The past week has given us a handful of accidental shootings and various other gun hilarity. One question: are we safer yet?
• January 15, 2016:
In South Nashville, a man was shot in the arm, but his story doesn’t add up:
Police told News 2 the victim said a car pulled up next to him and, after an exchange with the driver, he was shot in the arm.
Despite their interaction, police said the victim could not provide a suspect description and an exact crime scene could not be located.
On the news they said police believe the man accidentally shot himself and just doesn’t want to admit it. Sigh.
• January 14, 2016:
A Johnson City felon received 15 years in prison after he posted numerous photos to Facebook of himself posing with guns.
• January 13, 2016:
1- In Nashville, someone shot at a school bus full of kids.
2- Background checks work! An Arkansas man used a fake badge to get a first-responder discount at a Memphis gun store; the background check revealed that he’s worked for the police department for just three weeks back in 2014 and never returned his equipment.
3- This WTF moment comes from Murfreesboro:
A witness told officers he heard shots fired, then overheard a woman asking someone why he had shot at her, according to the report.
The witness told police he saw the man come out from behind the nearby McDonald’s on Memorial, the report stated.
Officers apprehended Brandon Climer, 30, of Fawnwood Drive, who appeared to be intoxicated, the report stated.
Climer was taken to Saint Thomas Rutherford Medical Center, where he said it was his wife’s fault he had gotten into trouble and that he was going to beat her when he got home, the report stated.
Climer said he had chased a woman to defend himself, according to the report. He was charged with felony reckless endangerment and possession of a handgun while intoxicated.
Guns just make every situation so much better, don’t they?
• January 12, 2016:
1- A Murfreesboro man accidentally shot himself in the foot at his apartment when he tried to grab his gun as it slipped out of his hand. Ooops.
2- An 18-year-old was arrested for “reckless homicide” in connection with the accidental Christmas Eve shooting of a 16-year-old:
Jones admitted to shooting his friend while handling a pistol. He said he then panicked and fled.
• January 11, 2016:
1- A Kingsport dad accidentally shot his 4-year-old in the head:
According to police, last Friday Bobo was shooting a high-powered adult pellet rifle at targets across the street from his home in Kingsport. A family member told the Times-News that during this time his 4-year-old son, Teagan White, rode his bicycle into the path of his father’s target practice and was struck one time in the side of his forehead.
Dad has since been arrested on unrelated drug charges. The actual shooting occurred on January 9.
2- A Knoxville man walking down the middle of the street didn’t like it when a car honked at him so he did what any Tennessean would: he pulled out his 9mm and shot at it.
3- An assault rifle was stolen from a Memphis gun show over the weekend.
4- A new bill would allow guns in private K-12 schools. Tennessee Legislature wants everyone packing, everywhere, all the time, and they won’t rest until it happens. God. Meanwhile, a state senator says allowing guns on college campuses is his “top priority.”
5- A Blackman High School student is accused of bringing a gun to class.
6- A Greeneville man pulled a gun on another man to get help fixing his truck. Hilarity ensued.
• January 8, 2016:
After yet another gun store burglary, police are asking gun store owners to increase security at their shops:
At gun stores, police said crooks often use the smash-and-grab technique. In many cases, the only thing standing in their way is a sheet of glass.
“People who break into stores to steal guns are going to use them to create other crimes. They’re criminals,” Vaughn said.
[…]
There are no laws requiring Tennessee gun store owners to have specific safety measures in place. The ATF doesn’t regulate them, and Vaughn said that’s the way it should be.
But Vaughn said he hopes owners will take it upon themselves to add security going forward.
That’s just fucking stupid, people. BTW, if you’ve ever been to a gun store in any rural area, they’re often even more vulnerable — sometimes the front of someone’s house or a garage. I’m going to hope that gun store owners go ahead and “do the right thing” as the one mentioned in the article does, but I’m a realist and know too many idiots and cheapskates out there don’t give a crap. So I’m thinking this wishing and hoping nonsense will amount to squat.
• January 7, 2016:
1- A man unloading his gun accidentally fired it, sending the bullet into his neighbor’s bedroom. She was in bed at the time, but not shot.
2- One of our safest, most responsible evah brought his gun into a Dept. of Children’s Services office in Lebanon. Hilarity ensued:
It was discovered that a 10-year-old child, who was in a cubicle for an interview with a DCS worker, had noticed a handgun in a bag. The juvenile got the weapon out of the bag and showed it to the worker.
Authorities confirmed the gun was pointed at the worker to display it, but not in a threatening manner.
Police said the gun belonged to 34-year-old Nicholas Collier who has a handgun carry permit.
Collier, a contract worker for DCS through Omni Community Health, had placed the bag in the cubicle with the weapon inside.
He has been cited for possessing a weapon in a government building where signage indicates weapons are not allowed.
Awesome. Are we safer yet?
