Rensselaer man shot by brother’s rifle after hunting in Glenmont the headline at spotlightnews.com trumpets. Well of course the bolt-action .308 hunting rife in question didn’t shoot his (its?) owner’s brother all by itself. But I’m still reading report after report where firearms discharge at the most inopportune moments, without any obvious indication that the person holding the gun was solely and directly responsible for the resulting injury. Like this:
A 24-year-old man from Voorheesville was attempting to unload his .308 rifle when a single round was discharged. The round struck two parked vehicles before hitting a 25 year-old- man from Rensselaer in the shoulder.
I find it bizarre that the mainstream media — which never met a gun control law they didn’t like — can’t bring themselves to blame gun owners for dangerously deficient gun safety skills.
Do reporters fear that fingering firearms fails will bring the wrath of local gun rights guys and gals down upon their heads? Hardly. Do they think that chronicling negligent discharges is a bloody shirt wave too far? As if.
I reckon this safety-related squeamishness is down to journalists’ belief that guns are evil incarnate. Literally. All guns are like a rifle over the mantlepiece in a play; it’s only a matter of time before it “goes off.” Firearms just want to go off. Injury or death resulting.
I know what you’re thinking: no one can be that stupid. No professional can be that superstitious. What was it that Stevie Wonder said? When you believe in things you don’t understand then you suffer. Journalism is the way. Or something like that.