Neglegent Discharge

I wrote this as a comment on thehighroad.org but figured it should have its own post.  Someone started a thread about NDs at gun shows (smells like an anti to me, akin to the standard MSM interview wherein the conservative guest is asked, “What’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever done?”)  Here’s my response:

I used to exhibit at gun shows. I always felt as safe at a gun show as anywhere else.  Much safer than some places I’ve been.  NDs at shows were always something you heard about, but never witnessed, kind of like Sasquatch and space aliens.

If you ever find yourself afraid for your life, running into a gun show would be a good choice if available.

If you’re worried about safety, don’t drive to a gun show though– you’re vastly more likely to be injured or killed during the drive to and from the gun show than while you’re there.  I suspect this would be true even if 3/4 of the people at the gun show were drunk and all the people on the roads that day were sober.

On that note; I go to my kid’s school football games (you know where this is going, right?) and at each and every game there is an ambulance, complete with paramedic crew, on location all during the game.

Ever seen an ambulance and crew on standby at a gun show? How about at a shooting match, where people are, you know, actually loading and firing guns?

Me neither.

Do NDs happen? Yes. Very, very rarely. Usually, they result in no injuries or serious property damage. Do people get killed falling down in their own homes?  Yes, and it is a more common occurrence.

Carry on.

When I was taking my NRA instructor courses last fall, a couple of the teachers gave several accounts of antis going to gun shows or gun classes and leaving loaded cartridges in places they don’t belong, trying to create an incident.  I have no doubt that this can happen– it could be seen as a variation on Munchausen’s Syndrome by Proxy, or whatever you call it when someone starts a building on fire and then hangs around to watch the spectacle.  It also demonstrates that other people’s safety is often the last thing on the mind of the anti gun bigot.
Share

2 thoughts on “Neglegent Discharge

  1. I dunno, Lyle. I’ve seen a lot of egregious violations of The Four Rules at guns shows, and if I had a nickel for every time I’ve ducked when somebody swung a muzzle past me I’d be able to retire. Non-existent muzzle control, fingers on triggers, actions not locked open…name an unsafe behavior, I’ve seen it.

    Even when asking to take a look at a firearm on a dealer’s table, the vast majority of the time I have to ask them to open it first, since they’re attempting to hand it to me without making a cursory check of the chamber. That’s a little scary, since the dealers are supposed to know the basics of safety, and to demonstrate it for the clueless.

    That said, I’ll have to admit that I’ve never seen, heard, or even heard OF an ND at a local gun show. And I can guarantee that the local lame-stream media would trumpet it out on loud braying basis. I’m going to have to attribute that more to the gun-show rules and good luck than to safe practices on the part of the people attending.

  2. Yeah, and I just missed about 100 other vehicles by mere feet on the highway as I was driving to work this morning. Closing speed; 125 MPH, and no one gave it much thought at all. I didn’t give it any thought whatsoever.

    The nice thing about the four rules is that they provide multiple layers of safety. You must violate more than one of them in order to be dangerous. You have to violate rules one, two and three at the same instant in order to actually shoot a person at a gun show, for example.

    I submit that you have run a greater number of stop signs and red lights while driving than you’re ever likely to have in NDs. The statistics say so in any case; something like 30:1 last time I checked. We tend to observe gun safety rules with more zeal, and that’s a good thing.

    How many people do you know who have been in serious traffic accidents? How many do you know who have been accidentally shot? Now shall we talk about other popular activities, like skiing, motor sports and rodeos? If we’re actually interested at all in safety, the subject of gun shows wouldn’t even register. I rest my case.

Comments are closed.