“Tellico Plains Police Chief Russ Parks [said] members of the First United Methodist Church were talking about guns in churches,” cbsnews.com reports. “Parks said the man pulled out .380-caliber Ruger handgun, removed the magazine, cleared the chamber, and showed the gun. He put the magazine back in and returned the gun to its holster.” Not the smartest thing to do in church, or anywhere else for that matter. That said . . .
Here at TTAG’s secret above-ground bunker, guns are passed around like the holy sacrament at midnight mass. Firearms are always cleared, pointed in a safe direction, handed over carefully and safety checked by the recipient. And if someone asks to see my gun out there in the real world, I don’t hand it over. And I always keep it pointed in a safe direction. Because . . .
When someone asked if they could see the gun, he pulled it out saying the gun was not loaded and pulled the trigger.
Parks said the bullet sliced the man’s palm, then entered the left side of his wife’s abdomen and exited the right side . . .
The couple, in their 80s, were flown to a hospital with injuries that didn’t appear to be life-threatening.
Hoisted by his own ballistic petard!
Obviously, this incident got national attention because it happened less than two weeks since the Sutherland Springs mass shooting. It gives ammunition to the antis who want Americans to believe that gun ownership isn’t worth the risk.
It is, of course. Risk of self-harm can be mitigated to an entirely manageable level by following The Four Rules of Gun Safety. The real question here is: was the irresponsible gun owner too old to carry a gun?
“was the irresponsible gun owner too old to carry a gun?”
No, but he might be too stupid. BTW, you are an ageist pig. 😉
I’m an ageing ageist pig. But aside from that, there comes a time when forgetfulness can kill. Just sayin’ . . .
Robert, you know perfectly well that a person’s ability to safely do much of anything depends on a great many factors. A person’s chronological age is only one tiny part of the whole.
I betcha this dude was careless, clueless and even stupid about a lot of things before his serious ND. These things occur in the context of a great many other decisions, judgments and actions.
“I betcha this dude was careless, clueless and even stupid about a lot of things before his serious ND. These things occur in the context of a great many other decisions, judgments and actions.”
Okay. So was he too stupid to carry a gun?
I am quickly approaching my 80s and hopefully will still be carrying when I get there. Age is not the problem, stupid actions by the carrier is the problem.
Concealed is concealed. No one at my church will ever ask to see my firearm simply because they don’t know I have one. The only time it will be seen in public is if it becomes necessary to defend myself or others.
They say there are two kinds of gun owners those who have had a ND and those that will have an ND. Have been carrying for a lot more years than it has been legal, and so far I am still in the first group.
I seem to recall a YouTube video of a LEO in a gun store that negligently pulled the trigger on a pistol handed to him out of the case and blew his finger off, narrowly missing several other customers in the process. Such foolishness is not limited to the elderly.
Not to say that this guy shouldn’t consider the possibility, but it’s not necessarily a given.
LOL. I recall a video of a LEO in a schoolroom saying he is the only one in the room qualified to handle a gun.
BANG!
Fun times!
Out of the display case? WTF is a loaded gun doing there?
I bet he pokes along in the left lane on the interstate also.
“Do you own a gun?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“May I see your gun?”
“No.”
“Can you take your gun out?”
“Is there a legitimate need to?”
Want to show off your gun? Submit it as a Pocket Dump of the Day. Otherwise keep your piece in your pants.🤠
Agreed. Keep your piece in your pants. That goes for your firearm as well.
I don’t do show and tell.
“Can you take your gun out?”
..zzziipp… 😳
Usually when people ask to see my gun in church I tell them to wait until after the service and I clear it there in the parking lot and ram a chamber flag in it. Should for whatever reason that be unfeasible (weather, they give me the heeby jeebies, or there are a plethora of kids about), I usually have a picture or two on my phone and of they know where I live so they are free to come by and take a gander/test drive any time they please away from church grounds unless of course they set off my radar and something doesn’t feel quite right about them then they don’t get passed the threshold to my home.
Never in a public setting. Too many eyes that might not be aware of the whole situation.
There is ONLY ONE reason for a gun to come out of its holster in public.
Sian,
I am working on getting my church to embrace armed parishioners. My proposal includes the very simple and important requirement for concealed carry at our church, “Your handgun stays in its holster unless an attacker is maiming or killing. Period. No exceptions!”
This exceedingly simple detail eliminates negligent discharges and injuries.
I’d invite the gun curious to meet me at an indoor range where I could teach them the fundamentals of safe gun handling and shooting technique.
Short of that…well that’s what google images is for.
Last thing id want to whip out in church is my gun, its for fun…Now, my firearm?
No, you cant see my firearm thanks for asking.
This is why, if I were an Alabama voter I would have serious concerns about Ol’ Judge Roy’s judgement aside from the sexual assault allegations. He pulled his gun out at a campaign rally just to show it off.
Yes, it would be better to vote for the anti-gun democrat that would defend Obama’s America and a man that thought Hillary Clinton was the answer to the question. Vote against Roy Moore indeed.
Single issue voters aren’t as smart as they’d like to think they are.
I’m with RF. Old dude is too demented to carry a gat. Age has nothing to do with lacking sense…perilously close to 65 myself. Nobody knows what and if I carry!
When Kansas honored our right to carry, the first thing I told my son’s was ” your gun is like your penis, you just don’t go yanking it out in public”, and ” everybody’s got a gun, so don’t get cocky”. . ……. This is not related, but I’m really getting angry with these Muslim American refugees hating the country they’ve fled to.
When some asks me if I’m carrying. I tell them politely It will be best if they never have to find out. And leave it at that.
How did his handgun have a round in the chamber for a negligent discharge if he just cleared it and showed that it was clear?
I guess if he played show-and-tell with the slide locked open, and then inserted a magazine and released the slide, the slide would have obviously loaded a round into the chamber. If he played show-and-tell with the slide in battery and then inserted a magazine, his chamber should have still been empty.
The ttag article I read did not mention ND. Maybe I read it wrong?
I hope his wife is ok. I agree, mine does that. Slide locked back and magazine rammed home will load a round.
I guess even at 80 you can learn something new every day.
This sounds like garden variety carelessness and disregard for the four basic safety rules not necessarily related to age. Years ago, a senior executive for my then employer made the same mistake with his .357 Ruger Blackhawk. He was sitting with his ankles crossed and got both of them with one shot.
i can’t t get why uall think this is irresponsible? shit he cleared the mag safely checked it showed it and returned it to battery. yall a bunch of sissies. if u can carry a gun and can safety show it then why not.
He then reloaded it and pulled the trigger while it was pointed in an unsafe direction.
It’s clear why this is bad.
Parks said the man pulled out .380-caliber Ruger handgun, removed the magazine, cleared the chamber, and showed the gun. He put the magazine back in and returned the gun to its holster.” Not the smartest thing to do in church, or anywhere else for that matter. That said .
where does it say what u describe?
“When someone asked if they could see the gun, he pulled it out saying the gun was not loaded and pulled the trigger.”
IOW, you quit reading before the end. Although, it was written funny.
I think it would be dumb to pull out your gun, clear it, and hand it to anyone you didn’t know. They could be very easily trying to rob you. Robberies don’t always involve sneakiness or force. The smartest criminals take what’s yours while they look you in the eye with a grin on their face.
“The smartest criminals take what’s yours while they look you in the eye with a grin on their face.”
Then they go home and campaign to get re-elected.
The biggest thing I see in articles like this and the comments is over-exaggeration and over reaction over something that occurs very rarely! Negligent discharges/ accidental discharges happen very rarely, and mostly because of poor judgement. Can they be prevented, sure, but NOTHING can be prevented 100% of the time. I spent 22 years in Special Forces, handled thousands of weapons from all over the world, dealing with thousands of foreign and domestic soldiers, and have seen maybe one or two NDs in the last 40 years. Over reaction to NDs is no different than the over reaction to having a loaded gun “laying” around the house. The biggest problem with our society, in relation to guns, is that “we” don’t train our children properly, so when they become adults they are irresponsible around guns, and as adults, guns are a “status symbol” or “novelty” that they want to show off. From day one my children were taught gun safety and use AND we went to the range regularly; I never had a doubt about my children handling weapons. Incidents like mentioned in this article do not need to be over-exaggerated, they just need to be used as a teachable moment! You people are playing right along with the leftist gun hysteria. Why don’t you cringe every time a car drives by? More people are killed/injured by cows or horses then by NDs!
“Cows with guns…”
(Love that song)
let’s be real. not all old men are wise, this is one of those times. some dumbasses do make it to old age, and then shoot themselves apparently LOL
Must have been a FMJ . Thank God, Amen!