Most gunnies are more than familiar with the four rules of gun safety. And if you talk to RF for more than about five minutes, you’ll probably hear that in his estimation, there’s one safety rule that rules them all: always keep your muzzle pointed in a safe direction. It makes sense when you think about it. No matter what else may happen, as long as the gun isn’t pointed at someone you don’t want to shoot (as in a defensive gun use situation), at least no one will get hurt. But sometimes, depending on where you are, finding that safe direction can be difficult or darn near impossible . . .
Such as when you live in an apartment building. A building like the one Ashley Redden lives in.
Ashley’s really proud of her gun. So proud, in fact, that she wanted to let her neighbors admire it, too. And probably fancying herself as a certified Safety Suzy, she wanted to be sure that the gun wasn’t loaded before she presented it to them for their viewing pleasure. Unfortunately, Ashely doesn’t own a clearing barrel.
(B)efore she went downstairs, she aimed it at the wall to see if the gun was loaded when it discharged, the report stated.
Yep, we could also have just as easily classified this one as a passively constructed negligent discharge story. Because if you believe the gun just “discharged” on its own when Ashley pointed it at the wall – a wall she shares with a neighbor – we have a bridge in Ketchikan we’d like to sell you.
According to the report, the man said he was lying in bed when he heard a gunshot and felt something hit his ankle.
Fortunately, the un-named neighbor wasn’t seriously injured. Redden, on the other hand, has been charged with reckless endangerment (which you’d expect) and vandalism (which you probably wouldn’t) by the Murfreesboro, Tennessee 5-0. And guilty or not, she’ll be getting a little something from us to commemorate this important milestone in her life (other than a framed print of that mugshot for her fridge). Wonder of the neighbors ever got to see her gun….