“Oh the irony.” Those are the very first words in a CNN article about a negligent discharge in a concealed handgun course in Ohio, dripping with sarcasm and savoring the opportunity to use a single incident to paint all gun owners as unsafe and reckless yahoos. Or, as CNN puts it, “the gun went off.” We here at TTAG prefer the phrase “the gun was negligently discharged by the instructor.” One might expect a news organization like CNN to at least attempt to hide its biases better than that, but this is CNN we’re talking about. Why bother with the pretense any more? The Columbus Dispatch, who first had the story, ran it in a dispassionate and factual voice, as one might expect from a “real” news reporting shop. Here’s what they had to say . . .
Terry J. Dunlap Sr., who runs a shooting range and training center at 6995 Coonpath Rd. near Lancaster, was demonstrating a hand gun in the classroom when he fired a .38-caliber bullet that ricocheted off a desk and into student Michael Piemonte’s right arm.
Dunlap, 73, also is a long-time Violet Township trustee who is running for re-election in November.
There’s a reason they make “blue” guns. You know — the plastic fakes? They’re great for training exercises, and help to avoid these situations almost every time.
The more interesting part of the story, though, was that a large number of the participants in the class were nurses. It makes sense when you think about it. People working long shifts at places that dispense narcotics and frequently arrive or depart from work in the middle of the night might want to protect themselves. But naturally, the CNN article prefers to sensationalize and make the anti-gun point instead.