Four of 27 guns discovered by TSA agents at airports across the country last week.
Four of 27 guns discovered by TSA agents at airports across the country last week.
We have an extraordinarily long list this time around, and it took extra time to compile it and sort through it, which accounts for its late publication. New Year's Eve, like July 4th, is like Black Friday for GunFAIL. Brand-new guns are given as gifts for Christmas (at least one of which went off and shot the gift giver this week), a little extra drinking is going on, the kids are home from school for days or even weeks at a stretch, hunting season is in full swing, and of course, there's the "traditional" New Year's celebratory gunfire. (Respect the culture, please.) As a result, we saw a whopping 23 kids accidentally shot last week, including eight preteens. Just two of them were hit by New Year's Eve random gunfire, however. It was a busy week for the kids, even without that.
New Year's Eve, of course, is in a class all by itself. As near as I could tell from available reports, five people were shot by random, celebratory gunfire in Los Angeles, CA; San Antonio, TX; Hebbronville, TX; Newport News, VA; and Gadsden, AL. New Year's Eve revelers also blasted into at least 15 homes this week and two cars (not including four more homes fired into under other circumstances), in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Michigan, Indiana, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, and Virginia. Three people involved in celebratory gunfire incidents accidentally shot themselves, and two were accidentally shot at parties.
Six hunting GunFAIL incidents were counted, plus three recreational or target shooting accidents. Two defensive gun users accidentally wounded themselves, as well, as sometimes happens during the excitement and confusion. Two people also accidentally shot themselves while cleaning their weapons, which should never happen. And three gun owners out and about, shopping and dining with the rest of us accidentally lost some bullets this week. One who shot himself in a Walmart parking lot in Mississippi, one who accidentally fired a pistol in his pocket in a restaurant in Georgia, and a third who dropped her gun and shot another shopper in a Lowe's in Cheyenne, WY. And lastly, we had one more family member allegedly mistaken for an intruder and shot this week.
All in all, a hell of a week, and the first one I can recall pushing the total number of accidents over 80. Without further ado, then, this week's list, below the fold.
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