Did you know that Tennessee has the sixth-highest rate of accidental shooting deaths in the country? I read that statistic buried deep in this story about parents and gun safety. You’d think a statistic like that might have been mentioned sooner amid all of the gun loonery foisted on us by the state legislature and their puppetmasters at the Tennessee Firearms Assn. Then again, maybe it was discussed and I just missed it.
With that in mind, I need to ask Greeneville, TN: WTF? This week’s gun report has two separate accidents from Greeneville, and some gun loonery that thankfully didn’t result in injury. Must be something in the water there.
Also, should we be worried that a TVA security officer patrolling outside Watts Bar Nuclear Plant was fired upon by an unknown person wearing a dark hoodie? The FBI is apparently investigating.
Meanwhile, our teen edition reports two Soddy Daisy (yes, that’s a real place) teenagers have been charged with felonies after firing on a group of people in a residential neighborhood, then embarking on a high-speed chase.
And here in Nashville at the upper-crust private school Christ Presbyterian Academy, a student was charged with bringing an AR-15 and ammo to school.
Without further ado, a run-down of recent gun accidents in Tennessee:
• April 9, 2013:
Man Accidentally Shoots Hand While Cleaning His .22 Rifle
A man accidentally shot himself through the right hand Monday afternoon while cleaning a .22 caliber rifle after target shooting, sheriff’s Deputy David Love said in a report.
Cameron Bolyard, 25, of 307 Horse Creek Road, said he was cleaning the rifle when it went off.
“He was on his back porch cleaning his .22 rifle. He said he was holding the rifle in an upright position with the butt resting on the floor and was holding the barrel end with his right hand palmed over the end,” the report said.
• April 15, 2013:
Man Shoots Self In Abdomen Attempting ‘Cross-Draw’ Move
An Oakmont Drive man required hospital treatment after accidentally shooting himself in the abdomen about 6:15 a.m. Sunday, sheriff’s Deputy Michael MacDonald said in a report.
Deputies responded to Takoma Regional Hospital on a report of an accidental gunshot wound.
They spoke with Timothy Gray, 44, who said “he was attempting to attach his gun and holster to his left hip in a cross-draw fashion, when he accidentally discharged the firearm,” the report said. Gray shot himself with a .410 double-barrel Derringer.
• April 16, 2013:
Supervisors probing after National Guard sergeant fires weapon in local hotel
No charges filed by city policeMURFREESBORO — No one was injured Friday at the Clarion Hotel on Old Fort Parkway when a Tennessee Army National Guard sergeant “accidentally discharged” a handgun owned by a fellow Guardsman inside a room, according to Murfreesboro Police.
The incident involving Sgt. Ryan Mitchell and Sgt. Matthew Wilson is being formally investigated by the Tennessee Army National Guard, according to Maj. Darrin Haas, deputy director of public affairs for the Guard.
Mitchell was “checking out” a gun owned by Wilson at the Clarion when it “accidentally” went off in Mitchell’s room, according to a Murfreesboro Police incident report filed by Officer Charles Owens.
The bullet from the unidentified handgun ricocheted off the wall, went through a sliding glass window and lodged in the tail light of a vehicle in the parking lot, Owens reported.
Be safe, people!
