Gun Fail

Sat Apr 27, 2013 at 11:53 AM PDT
GunFAIL XV

by David Waldman

This week's compilation includes: three police-involved accidents, two of which occurred during gun training classes; three "home invasion shootings"( i.e., when one Patriot elects to share a Liberty Projectile with a neighbor, via a Freedom Wall, Window, Floor or Ceiling); five accidents while cleaning loaded guns; three hunting accidents; one concealed carry ninja who shot himself taking his gun out of his pocket, and one who was shot by a child reaching into his pocket. And speaking of the kids, there were nine victims of GunFAIL this week, aged 10 months, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11 and 14. You may have noticed that that's not nine ages. It was a particularly rough week for the 10-year-olds, of which we lost two, and saw one wounded.

Stories of particular note this week include that of the second Carolinian to leave a gun behind in a New York hotel this month; a tee-ball rage shooting; the opening of turkey hunting season (resulting in the shooting of two turkey hunters and an undetermined number of turkeys), and; a potential Idiot Hall of Fame entry involving the Florida man (of course) who tried to convert his BB gun to .40-caliber using nothing but household tape and American Exceptionalism. Why have a firing chamber? Why have a barrel? Let's cut out the middle man! Sure, it sounds stupid and you'll end up wounding yourself, but let's face it, put a suit on that guy and let his stupid idea cost jobs instead of bandages, and he'd be in line for a fat bonus.

Now, without further ado, the week's dishonor roll, below the fold.

1.     WACO, TX, 3/18/13: Police responding to a domestic disturbance call found a man struggling to restrain his grandson, who was agitated and holding an AR-15. The cops shot grandpa. But that would totally never happen in a crowded theater.
2.     GROSSE POINTE PARK, MI, 4/06/13: Grosse Pointe Park police arrested a 20-year-old Detroit man April 6 after he accidentally shot a 9mm handgun into the floor of a home in the 1000 block of Beaconsfield. The man was trying to make the gun safe when it discharged.
3.     OTTAWA, KS, 4/13/13: No one was injured when a “negligent” rifle shot rang out Saturday night inside a residence in the 1600 block of South Cedar Street in Ottawa. Dylan Spencer, 22, Ottawa, was arrested by Ottawa police about 7 PM on suspicion of unlawfully discharging an AR-15 rifle in his apartment, according to a police report. The bullet exited his apartment, passed through both walls of an occupied apartment and lodged into a utility pole. But of course, Dylan didn't think the gun was loaded. So it's cool.
4.     KLAMATH FALLS, OR, 4/13/13: An investigation into the shooting death of Lee Roy Myers, 47, has been ruled accidental. The Klamath County Major Crimes Team was called to investigate a shooting on Saturday, April 13. An autopsy concluded the cause of death was an accidental, self-inflicted handgun wound.
5.     SOUTHAMPTON, NY, 4/13/13: The report states that the detective visited the home and interviewed the man, who legally owned the Ruger 10/22 rifle. The man said he was cleaning the rifle when it accidentally discharged into his big toe. When the rifle was pointed in a downward angle, inertia caused the firing pin to strike the primer, which caused the rifle to fire, according to the incident report. The detective advised the man on safety techniques while cleaning his rifle. (Step one: unload it.)
6.     CONROE, TX, 4/14/13: Conroe police officers arrested a 33-year-old man after his 3-year-old son fired a 9mm handgun in their apartment April 14 at the Carriage Woods Apartments, located at 1515 Wilson Road. The bullet lodged in the ceiling of the apartment, and the child suffered a minor injury on his face from the gun’s recoil.
7.     ALEXANDRIA, VA, 4/15/13: Alexandria police report that a man staying in a hotel room in the city’s West End accidentally discharged a firearm. The incident occurred at 11:55 PM April 15 in the 5000 block of Seminary Road. The only hotel in the area is the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center Hotel. The firearm was legal, according to police reports. No injuries were reported.
8.     NEW YORK, NY, 4/15/13: A North Carolina man visiting the Sept. 11 memorial and discovering that firearms were not permitted, hastily stashed his gun (legally owned, though not permitted for New York) in the cushions of a seat in the lobby of a World Trade Center-area hotel. And left it there. The timing wasn't great, either. Apparently, it happened just minutes before the Boston Marathon bombing, so when it was found shortly thereafter, it set off a full-blown security panic. Returning later and finding the gun missing, he did not report it to police. Seems he thought "whoever found it, they would contact him and want a reward,” a relative told police. How they'd find him remains a mystery, but we'll count that as one vote in favor of a national registry of firearms owners. One other note: this is the second Carolinian to leave a gun behind in a New York hotel this month.
9.     NASHVILLE, TN, 4/15/13: Christ Presbyterian Academy student Coleman Spann was arrested and charged with possessing firearms on school property Monday. According to a police affidavit, a witness received a report of Spann having alcohol in a cooler in his vehicle. Spann consented to a search of his vehicle, during which an unloaded shotgun, an unloaded AR-15 rifle and several boxes of shotgun ammunition were discovered, according to the affidavit. Spann, 18, was arrested around 4:25 PM on Monday and charged with carrying a weapon on school property with the intent to go armed. He was released after posting a $3,000 bond.
10.     BOGART, GA, 4/16/13:A 36-year-old Oconee County man was treated at St. Mary's Hospital last Tuesday evening, April 16, after apparently accidentally shooting himself in the leg. The man told the deputy who had responded to the hospital around 7:30 PM that as he was removing a .22 revolver from the front pocket of his pants to place on a shelf in the living room of his home, the weapon discharged once.  The man was struck in the left leg below the calf muscle, according to the deputy's report.  The path of the bullet was visible, just under the skin, the deputy wrote, and the bullet lodged in the shin bone.
11.     NORMAN, OK, 4/16/13: A man attempting to "make his gun safe" inside his vehicle instead "made it shoot him through the thigh."
12.     MONROE, LA, 4/17/13: Investigators with Monroe police said a Wednesday afternoon shooting near the campus of the University of Louisiana at Monroe was accidental. “When our patrol officers arrived, they found a 16-year-old victim on the scene who had been shot in the (right) leg,” Brown said. He said the victim was taken to an area hospital where she was listed in stable condition. Brown said officers also arrested a 16-year-old male who was believed to be responsible.
13.     VALLEJO, CA, 4/17/13: Tee-Ball rage! The North Vallejo Little League season has been canceled indefinitely after shots were fired at a game this week. The sounds of baseball were silenced after a parent fired shots into the vehicle of a parent from the opposing team on Wednesday.
14.     WATKINSVILLE, GA, 4/19/13: Oconee County's (pop. 33,366) second negligent shooting in three days. A 25-year-old Watkinsville man shot himself in the hand when he tried to disassemble a pistol with a live round, deputies said. Both incidents were investigated by Oconee deputies, who determined no foul play was involved in either case, Sheriff Scott Berry said Monday. Both men simply were careless in their handling of loaded weapons, said Berry, who called the shootings “negligent discharges.” The Watkinsville man told deputies he had cleaned his Glock pistol, reassembled it, loaded a magazine, and chambered a live round, when his friend asked to look at the barrel. The man “placed his left hand over the end of the barrel of the hand gun, squeezed the trigger which is required for disassembly, and the live round went off,” according to a deputy’s report, striking the man in the left hand.
15.     POMPANO BEACH, FL, 4/19/13: A man who police said accidentally shot and killed his friend in Pompano Beach, faced a judge Thursday. Twenty-year-old Adiel Jaramillo was charged with one count of manslaughter. Investigators said he was drunk and waving his gun around at the victim's apartment, located along Southwest Fourth Avenue and Second place last Friday. Police said that's when he accidentally fired the weapon, killing 19-year-old Michael Cornelio.
16.     MYAKKA CITY, FL, 4/20/13: Floyd K. Oney II was invited by Jason C. Durrance to go hunting at his property at 37550 Clay Gully Road. Oney had a single action .45 revolver in a belt holster, slung over his shoulder. Shortly before 7 PM, the men had trouble starting the Kawasaki Mule they were intending to use, and when they raised the seat and leaned over the vehicle, the revolver fell from Oney's holster and discharged when it hit the ground, deputies said. The round entered and exited through the left side of Oney's abdomen.
17.     GREENVILLE, SC, 4/20,13: A 2-year-old boy reached into his father's pocket and fired a handgun, hitting himself in the chest.
18.     DONALD, OR, 4/20/13: The Marion County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of a four-year-old boy who died of a gunshot wound. Authorities were dispatched at 5:30 PM to the 10000 block of Main Street N.E. in Donald, said Don Thomson, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office. The Marion County district attorney, medical examiner and a chaplain are at the scene, Thomson said. Furthers details have not been released.
19.     CORPUS CHRISTI, TX, 4/20/13: An awesome dude showing off his gun to friends after a night at a strip club accidentally shot himself in the head.
20.     WHITESBORO, TX, 4/20/13: An accidental shooting near a Whitesboro area gun class sends a fisherman to the hospital. Grayson County deputies say a Sadler man in his 20's was hit in the thigh with a nine-millimeter round. He was fishing about 100 yards away from a gun class at the Whitesboro Rodeo Grounds around 2 PM on Saturday, Sheriff's Office Lt. Rickey Wheeler said. Deputies say the CHL class teacher is not state-certified and there was no berm or backstop to absorb the bullets. The bullet went through the man's body, missing his heart by a few inches. Instructor Ramsey tells News 12 he received certification from a 2-day NRA program back in March and has been teaching classes in Bridgeport and Whitesboro, but Lt. Wheeler says CHL instructors in Texas have to be certified by the state.
21.     ASHBURN, VA, 4/20/13: A 33-year-old Leesburg man suffered non life-threatening injuries April 20 after his firearm accidentally discharged while he was trying to store it. The incident occurred about noon in the 43600 block of Greenway Corporate Drive in Ashburn.
22.     GARDNERVILLE, NV, 4/20/13: During a domestic disturbance, a woman's brother drew his gun to protect himself and his sister from her husband. In the ensuing fight, though, he ended up gut-shooting his sister. Guns make us safer ... until they don't! Still, I'm sure it's the thought that counts.
23.     LIVERMORE, KY, 4/20/13: The McLean County Sheriff's Department says a Owensboro man who was killed in Livermore Saturday morning died of what investigators believe was a self-inflicted accidental shooting. Micah Lee Griffith, 21, of Owensboro died of a gunshot wound to the head. A sheriff's department press release says deputies were called to a Livermore home at 4:50 AM Saturday. Witnesses told deputies Griffith was playing with a handgun when he put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger, the press release says.
24.     WILMINGTON, NC, 4/21/13: Look with your eyes, not with your thighs! Two friends were "looking at" a gun, when one of them forcefully thrust his upper leg into the path of a Liberty Projectile that was exercising its Constitutional right to fly at the speed of Freedom.
25.     LAKE HILL, NY, 4/21/13: A man who accidentally shot himself in the left hand Sunday afternoon was airlifted to Albany Medical Center for treatment of the injury, according to Woodstock town police. Police Sgt. Greg Vandebogart said the man, whom he declined to identify, shot himself with a shotgun around 1 PM Sunday. He said the man was in stable condition. “It absolutely was an accident,” Vandebogart said. He would not describe how the shooting occurred. [Cough!]Cleaning![Cough!]
26.     ANNISTON, AL, 4/21/13: Look with your eyes, not with your ... calf. Hmm. Anniston police Sgt. Chris Sparks said the 21-year-old man was in a car on the 3000 block of Gurnee Avenue Sunday at 1:30 PM looking at a handgun. While the man was sitting in the car, the gun accidentally went off and shot him in the calf, Sparks said.
27.     MIAMI, FL, 4/21/13: A woman on her way to the shooting range was accidentally shot in the face.
28.     BROWN CO., TX, 4/21/13: Another Patriot has shared a Liberty Projectile with a neighbor, and is greeted as a liberator! According to the report, the reporting party stated that he had just installed a new scope on his rifle and was looking out the window from his bedroom when he accidentally fired the weapon toward a neighbor’s residence. The owner/victim of the damaged residence advised his home was hit by the projectile but declined to press charges and made an agreement with the calling party regarding the repair of the residence, the report states.
29.     CARTERSVILLE, GA, 4/21/13: On Sunday at 9 PM, a Bartow County Sheriff’s Office deputy was dispatched to Cartersville Medical Center to investigate an accidental discharge of a firearm. On arrival, the officer learned that the victim was a nurse at the medical center. The victim said he was cleaning his .38 caliber Derringer before going outside to shoot the gun. The victim said he failed to secure the bottom of the pistol causing the barrel to flip up when the pistol was fired. The bullet struck the victim in the middle finger of his left hand and exited through the palm. No charges were filed.
30.     SPARKMAN, AR, 4/21/13: Responsible Gun OwnerTM shoots a hunting buddy in the leg trying to pull a .40 caliber handgun out from between two seats in the truck. Sure, he'd been drinking, but it's not actually against the law to be drunk and play with your guns in Arkansas, which is why it would have been awesome for Arkansans to help out up in Boston last week with their AR-15s. Anyhoo, the buddy who got shot in the leg died, which I'm sure didn't happen because people were too drunk to remember to put a tourniquet on him. Plus, the prosecutor, "says he's convinced the death was accidental." Good enough for Arkansas.
31.     KANSAS CITY, MO, 4/21/13: Davis, Montee and several others were at a town home in the 11500 block of Food Lane when Montee was accidentally shot by a younger boy. They dragged his body to the basement so the mother at the home would not see it. They put a comforter over Montee’s body while they cleaned up the blood. Update: Prosecutors say Montee's 12-year-old brother did the shooting.
32.     JEWETT, OH, 4/22/13: I don't know if it's fair to say that turkeys won the opening day of Ohio's turkey season. But hunters didn't.
33.     POTEAU, OK, 4/22/13: Poteau Police Department are on the scene of what is believed to be an accidental shooting. One male victim has been transported by helicopter to a Tulsa Hospital with a single gunshot wound to the chest.
34.     WILMINGTON, DE, 4/22/13: An 11-year-old Wilmington, Del. boy accidentally shot his 7-year-old brother Monday night, according to a preliminary investigation by Wilmington Police. The 7-year-old boy is recovering after being shot in the hand around 10 PM along the 200 block of Delamore Place. According to police the 11-year-old found a gun inside the home and unknowingly fired it, striking his brother in the hand.
35.     SOMERSET, KY, 4/22/13: Police said an 11-year-old southern Kentucky boy has been charged after he told his teacher he accidentally brought a loaded gun to school. The Commonwealth Journal reported that police decided to charge the child even though they think he had no intent to harm anyone. Police said the boy told a teacher at Southern Elementary School in Somerset that he had the gun in his pants pocket soon after he arrived at school on Monday morning. Police said the boy and his father said they had been sport shooting on Sunday, and the boy apparently left the gun in his pants and wore them to school the next day.
36.     MIDDLETON, ID, 4/22/13: I'm sure the parents here figured the kids didn't even know there was a gun in the car. Therefore, safe. Right? Canyon County sheriff’s deputies are investigating an apparent accidental shooting that injured a 10-month-old child in rural Canyon County Monday afternoon. The child was shot in the cheek, apparently by a 3-year-old child who found a loaded handgun in a vehicle where both children had been placed, investigators said. Investigators say two children were temporarily left unattended in a vehicle at the family residence, and the 3-year-old found the gun and unintentionally fired it. The infant’s mother heard the shot, rushed to the car and called 9-1-1 for help.
37.     VICKSBURG, MS, 4/22/13: A 10-year-old boy remained in critical condition this morning in what officials are saying today they believe was an accidental shooting, and the pistol believed to have fired the bullet has been recovered from a bayou near his home. Jerald Tucker Jr., 10, suffered a single gunshot wound to the head at about 9:40 PM Monday at 2934 Park St., Vicksburg police Capt. Bobby Stewart said. Update: He didn't make it.
38.     COOS CO., OR, 4/22/13: April 22, 9:20 PM, man accidentally shot himself in the foot, 94700 block of Gunnell Lane.
39.     MISSION, TX, 4/22/13: Authorities have ruled an incident where a Mission woman got shot in the stomach as “accidental.” The woman told police that she was shot as she walked home for a convenience store. Mission told Action 4 News that officers did not find a blood trail on the street where she said the shooting happened. Officers searched the woman's home where they reported finding the bullet that went through the woman’s abdomen. The woman confessed to police this morning that she lied to police because she was afraid her children would be taken from the home. This is not the first time police visited the home which is located at the 100 block of Templo Dorado Drive on the city's southwest side of Mission. Police responded two separate times in the past year for home invasions, the second time the woman was found tied up. The woman told police she bought a gun and got a concealed hand gun to protect herself. But now that she accidentally shot herself, police said the woman doesn’t plan to carry a gun anymore.
40.     SALINA, KS, 4/22/13: According to Lt. Scott Siemsen, a 38-year-old man was treated at Salina Regional Health Center for a gunshot wound to his leg. Police say the man was carrying an armload of guns when he dropped a Colt .45 revolver on the ground. The handgun discharged and the bullet traveled through the man's lower right leg, then through a screen window of a home and was found lying on the floor.
41.     MICHIGAN CITY, IN, 4/22/13: Another Patriot has generously shared a Liberty Projectile with a neighbor, in an act I'm now inclined to begin labeling as "home invasion shooting." Now, it was the original intent of the Responsible Gun OwnerTM to Freedom a muskrat to death for the crime of swimming in his pond. But he missed (because of Obama), and the honor of hosting his Liberty Projectile was instead bestowed upon his neighbor's kitchen wall.
42.     MECHANICSVILLE, VA, 4/23/13: Hanover police say two people were injured when a gun accidentally went off inside a car. The gun fired just before midnight Tuesday on Old Church Road in Mechanicsville. Hanover Police confirm one person was shot in the hand and another in the arm.
43.     MEHLVILLE, MO, 4/24/13: According to the victim's sister-in-law, the father had a gun out he recently added a new piece to. The victim’s 18-year-old son picked up the weapon to clean it when it allegedly went off, hitting his mother in the leg. The sister-in-law of the victim said they are a big gun family.
44.     WAYNE CO., MI, 4/24/13: The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an employee who accidentally fired an errant gunshot during a training session Wednesday. “There was an incident where a gun discharged during a training session environment,” said sheriff’s spokeswoman Paula Bridges. She wouldn’t identify the employee, but said the shot didn’t strike anyone or cause any property damage.
45.     CONSHOHOCKEN, PA, 4/25/13: Authorities are investigating what appears to be an accidental shooting at the Montgomery County Public Safety Training campus in Conshohocken. According to authorities, an officer with the Norristown Police Department was training at the facility when he accidentally shot himself in the leg.
46.     GAINESVILLE, FL, 4/25/13: So, let's say you're a convicted felon who's prohibited by law from having a gun, but you've also got a compelling need to shoot a squirrel. What do you do? Well, you could get a BB gun, right? And so this fellow did. But what if you also have some compelling need to shoot that squirrel with .40-caliber ammunition? What do you do then? Well, how about taping a .40-cal. cartridge to the gun, and striking the primer with the BB pellet? Won't that work? Sure it will! If you don't mind having the cartridge explode, fragment, and hit you with the shrapnel, that is! Oh, and we probably should have mentioned that it's also illegal for you to have the ammunition. That might've helped short circuit this whole idiotic episode. But then again, criminals don't follow laws (except for the one about the gun, which he did, but forget about that), so screw it.
47.     MARENGO, OH, 4/25/13: Sheriff’s deputies say a 10-year-old central Ohio boy died when he was accidentally shot while he and other children were playing with a shotgun. The Morrow County Sheriff’s Office said Dalton Wayne Taylor was shot in the chest in his family’s garage at about 6 PM Thursday near Marengo, about 40 miles north of Columbus. The sheriff’s office said it is unclear who fired the gun and how, but Dalton apparently did not shoot himself. The gun was left in the garage with other hunting gear. Deputies didn’t know if it was unloaded prior to the children finding it or if the juveniles loaded it. The boy’s father was home at the time but was in the backyard, the sheriff’s office said.
48.     STEUBENVILLE, OH, 4/25/13: Yes, that Steubenville. Another guy who initially told the cops he was attacked and shot ends up admitting he was playing with a gun and shot his own damn self.
49.     COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, 4/25/13: Everybody sing! "Three people drinking in an apartment! Three people drinking! If one of those people should happen to decide to clean a loaded gun, three people drinking in an apartment, minus one!" Actually, the guy lived. So that's good.
50.     BOONE, NC, 4/26/13: A 10-year-old was seriously injured after he was apparently the victim of an accidental shooting late Friday afternoon.
51.     STONY POINT, NY, 4/26/13: A man was en route to the hospital with what officials said was a gunshot wound to the arm after accidentally shooting himself.

Originally posted to David Waldman on Sat Apr 27, 2013 at 11:53 AM PDT.

More Gun Fails

Fri Mar 29, 2013 at 11:33 AM PDT
GunFAIL XI

by David WaldmanFollow


This week's GunFAIL compilation is illustrated by video of one of the incidents listed below. It's cell phone video captured by a witness to a road rage incident in which the man seen approaching the pick-up truck and punching the driver allegedly followed the vehicle he claimed cut him off and "tried to run him off the road" for 25 miles over 40 minutes, to the driver's home, according to various reports.

[Note - I published this video several days ago and won't re-post it here.]

This crystallizes so many of the issues surrounding gun ownership, including some of those posited in this post in The Guardian's science blog. It's just surmise, but I'm betting this incident doesn't go down exactly the same way without ready access to the back-up of the gun. Though it certainly could be the case that this guy will just always think he can fight like a teenager. But let me also point out that if the kids had really been thugs, they had every opportunity to punch the Mrs. in the face and just snatch that gun away for themselves. Stupid play, all around, from Responsible Gun Family.

Also among our compilation, the story of the Utah gun safety instructor who had his AR-15 stolen. Of course, everyone knows that you can adequately secure an assault rifle by putting a blanket over it, in the back seat of your car. Because lockers are tyranny!

One other note worth mentioning is the discovery of a new category of GunFAIL: "forgetting" all about your gun until the metal detector or x-ray machine at the airport or courthouse reminds you that you were carrying that thing which you had said the day before could only be taken from your cold, dead hands. Seems about four of us each day, or about 1,500 per year, are FAIL-ing in this manner. I might have to put these in a separate report, as it's possible they'll pretty quickly consume this one, if enough such incidents make the news.

Aside from those notes, this week's compilation is pretty routine. Four people who shared their Liberty Projectiles with neighbors or those on the other side of walls, six FAILs involving cops or security guards, four FAILs surrounding fistfights and/or arguments gone bad, four people who forgot entirely that they had guns at all, one "intruder" who turned out to be a family member, four who were cleaning loaded weapons, four concealed carriers who shot themselves, and two who lied to the cops and claimed someone else shot them. Nine of these incidents involved minors.

Below the fold, this week's dishonor roll.

    LEALMAN, FL, 2/12/13: Not sure how I missed this one. A Bay Area church congregation is rallying together in prayer for their pastor's daughter. The young woman was accidentally shot. According to officials with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, church member Moises Zambrana was showing a 9mm handgun to two young men in a closet near the recreational area. Detectives say one of the men, who is Kelley's boyfriend, was interested in getting a gun. While Zambrana was showing him the safety features, authorities say the gun went off. The bullet went through the wall, and hit Kelley in the head. According to authorities, Zambrana did take out the magazine clip, but a bullet was still in the chamber. She died on Feb. 18.
    CHICO, CA, 3/01/13: The father-in-law and Cox came head-to-head in their vehicles and got out, he said. The father-in-law, who had a gun, states he inadvertently fired one round at the ground. Everyone became startled and they decided to calm down and talk things out. That sounds like a good idea! Except that the "talking" apparently involved hitting the father-in-law over the head with a pipe.
    BROOKLYN, NY, 3/09/13: Off-duty NYPD officer, thrown out of a bar for fighting, gets a gun out of his car and tries to return to the bar. He then points the gun at the others involved in the fight, fires into the air, then attempts to hide the gun with his girlfriend, also a cop, and flees the scene, leaving both the girlfriend and the gun behind.
    WAXAHACHIE, TX, 3/14/13: While "playing with" a gun belonging to one Andrew Riley Kindred, 21, at a party, 22-year-old Aaron Michael Garcia was shot and killed.
    EAGAN, MN, 3/17/13: Police responded to a weapons call on the 3300 block of Yankee Doodle Lane. The caller told police he accidentally fired his handgun inside the apartment while he was cleaning the weapon. Police arrived and asked the man to step into the hallway with his hands up. Upon investigation, police learned the bullet from the gun went through three walls and a headboard into an adjoining apartment. And all on Yankee Doodle Lane!
    MT. VERNON, NY, 3/18/13: A probationary police officer is under investigation after he lost an off-duty handgun left in the Police Department locker room, Mount Vernon interim police Commissioner Richard Burke said Wednesday. Police Officer John Damaiano lost his 9mm handgun in the locker room around March 18, Burke said. It’s not known if Damaiano left the gun in a locker or on a bench. The weapon has not been found.
    DENTON, TX, 3/20/13: Awesome hardass dude fights another awesome hardass dude. Awesome hardass dude number one pulls a gun. A tussle ensues. Awesome hardass dude number one's gun goes off, shooting his girlfriend in the face and killing her. Awesome. Hardass.
    ATLANTA, GA, 3/20/13: Man arrested trying to bring a gun into the Fulton County Courthouse says he forgot he had it. Yvan Maxy was arrested after a search of his bag revealed a small, black Bersa .380 handgun with a 7-round magazine. Most people who are questioned for bringing weapons to the Fulton courthouse state that they forgot the weapon was on their person, [Fulton Co. Sherriff's Office spokeswoman Tracy] Flanagan said. Fulton County deputies seized seven handguns at the downtown courthouse in 2012. Not quite three months into 2013, they’ve already matched that total. In the past eight days, three guns have been found.
    SALT LAKE CITY, UT, 3/20/13: Speaking of which ... "TSA finds 13th, 14th guns at Salt Lake City airport security checkpoint"
    HIGHLANDS RANCH, CO, 3/21/13: Yet another bathroom #GunFAIL! This time, a guy sends his bullet through the wall of the bathroom and into the occupied dining room of the local Pei Wei restaurant, narrowly missing a family otherwise (presumably) enjoying their dinner.
    AUBURN, ME, 3/21/13: Another one who puts a bullet through a neighbor's wall. Here's the thing: You want to make choices for yourself and your family about guns? Fine. But realize that when you screw up, you're forcing your choices on others, too. In this case, the couple across the street. Yes, her 9mm handgun was that powerful. Through her own walls, across the street, and through the neighbor's walls, too. And hey, if you want to go target shooting, that's fine too. But how about doing the cleaning and loading at the range, where people have made the choice to go hang around with guns? Just a suggestion. I realize that Teh Freedoms require that I leave that up to you, even though your screw ups cram your choices down everyone else's throats, to borrow a phrase.
    WASHINGTON, IN, 3/21/13: An employee of Daviess Community Hospital said a male patient was in its ER with a gunshot wound to his hand. The wound was minor and was an accidental shooting.
    MINNEAPOLIS, MN, 3/21/13: On March 21, Minneapolis police officers reportedly saw a man carrying a rifle case from a north Minneapolis house to his car. According to a complaint filed yesterday in Hennepin County District Court, that man was Mike Green—also known as Damon Anton Young, 37. And as police investigators note in the complaint, Green is a person legally prohibited from possessing firearms. Police also apparently had a tip Green was violating the law because they allege Green had posted pictures of guns on "social media websites."
    GARY, IN, 3/21/13: We need armed security guards in our schools! Ones that will remember to stay armed! School security guard realizes mid-day that he doesn't know where his gun is. School gets locked down, but the gun is found. At home, where he left it!
    ORLANDO, FL, 3/22/13: Orlando police said a 16-year-old boy will not face charges after his 12-year-old brother was accidentally shot Friday. “The 16-year-old figured that the place was being broken into, and he fired a shot and it killed his brother,” said Mike Moreschi, of the Orlando Police Department.
    GASTONIA, NC, 3/22/13:  A Gaston County Sheriff’s Office deputy was accidentally shot Friday afternoon during a basic law enforcement training at a Gastonia shooting range. The deputy, who is also enrolled at Gaston College, was cleaning his weapon when another student’s gun discharged and struck him in the hip, authorities said. The student was having trouble with his handgun and had sought an instructor’s help when the shot was accidentally fired.
    LONG BEACH, CA, 3/22/13: Buncha hard guys decide to kick each others' asses, for whatever reason. But they're not tough enough, apparently, so things escalate to gunfire. To prove how awesome they are at fighting and being Patriots and stuff, they shoot a nearby 10-year-old boy.
    NEW ORLEANS, LA, 3/22/13: While sitting on his front porch, Robinson said he had been playing with the loaded pistol, which he found in the neighborhood. The boy, the son of Robinson's friends, pulled the pistol, which caused the gun to go off and strike the child in his right hand, police said.
    GOOCHLAND, VA, 3/22/13: Army reservist dies in a Russian Roulette game. "And lets be honest," said Goochland sheriff James Agnew. "Alcohol and guns are not good play toys."
    LOWELL, MA, 3/22/13: Police believe a woman who suffered a gunshot wound to the leg Friday night was shot by accident.
    ALCOA, TN, 3/22/13: You can take my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands! Or, when I forget I have a gun at all. Officers found a 38-caliber revolver inside the carry-on bag of Toni L. Brannen of Louisville at a security checkpoint. Officials said Brannen had a handgun permit, which had been canceled.  Brannen told officials she forgot the gun in her purse. Last year, TSA officials confiscated 16 firearms at McGhee Tyson.  Officials said this is the fourth gun discovery so far this year.
    COLUMBUS, OH, 3/23/13: One person is in custody after an accidental shooting sent one person to the hospital. It happened in the 200 block of N. 5th Street in a parking lot outside of a bar. According to officers on scene, the victim was shot once in the abdomen and was transported to Grant Medical Center in stable condition.
    MAHOMET, IL, 3/23/13: Dude out target shooting tries to clear a jammed .45, drops it and shoots himself in the leg.
    MONROE, MI, 3/23/13: Man accidentally fires gun. Another man accidentally had his head in the way.
    OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, 3/23/13: Authorities expect a woman to be okay after accidentally shooting herself in the hand. Oklahoma woman to be okay! Get it? Hi-yo!
    SWANTON, OH, 3/23/13: Swanton police are investigating an apparent accidental shooting in which a local man was wounded in the leg Saturday evening. According to Swanton police, Mr. Flickinger and his roommate were trying to take apart a semi-automatic handgun at their home in the 100 block of South Main Street when the gun discharged, striking Mr. Flickinger in the leg.
    GRAYS HARBOR CO., WA, 3/23/13: A 39-year-old Tacoma man was sent to the hospital last night after accidentally shooting himself in the foot with his .22 caliber pistol. The Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a gunshot wound at Grays Harbor Community Hospital Saturday evening. The man told deputies he had been out with family target shooting in a pit off a logging road in the Wynooche Valley, and as he walked toward his target to check his shot, he left his finger on the trigger, tripped, and shot himself in the toe.
    CALUMET CITY, IL, 3/24/13: Tyshaun McClurge, of South Holland, was found shot to death Saturday night, according to police. Police are still talking to witnesses and trying to piece together what happened but it looks like it looks like it may have been an accident. The medical examiner's report agrees.
    DES MOINES, IA, 3/24/13: Police responded to the Auto Zone store at 1123 Army Post just before 1 PM. When police arrived, they found a man sitting behind the wheel of his truck with a gunshot wound. He told officers he had a weapons permits and his gun accidentally went off when he got into his vehicle.
    FAIRMONT, NC, 3/24/13: Christopher Stanlane, Sr., 34, was wiping his gun down at his home on Gaddy Road in Fairmont, Sunday afternoon, according to Captain Anthony Thompson. His 10-year-old son, Christopher Stanlane, Jr., was watching television in front of him when the gun went off, Thompson says, and a bullet hit the boy in the back of the head. Thompson added that the father dropped his gun and rushed his eight-year-old daughter to another room.
    SEATTLE, WA, 3/24/13: A drunk, armed elderly man barricaded himself inside his North Seattle home early Sunday, and was arrested after talking with hostage negotiators. Police were called for shots being fired, and when they were containing the area they heard two shots from the home, detective Renee Witt said. “Hostage negotiators eventually made telephone contact with the subject who voluntarily left the home,” Witt said in a statement. “He was taken into custody without incident. The handgun was found inside the home and two fresh bullet holes were found in the basement apartment. A handgun and six rifles were taken into custody for safe-keeping.”
    YORK, PA, 3/24/13: Guy tells the cops an unknown person shot him in the thigh. But cops think he just shot himself. He was "uncooperative," though. "That's for you to figure out -- I ain't telling you anything," Hughes allegedly told officers. Sounds belligerent. But of course, that's what AR-15-toting Second Amendment protesters routinely tell cops who question them. Of course, it's freedom when they do it.
    NEWPORT, NC, 3/24/13: But for this being captured on video, I'll bet you the man now facing multiple assault and gun charges would be calling this a "defensive gun use." It's a road rage incident in which the story is basically this: tough guy starts fight, tough guy loses fight, tough guy pulls gun once he gets ass kicked, having jumped in over his head. Question is, does he jump in so quickly without that gun there?
    MARRERO, LA, 3/24/13: A man who told authorities that he was shot Sunday morning while standing in front of his Marrero home actually shot himself with a stolen pistol. Tracey Hogan, 27, was arrested after Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office detectives determined his story didn't add up, according to arrest reports.
    HUMBLE, TX, 3/24/13: On March 24, deputies responded to Memorial Hermann Northeast Hospital in reference to an accidental injury. The complainant accidentally shot himself in the left hand.
    ABERDEEN, NC, 3/25/13: Gun owner heroically defends himself against his own leg.
    NEW HAVEN, CT, 3/25/13: A 20-year-old man accidentally shot and killed himself, police said. Officers responded just before 3:30 PM. Monday to a third-floor apartment on Ferry Street to investigate a person shot. Melvin Hayes suffered a single self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head, police spokesman Officer David Hartman said in a statement. Hayes was pronounced dead at the scene.
    SANDY, UT, 3/25/13: A 38-year-old woman was doing work on a computer while on her bed. The woman’s 15-year-old niece was cleaning the bedroom. The niece opened a drawer while cleaning and found a loaded handgun. When the girl pulled the weapon out of the drawer it went off by accident, and the woman was hit in the thigh.
    FAIRBANKS, AK, 3/25/13: Teil Diaz, 19, was accidentally shot while visiting an apartment on Fairbanks Street, according to trooper spokeswoman Beth Ipsen.
    ORLANDO, FL, 3/25/13: Here's our 20th #GunFAIL while cleaning a loaded firearm this month, and the 75th for the year. John Massallo Acevedo, 23, was standing in the kitchen of his apartment about 8 PM when he attempted to remove the slide to his 9 mm Glock pistol and it fired. The bullet struck his wife, Jean Santiago Zambrana, in the right arm and entered her abdomen. He said they had just returned from the gym when he decided to clean the weapon. Because health is important to him, obviously.
    ORLANDO, FL, 3/25/13: A 9-year-old boy looking for an Xbox game system found an Orlando Police officer's gun instead and accidentally discharged a round into the wall of an apartment late Monday, police said. Officers allowed O'Day, who was not charged with any crimes, to keep the firearm after they determined it was an accident and the boy did not have permission to be in the bedroom. Gun safety, FTW!
    MIAMI TOWNSHIP, OH, 3/25/13: A man who was securing his firearm on Monday afternoon, to lock it away in the glove box so he could take a walk through Crains Run Park, shot himself in the leg and ended up in a hospital instead. The man, who was not identified by name or age, was in the process of securing his weapon and failed to properly clear the rounds out of it, Miami Twp. police Sgt. Jason Kramer said. The man has a concealed carry permit, the sergeant said.
    URBANA, IL, 3/25/13: A Champaign man who allegedly threatened his girlfriend with a gun and later fired it in the air was arrested Monday. The two were arguing when Williams allegedly pulled a small handgun out of his pocket, then put it back in and left the woman's house. Once outside, she heard a gunshot.
    FORT MOHAVE, AZ, 3/25/13: Mohave County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the Valley View Medical Center early Monday evening in reference to a male subject who had a gunshot wound. At about 7:15 PM, deputies contacted medical staff and reportedly learned that a male subject’s hand had been grazed by a bullet when he was out shooting at a rock quarry in the desert. Deputies contacted Benjamin Haney, 68, of Fort Mohave, after he was treated and released. Haney reportedly said that he was in the process of letting down the hammer of his single-action revolver when it went off on him.
    DEMOREST, GA, 3/26/13: Another Polishing Patriot Freedoms himself in the thigh, cleaning a loaded weapon, costing us another helicopter flight to the hospital.
    ARLINGTON, VA, 3/26/13: You can take my gun when ... Wait, I already used this "I forgot I was getting on an airplane with a loaded gun" joke. Donald Gramling, 50, of Stafford, was cited Monday with carrying a weapon on airport property after TSA found a .40-caliber handgun loaded with five rounds and one bullet chambered inside his carry-on luggage. Gramling had a Virginia concealed weapons permit and said he forgot that the firearm was inside the bag.
    KENT, WA, 3/26/13: A 7-year-old student at a Kent elementary school has been expelled after bringing an unloaded gun to school Tuesday. Kent School District spokesperson Chris Loftis said the Soos Creek Elementary student found the gun at home, thought it was “shiny and cool” and decided to take it to school to show his friends.
    DALLAS, TX, 3/27/13: A police trainee with Dallas Area Rapid Transit was wounded around 6:15 AM Wednesday morning after his service weapon accidentally discharged. The bullet struck the trainee in the leg.
    MORAINE, OH, 3/27/13: This one wins the Responsible Gun Owner's Wishful Thinking Headline Award. "Man saves self from shooting." Anyone got any idea how he "saved" himself here? On a routine shopping trip, the subject said it was uncomfortable wearing the weapon—for which he had legitimate papers—in his holster while driving, so he put it in the center console of his vehicle. When he reached for the weapon, it went off. Bystanders helped him and he was transported to Kettering Hospital, where he was treated. So ... anyone?
    HARRISBURG, PA, 3/27/13: Concealed carry ninja robbed on the street, but shoots himself in the groin going for his own gun. Such. Major. FAIL.
    TAMPA, FL, 3/27/13: A woman cleaning out her rental car to return it found a loaded handgun under the driver's seat.
    AFFTON, MO, 3/27/13: Just before midnight, Affton and southwest precinct officers responded to a shooting on Philo Avenue and found that a 21-year-old man had shot himself in the hand. He told police that he had been trying to put ammunition from a .40 caliber handgun into a .45 caliber handgun when it went off in his hand. He was there with another 21-year-old male acquaintance, Vaughn says. Officers asked them about the the location of the weapon and didn't get a straightforward answer. But they searched and eventually located the gun. This second suspect, who police say was the gun owner, had lied to police about the gun and other aspects of the incident. Responsible! Law-abiding!
    CANTON, OH, 3/27/13:  A 17-year-old boy playing with a gun shot himself in the hand accidentally, Canton police reports said. The reports also did not say how he obtained the handgun or to whom it belongs.
    COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS, UT, 3/27/13: How does an outspoken gun rights advocate and gun safety teacher secure his assault rifle? Police say Aposhian, who lives on the 1600 block of 7200 South, was cleaning out his garage on Wednesday night and parked his car in the driveway. He left his assault rifle covered on the backseat in the locked car, but someone broke into the car on Wednesday night and stole the weapon.
    QUEENS, NY, 3/28/13: The pride of Gilroy, boxer Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero, 30,  was packing more than a powerful punch Thursday morning when he was arrested for attempting to board an airplane with a handgun—possibly unlicensed—at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, according to multiple media reports.
    CASA GRANDE, AZ, 3/28/13: An 11-year-old girl living in a rural area of Pinal County died after an accidental shooting involving another child at her home Tuesday night. Investigators said initial interviews led them to believe that one of the other children was handling the firearm when it accidentally discharged.
    GERMANTOWN, TN, 3/28/13: Sometime around 10 PM last night, 16-year-old Himyar Hassan was shot to death at a home in the 8000 block of Tulip Rose. He was hit in the upper chest area and pronounced dead at the scene. Shelby County Sheriff's Deputies had to work through a language barrier to discern what happened, but it's believed that the teenager accidentally shot himself. "It looks as if there were some kids in the house, and they were playing with a loaded gun," Sheriff's Department spokesman Chip Washington said. "It looks like the victim may have accidentally shot himself. He had the gun in his hand and it accidentally discharged."

Originally posted to David Waldman on Fri Mar 29, 2013 at 11:33 AM PDT.