North Carolina CBS affiliate WCNC reports that two Tellico Plains, Tennessee churchgoers were shot—one in the hand and one in the abdomen—when a handgun, being shown during a discussion about guns and gun safety, went off accidentally.
The Tellico Plains Police Department says elder members of First United Methodist Church were meeting for a Thanksgiving dinner around 1 p.m. and began discussing the Texas shooting when someone asked if anyone brought a gun to their church.
A man spoke up and said he carries his everywhere he goes. He pulled the gun out, emptied the magazine and chamber, and then started passing the gun around.
According to the report, when the gun came back around to the man he reloaded the chamber and mistakenly shot the gun, through his hand and into his wife’s abdomen. The two were rushed to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The parishioners were discussing the terrible mass shooting that took place on November 5, in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Not unlike many gun-proponents, many people believe that giving everybody guns is the only answer to gun violence. The thinking is that if we all have guns we can all shoot bad guys like Dirty Harry and make the world a safer place—just like the safe racist urban landscapes of Dirty Harry movies. This follows the more than 50 people killed last month during a music festival in Las Vegas, a city where there are all kinds of people with guns, and the performers onstage had gun carrying security as well.