California teacher accidentally fires gun in classroom while teaching class on safety.

Courtesy of KSBW: 

A teacher who also serves as a reserve police officer accidentally fired a gun inside a Seaside High School classroom Tuesday, police said, and three students were injured. 

Dennis Alexander was teaching a course about gun safety for his Administration of Justice class when his gun went off at 11 a.m.

Alexander was pointing his gun at the ceiling when it fired. Pieces of the ceiling fell to the ground.

A news release from the Seaside Police Department said no one suffered "serious injuries." One 17-year-old boy suffered moderate injuries when fragments from the bullet ricocheted off the ceiling and lodged into his neck, the student's father, Fermin Gonzales, told KSBW. 

The teacher had just told the class that he wanted to make sure his gun wasn't loaded, when the gun fired, according to Gonzales. 

"It's the craziest thing. It could have been very bad," Gonzales said. 

The teacher was about to use the gun for a demonstration about how to disarm someone, according to Gonzales.

So to be clear a teacher, who is also a police officer, with extensive training in firearms, accidentally fires his weapon in a classroom full of children, injuring one. 

And yet the solution to gun violence in schools is supposed to be MORE armed teachers?

Got it.

There are a number of things about this story that deeply trouble me, but right at the top is the fact that this individual was teaching children that they should attempt to "disarm" a gun man.

I studied martial arts for decades, and the idea of going after a gun wielding assailant was NEVER encouraged.

As one instructor put it, "You are not going to be a help to anybody while bleeding out on the floor."

This teacher was teaching dangerous ideas while also introducing an instrument of death into his classroom.

He should be fired immediately. From BOTH of his jobs.

Ohio gun shop owner shot and killed while teaching a gun safety course.

Courtesy of the Guardian:

Authorities say the owner of an Ohio gun shop who was teaching a concealed carry class was fatally shot in the neck by a student who accidentally fired a weapon. 

The (Cincinnati) Enquirer reported that the shop owner, 64-year-old James Baker, was shot on Saturday while students practiced weapon malfunction drills. 

The Clermont County sheriff’s office said about 10 people were taking the class at the time at KayJay Gun Shop in Monroe Township, about 25 miles south-east of Cincinnati. 

Baker died at the scene. The student who fired the weapon was not immediately identified. 

According to the gun shop’s website, the concealed carry class included basic pistol safety instruction, shooting range sessions and a review of Ohio gun laws.

I will assume that this student failed the course. But hey, at least he survived it.

Sorry to be so flip, but anybody who thinks that owning a gun keeps them safe does not really understand guns.

Guns end lives, they do not protect lives.

If you want to be safe you keep guns as far away from yourself and your family as possible, install some good locks on the doors and windows, if you are really concerned install an alarm system, and then to top it all off get a good dog.

There, now you infinitely safer than you would be with a gun in your house.

Sure it's a lot less macho than waving around a firearm at every bump in the night, but it is a hell of a lot better than going to jail for shooting somebody in a drunken rage or attending the funeral of a loved one who was accidentally killed by your totally inadequate safety measure.

5 year old boy shot and killed by 11 year old child in Alaska. This one hits a little close to home.

Kokhanok, Alaska

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch: 

Alaska State Troopers say another child is believed to have fatally shot a 5-year-old boy in the village of Kokhanok last weekend in what troopers had described as an accident. 

Troopers said in a Monday dispatch that the boy, who was wounded Saturday, "was playing video games in the living room of his residence when another child (age 11) in the residence obtained a firearm and subsequently shot" the boy. 
Medics flew the boy to an Anchorage hospital, where he died Sunday.

The Dispatch says that family members were home at the time, but apparently did not have the presence of mind to keep guns out of the hands of their children. 

You might be surprised to learn that in this case I am not advocating for no guns in the home, as these people living out there in rural Alaska exist largely on a subsistence lifestyle and it is likely that this eleven year old has gone hunting with his family numerous times in order to learn how to survive.

What I am advocating is that since firearms are a necessary way of life, that gun safety should be also be job one for these parents.

Of course it could be that this was an intentional use of a weapon by this eleven year old, and safety was not the issue. In which case this family has a very serious problem on their hands indeed.

California pastor shot by his own gun safety instructor. Well it's a good thing he was trained.

Pastor Tom Smith. Now holier than ever.

Courtesy of CBS News:  

A Modesto pastor is recovering after being shot during a gun safety class, CBS Sacramento reports. 

Tom Smith, a family pastor who also helps with church security, was shot by his own gun safety instructor. 

Modesto Police say they were acting out a scenario when a loaded gun the instructor was holding accidentally went off. They say they gun fired at the end of class after the instructor put a mock gun down and picked up his real loaded gun. 

Police say so far it's unclear if the instructor believed he was using the mock gun he had been using to teach the class.

You know I'm certainly no expert on gun safety instruction but it seems to me that the first rule of gun safety class is to NOT shoot any of your students.

But hey, maybe I'm wrong.

Yep, more guns in more hands is certainly keeping us all safe.

Finally a gun safety gadget that the NRA doesn't hate.

Source

Courtesy of The Daily Beast:  

Two Air Force buddies from Texas are developing a new, safer handgun—one that verifies the shooter’s identity before it can fire. 

And here’s the kicker. The National Rifle Association, which opposes almost all gun-safety measures, is actually okay with the new weapon. 

Technically, Guardian—the launch product of Matt Barido and Skylar Gerrond's Veri-Fire startup, based in San Antonio—isn't a gun. It's an add-on that fits most standard handguns, and locks the trigger until the owner unlocks it with their index finger. 

“We’re looking to prevent unintentional deaths,” Barido, 38, told The Daily Beast. Specifically, children accidentally shooting themselves or others with a weapon they find lying around the house. 

The Centers for Disease Control estimates that, since 2007, an average of 62 children ages 14 and under are accidentally shot and killed every year. But two gun-control groups—Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America—claim the number of kids' gun-deaths is actually closer to 100 a year.

Personally I would like to see fewer guns in the hands of fewer people, but until that happens I think this is a good first step in making guns already in our homes safer.

Anything that reduces the number of accidental shootings, especially of children should be seen as a good thing.

I would also like to see something like this made mandatory, just like seat belts in automobiles, and serious criminal penalties in place for those who refuse to use them.

Your stupid gun stories of the day.

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch:  

Alaska State Troopers say a Nikiski man is dead after shooting himself while playing Russian Roulette Sunday afternoon. 

In an online dispatch, troopers said they were called to a home in Sterling shortly after 4:30 p.m. Sunday where residents told them that 31-year-old John Rutherford had been playing Russian Roulette on the couch there when he fatally shot himself. 

The incident took place in front of Rutherford’s fiancée, troopers said.

The article does not specify that alcohol was involved but this is Alaska, so yeah, alcohol was probably involved. 

And just in case you thought that all this guy needed was some instruction on gun safety, that does not necessarily insure the safe handling of a gun either.

Courtesy of  Florida's 10TV: 

A man accidentally shot himself during a gun safety class at an Orlando pawn shop. Orange County Sheriff's officials did not identify the 23-year-old victim but said the incident happened Saturday at the Instant Replay Pawn Shop and Shooting Range. The Orlando Sentinel reports the bullet grazed his leg.

And hey just in case you thought that the training police received made them more responsible, I beg to differ.

Courtesy of the Columbus Dispatch:  

A Columbus police officer accidentally wounded a 4-year-old girl in Whitehall on Friday when he fired at a charging dog, police said. 

A neighbor and the girl’s uncle identified her as Ava Ellis, who was taken to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, where police said she was in stable condition. 

The officer was at the doorway when a dog charged at him, Alex-Bouzounis said. 

The officer fired once, missing the animal but striking the girl in the right leg. It was unclear whether the girl was hit directly or by a ricochet. The officer has not been identified.

Gee I wonder if the dog was black?

So there you have it, three completely unrelated incidents with individual circumstances, and one common denominator.

But remember what the NRA tells us; guns keep us safe, and more guns keep us safer.

Three year old and one year old left alone in car with loaded gun. I think you know the rest.

Courtesy of WTSP: 

Sarasota County sheriff's deputies are investigating an accidental shooting Friday evening where a 3-year-old reportedly shot their 1-year-old sibling in the face. 

Authorities say the shooting occurred around 4:30 p.m. in a car outside the Sonshine Learning Center on Orange Road in Venice. They said the children were alone in the car at the time and the gun was left inside. 

"The 3-year-old located a handgun that was in the vehicle and discharged a round which resulted in the striking of the 1-year-old," said Sarasota Sheriff's Office Lt. Vince Mayer.

Fortunately it appears that the one year old will survive, but one has to wonder at the psychological effects this will have on the three year old. 


Once again I am sure that this mother believed she was purchasing that gun to protect herself and her family,  just as the NRA propaganda tells us. However as she learned having a gun in the house, or the car, dramatically increases the possibility of a family member being shot, or even killed.

If you guessed this happened in Texas, well you get a demerit point because it's Florida's turn again.

Gun control group opens up fake store to educate people about gun violence. People who make their living from gun violence very unhappy.

This from News Corpse: 

The shock displayed by many of the patrons (video below) speaks to the powerful impact that this information has when people learn about the common tragedies that result from the proliferation of deadly weapons. While most Americans believe that having a gun in the home is effective protection, statistics show that it actually increases the likelihood of a homicide, suicide, or fatal accident. And massacres like Sandy Hook would not be possible without easy access to weapons designed for mass killing of people. 

Predictably, the National Rifle Association was outraged at what they called “a tasteless PR stunt designed to further an anti-gun agenda.” Other gun advocacy groups charged that the store violated New York state laws for possession of handguns. There were even accusations that the store was an unlicensed firearms dealer. At Fox News they portrayed the campaign as an attempt to “sell gun control, guilt potential buyers.” 

Do you know how to tell when a PR stunt is really working? When the target of your campaign comes out this aggressively against you.

I think this did precisely the job it set out to accomplish.

No wonder the NRA is pissed off.

New Iowa law may allow a child of any age to possess a handgun.

Courtesy of Des Moines Register:

Language allowing children of any age to possess a handgun could be added to one of the final bills up for consideration in Iowa's 2014 legislative session. 

State Rep. Clel Baudler, R-Greenfield, has offered an amendment to the so-called "standings" bill striking wording currently in state law that allows only minors 14 years and older to possess and shoot handguns with adult supervision. 

The change would mean a child of any age could, for example, shoot a pistol or revolver at a shooting range so long as they were supervised by a parent or guardian or a shooting instructor with parental consent. 

A standalone bill with similar language was introduced earlier this year, but failed to advance. The standings bill contains several appropriations – including billions of dollars in funding for K-12 schools – but frequently is the target of numerous amendments on unrelated matters in the final days of the sessions as lawmakers are looking to tie up loose ends and adjourn. 

Baudler's amendment is at least partially inspired by the Gibson family of Johnston. Nathan Gibson has been taking his 8- and 10-year-old daughters to the shooting range and on hunting trips for years, but was turned away earlier this month when the gunsmith alerted him and his 8-year-old of the law. 

Iowa Gun Owners, an advocacy group, has highlighted the Gibson family in an effort to get the law changed.

There is NO way that this can seem like a good idea to any reasonable parent. I mean where is the mother?

I don't have a problem with teaching your children to shoot, but just like learning about where babies some from, there is an appropriate age to start that educational process.

Click the link at the top and take a look at the Des Moines Register video. Then tell me if it doesn't make you gasp just a little.

All I could see as a parent while watching it was at least a hundred and one things that could go wrong. If I were the insurance company covering this shooting range I would make it very clear that there were to be no small children on the premises, or it would be cancelled or the premiums would go through the roof. Law or no law.

Man demonstrates gun safety to his girlfriend by putting gun to his head and shooting himself dead. Um, I don't think that's how you do it.

Courtesy of Oakland Press News:

A 36-year-old Independence Township man is dead after he shot himself in the head while demonstrating the gun, deputies reported. 

The Oakland County Medical Examiner has ruled his death a suicide. 

The man’s girlfriend was performing CPR on the victim when deputies from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the residence on Pinedale — off of Sashabaw Road south of Maybee Road - at 9 p.m. on Sunday. 

The girlfriend, who also lived at the Independence Township residence, told deputies the victim had been drinking most of the day. She told authorities that he had begun showing her how to use his three handguns and demonstrating how safe they were when they were empty, which he did by placing the gun to his head and pulling the trigger, officials said. 

After doing this twice, he demonstrated the third handgun and the gun fired, striking him in the head. 

The man was pronounced dead at the scene.

You know I would like to applaud this gun owner. At least he only killed himself.

By the way I don't want to judge his girlfriend too harshly, after all she just lost a loved one, but you would think she might have said something the first time he put a gun to his head, or at the very least the second time, and not just sat there and let him blow his stupid brains all over the walls.

Well at least this guy demonstrated how safe guns are to his girlfriend.

They're not. Especially when pressed against your skull.

Man shoots himself minutes after leaving gun safety class. Did you guess this was in Florida? Good for you.

Courtesy of The Palm Beach Post:

Officers responded to the area of South Congress Avenue and Neptune Drive where a man said he had accidentally shot himself. He was found sitting in the bed of his pickup with a gunshot wound to his right leg. He told police he’d just left a firearms safety class and pulled over to inspect his new Glock 17 handgun. He said he removed the magazine and was manipulating the slide when the gun discharged. He was treated by fire-rescue at the scene, then taken to an area hospital.

Does this mean he earned and F?

I always thought that lesson one in any good firearms class was that you always handle every gun as if it was loaded.

Lesson two should be that you never play with your gun sitting next to a busy street.

This could have been much, much worse if that bullet had struck a passing car or hit a child playing on the street.

This leads me to believe that either the safety class this guy took was woefully inadequate, or he simply is not somebody intelligent enough to be trusted with a firearm. 

Why gun accidents in America are so very, very common.

Courtesy of Dallas News:

Bullets found in "unloaded guns" at The Dallas Gun and Knife Show at Dallas Market Hall in Dallas, Texas on Sunday, January 5, 2014. All guns are checked at the door an ammo found in guns are put in this water jug.

"Don't worry, its' not loaded" may be the most common last words heard by those who are about to die in this country.

The Yin and Yang of gun laws in America. Connecticut introduces strictest gun laws in the nation while city in Georgia mandates everybody own one.

Courtesy of the AP:  

Connecticut lawmakers have announced a deal on what they called some of the toughest gun laws in the country that were proposed after the December mass shooting in the state, including a ban on new high-capacity ammunition magazines like the one in the massacre that left 20 children and six educators dead. 

The proposal also called for background checks for private gun sales and a new registry for existing magazines that carry 10 or more bullets, something of a compromise for parents of Newtown victims who had wanted an outright ban on them, while legislators had proposed grandfathering them into the law. 

The package also creates what lawmakers said is the nation's first statewide dangerous weapon offender registry, immediate universal background checks for all firearms sales and expansion of Connecticut's assault weapons ban. 

A new state-issued eligibility certificate would be needed to purchase any rifle, shotgun or ammunition under the legislation. To get the certificate, a buyer would need to be fingerprinted, take a firearms training course and undergo a national criminal background check and involuntary commitment or voluntary admission check. 

The deal is "the most comprehensive package in the country because of its breadth," said Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, a Fairfield Republican whose district includes Newtown.

Now, you see THAT is how to address the issue of gun violence in this country! Good for Connecticut!

However virtually the same time that Connecticut was leading the way on responsible gun ownership, a little town in Georgia seems adamant to encourage even MORE gun deaths.

This also from the AP: 

Backers of a newly adopted ordinance requiring gun ownership in a small north Georgia town acknowledge they were largely seeking to make a point about gun rights. 

The ordinance in the city of Nelson — population 1,300 — was approved Monday night and goes into effect in 10 days. However, it contains no penalties and exempts anyone who objects, convicted felons and those with certain mental and physical disabilities. 

City Councilman Duane Cronic, who sponsored the measure, said he knows the ordinance won't be enforced but he still believes it will make the town safer. 

Wait they aren't even going to enforce it? So what's the point?

Another purpose, according to the city council's agenda, is "opposition of any future attempt by the federal government to confiscate personal firearms." 

Aha, so essentially it is just a giant middle finger to the Obama administration.What a delightful use of the people's time and resources.

Of course in the meantime there will undoubtedly be residents of this town that will feel encouraged to purchase a weapon, some perhaps for the first time, so I am confident the town can looked forward to more reports of accidental shootings and incidents of domestic violence in the relatively near future.

And of course this attitude goes hand in hand with the recommendations coming today from the NRA's "School Shield Program: "

The National School Shield program would give schools the opportunity to designate certain personnel as licensed and trained firearm carriers. While many schools are deemed gun-free zones, Hutchinson made the case that arming school officials is one of the only ways to make sure teachers can protect their students in time. 

Yes because more guns in a school setting equals more safety for its students. Brilliant logic.

And people wonder why we need to pass comprehensive gun control laws.

During gun-safety class, which included children, man stands up and demonstrates just how deadly guns can be.

Oh, and don't shoot yourself in the head.

Courtesy of Komo News:

A 50-year-old man shot and killed himself during a gun-safety class at a Bellevue gun range. 

Brian J. Parry is believed to have shot himself in the head with a pistol Sunday during a class at West Coat Armory, a gun range and dealer with outlets in Bellevue and Issaquah. 

Bellevue police spokeswoman Carla Iafrate confirmed that police are investigating the shooting but refused to release details. 

She said the investigation into Parry’s death is ongoing. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office earlier this week ruled Parry’s death a suicide. He died of a contact gunshot wound to the head. 

In an email, a man describing himself as a witness to the shooting said the dead man – identified by the Medical Examiner’s Office as Parry – stood in front of more than a dozen people participating in the class and ended his life. 

Several children saw the shooting, which occurred at West Coast Armory’s indoor range at 13216 S.E. 32nd St. in Bellevue.

Not to be too flip but I have to assume that this would count as a failure to pass the class.

Nothing at all funny about a room full of children having to witness this however.

I think it is just lucky for all concerned that he chose to end his own life and not turn it on the others in the class with him.

What am I saying? With so many "good guys" with guns in the room how could this one person possibly pose a danger?

School resource officer's gun disharges in high school hallway. One can only imagine how much more often this will happen once we arm our teachers. Update!

School safety officer patrolling the hallways.

Courtesy of Poughkeepsie Journal:

A Town of Lloyd police officer is on unpaid suspension as police investigate an incident at Highland High School in which his pistol went off. 

Officer Sean McCutcheon, a school resource officer for Highland Central School District, “accidentally discharged” his gun in the hallway of the high school at 1:38 p.m. Tuesday, the school district and police said. 

No information has been released about how the gun went off, and the investigation by the Town of Lloyd Police Department into the incident is continuing, Lt. James Janso said. 

“He’s suspended pending the investigation,” Janso said. He added the suspension is standard protocol for an investigation like this. 

The officer’s weapon, a Glock .45-caliber pistol, was taken as evidence.

The idea of more guns in school classrooms keeping our children safer is mathematically ridiculous. The more guns you have, the more gun accidents you have.

The more gun accidents you have, the more gun injuries and fatalities you have. 

It does not take a genius to figure that out, but since it does require somebody with a working brain I guess it is jsut a little too much for some R3epublicna lawmakers, and the NRA.

Update: It looks like this incident has caused the New York town to question the wisdom of putting armed guards in their schools:

A New York town that began assigning an armed police officer to guard a high school in the wake of the Connecticut massacre has suspended the program after an officer accidentally discharged his pistol in a hallway while classes were in session.

Hopefully people will start to think logically and not allow themselves to react impulsively to the emotion they felt after the Newtown shootings.

More guns in the schools, more gun injuries in the schools. Simple math.

Possibly the quickest turnaround from pride in your new gun to regret that you bought it ever recorded.

Five hours.

Five hours from "Look I have a gun" to "Damn I shot myself."

Oregon man with open carry permit keeps bathroom safe by shooting himself in the leg.

Bringing cold steel sexy back.

Courtesy of The Register Guard:

A 26-year-old man accidentally shot himself in the thigh when his pistol went off as he used the restroom on the second floor of an Internet cafe in downtown Eugene on Thursday afternoon. 

The man, a Eugene area resident whose name was not released by police, was taken by ambulance to a hospital. His injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. 

The man was openly carrying his gun in a holster on his leg, which is legal, a police spokeswoman said. 

Witnesses said five people were inside Indras Internet Lounge at 271 W. Eighth Ave. when the man shot himself just before 3 p.m. 

James Sherburne, a manager at the business, said the man was in a bathroom when the gun went off. 

“He drug himself out of the bathroom and we helped him tie a tourniquet around his leg,” Sherburne said. “He got lucky, I think.”

Just imagine how safe everybody felt seeing this guy walk into the internet cafe with a big gun strapped to his leg. And then how much safer they felt knowing that he was so proficient with the weapon that he was able to block an accidentally shot bullet with his own body.

The man's a hero! And SO manly, don'tcha think?

Considering what he was doing when the gun went off, it certainly could have been worse.