Man fires gun at Utah Gun Show

[Erno86]

"Man fires gun at a Sandy, Utah gun show --- Sept. 25,2016 --- injuring two teens.

http://ksl.com/?sid=41616508&nid=148&title=man-fires-gun-at-sandy-gun-show-injuring-two-teens

Putting myself in his shoes...at the gun show: I would have opened the bolt slightly to show "clear" {empty chamber}{but not far enough to feed another round}, then remove the magazine to show "clear" --- Performing the operation twice in succession, and not dry fire the gun while pointed at the floor, but at a unoccupied ceiling fixture.

 

[DC-W]

Negligence, but at least the firearm was not pointed towards a person.

 

[HawaiiMark]

The seller was completely negligent. When handing a gun over to a potential customer, you have no idea if they know how to properly handle and check if the gun is unloaded. I am sure that they broke the rules for the gun show too.

 

[Nosce Hostem]

The seller had all of his weapons zip tied and the potential buyer asked him to cut the zip tie so he could further examine the gun.

"He manipulated the slide, not realizing there was a magazine in the gun.

First question is why would the seller have a loaded magazine inside a zip-tied weapon for sale. Like stated above, seems like it would be against the shows rules. Second is how did the buyer not notice this before cambering a round and firing off.

This is why we can't have nice things.

 

[davsco]

seller prolly zip tied it without checking that magwell and chamber were empty.
gunshow folks prolly saw zip tie and didn't investigate further.
same for buyer but really complete idiot to pull the trigger without chamber checking, especially since they apparently popped out a loaded mag.
all these redundant opportunities to make the gun safe, and all fails.

fortunately the guy didn't have it pointed directly at a human when pulling the trigger. sounds like that could have just been dumb luck though considering the other failures.

 

[Doctor_M]

First question is why would the seller have a loaded magazine inside a zip-tied weapon for sale. Like stated above, seems like it would be against the shows rules. Second is how did the buyer not notice this before cambering a round and firing off.

This is why we can't have nice things.

This.... the Seller is at fault in my view. The buyer incompletely followed gun safety protocol, but at least he didn't violate 2 rules (usually required for someone to get hurt).... but who the heck brings a loaded gun for sale to a show.

 

[traveller]

So we finally found the 'gun show loophole'.

 

[Biggfoot44]

Displaying a gun with loaded magazine ?

 

[Boom Boom]

Reminds me. A few years ago, I was at a PA show where a dealer handed a novice-looking guy a loaded handgun. The dealer told him it was loaded. The guy immediately put his finger on the trigger with the gun pointed into the dealer's booth. I yelled the gun is loaded and take your finger off the trigger. As I yelled, the dealer frantically reached for the guys arm and aimed the guy's hand and the gun towards the ceiling. Thankfully, the guy didn't fire. Total stupidity displayed by both parties.

 

[Oddway Otts]

We know to check every gun we handle, including front loaders. Last year or so, my son bought a used percussion rifle at the end of a small Pa. gun show. Before putting it in the trunk, he dropped the ramrod down the barrel and got the "thunk" of a loaded rifle rather than the ping and bounce of an empty bore. Later he pulled the ball and dumped a full powder charge. Now, we bounce the ram rod, especially on a used muzzle loader.

 

[Erno86]

We know to check every gun we handle, including front loaders. Last year or so, my son bought a used percussion rifle at the end of a small Pa. gun show. Before putting it in the trunk, he dropped the ramrod down the barrel and got the "thunk" of a loaded rifle rather than the ping and bounce of an empty bore. Later he pulled the ball and dumped a full powder charge. Now, we bounce the ram rod, especially on a used muzzle loader.

Thanks for the tip.

 

[trickg]

Gotta love the media - this headline says that it injured two:

http://www.good4utah.com/news/top-stories/accidental-shooting-at-gun-show-injuries-two

Basically, they got hit by some concrete or bullet fragments. Hell, that's happened to me before. I was shooting steel disks one day at the 7 meter line and had a small fragment come back and actually stick in my cheek, drawing a teeny bit of blood when I pulled it out. I wouldn't exactly categorize that as being "injured" though.

 

[Rick3bears]

Gotta love the media - this headline says that it injured two:

http://www.good4utah.com/news/top-stories/accidental-shooting-at-gun-show-injuries-two

Basically, they got hit by some concrete or bullet fragments. Hell, that's happened to me before. I was shooting steel disks one day at the 7 meter line and had a small fragment come back and actually stick in my cheek, drawing a teeny bit of blood when I pulled it out. I wouldn't exactly categorize that as being "injured" though.

It makes the case for safety glasses though, don't it.

 

[tkd4life]

Gotta love the media - this headline says that it injured two:

http://www.good4utah.com/news/top-stories/accidental-shooting-at-gun-show-injuries-two

Basically, they got hit by some concrete or bullet fragments. Hell, that's happened to me before. I was shooting steel disks one day at the 7 meter line and had a small fragment come back and actually stick in my cheek, drawing a teeny bit of blood when I pulled it out. I wouldn't exactly categorize that as being "injured" though.

I'm sure if that little fragment ended up in your cheek through the negligence of someone else, there are plenty of lawyers out there who could make the case that you were "injured". I'm not saying that the two injured are going to sue, but if they did I'm guessing that they would have a case.

 

[Biggfoot44]

Or at least the case for pants and shoes.

 

[trickg]

It makes the case for safety glasses though, don't it.

Oh absolutely. One of the things that always stuck with me was once when I was a kid, we were out shooting and I'd grabbed one of two Marlin 39As that we had. The reason we had two was because one had been used until it was just plain worn out, so Dad replaced it with another. I grabbed the worn out one by accident - at that point, I didn't know there was a difference between them, and they were sitting side-by-side in the rack. When we were out shooting, one of the .22 cases blew out at the back spraying powder into my Dad's face, but he had his sunglasses on, so it protected his eye. You just never know when something will go a bit off.

I'm sure if that little fragment ended up in your cheek through the negligence of someone else, there are plenty of lawyers out there who could make the case that you were "injured". I'm not saying that the two injured are going to sue, but if they did I'm guessing that they would have a case.

Yeah, I suppose it could be made into a case, but people out west are often a bit more pragmatic about it, and don't get sue-happy at the drop of a hat.

 

[Erno86]

When the shooter racked the slide of the Colt 1911...he should known that a live round was in the chamber, when he saw that the magazine was still inserted --- Unless the slide stop was modified to have the slide not lock back on a inserted empty magazine.

 

[gamer_jim]

He did not: look, feel look.

 

[3paul10]

I find it simply unbelievable...although I can see it happening the way some people are careless with guns, that a dealer would have any kind of gun loaded at a gun show. These are the people the give all other gun owners a black eye...

 

[trickg]

I find it simply unbelievable...although I can see it happening the way some people are careless with guns, that a dealer would have any kind of gun loaded at a gun show. These are the people the give all other gun owners a black eye...

I think that what we're seeing here is normal odds being played out. With the millions of gun owners in this country, there's always an odds-on chance that there will be some idiots in the mix who do dumb stuff. It's like anything else. How often do we see someone doing something totally dumb and irresponsible with an automobile? The difference of course being in how the media chooses to handle it.