honestly can’t decide which is worse. I’m sure **you** are a responsible gun owner who ensures his guns are in perfect working condition. You’re special. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/9163 "2020-03-17T19:38:53Z")
> [@Defensive\_Indifference](#): > > The bolded part is kind of the sticking point, innit? No. Because it is not in anyway common for a gun to break in such a way that it fires when dropped. I added it not as a sticking point, but rather to prevent someone from finding a “gotcha” story about a broken gun that fired when dropped. A gun that is sufficiently broken to fire when dropped is likely to be one that is sufficiently broken beyond use. > [@](#): > > “Guns are perfectly safe, unless they’re broken.” Well, guess what? Mechanical things break. Mechanical things don’t always work as planned. Mechanical things sometimes have production problems. The brakes in my car stop the car perfectly… **unless something is wrong with them.** The brakes on your car are actually a pretty good analogy. What is the likelihood that your brakes will completely fail the next time you press them? How often does such a thing actually happen? A dead battery is common. Out of gas is common. Total, catastrophic brake failure is _not_. > [@](#): > > In addition, I’m not at all comforted by argument that the guns aren’t going off, it’s just gun owners being careless. Between “a gun is a poorly manufactured device that can go off when it’s dropped” and “a gun is a deadly device that requires utmost care and attention but we let any fuckhead have one” I honestly can’t decide which is worse. It doesn’t matter which is worse. Only one of those scenarios is remotely based in reality and it isn’t the former. It isn’t comforting, but it’s the truth. > [@](#): > > I’m sure **you** are a responsible gun owner who ensures his guns are in perfect working condition. You’re special. Not special. There is a huge gap between “perfect working condition” and “broken”. And poor firearm maintenance is more likely to cause a gun to not fire _at all_ rather than to cause it to fire when dropped. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729.md?page=457) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729.md?page=459)