GUNS DON'T KILL PEOPLE, OR DO THEY?

[F.U.]

On a separate note, this off duty veteran cop shot himself by accident in an elevator in Ohio on Friday; all on surveillance. Jesus. He'll survive the wound; not sure about the embarrassment.

Every time I see gun nuts out there yawping about losing their rights and no gun ever killed anybody on its own and how they've all been raised right with guns and taught gun safety, this is what I picture..

This morning I read about a police chief who has accidentally shot himself twice (first time was in 1999 assembling a gun that he thought was unloaded). Below is video of his second and recent self-shooting. The chief, the tv station, and the police force blame the drawstring on the cops jacket for catching on the Glock's safety (and insinuate that the safety feature on the Glock 22 and Glock 23 are accomplices). Uh, I disagree -- I blame the dude wearing the jacket, personally.



Also this morning, I read about a Kentucky cop named Darrell Williams who is suing a gun shop owner for medical bills and lost income. He shot himself in the finger last year while checking out a gun which the shop clerk had just handed him from the display case. He lost his job. Here's the video.


The gun shop owner seems unfazed by the lawsuit. He says the incident is all on tape and it'll be clear in court who's responsible. The cop is lucky he didn't shoot the other shop patrons.

I'm curious as to what F.U. and others here think in terms of liability. It's my understanding that the Kentucky cop didn't know the gun was loaded and I have no idea whether gun shop owners and clerks typically keep loaded guns in display cases. But, shouldn't the cop, or any other gun owner, assume every gun he picks up is loaded?

HotD, I think both parties are at fault, with the scale tipped towards the shop having more of the fault. The shop fucked up by having that gun in the case and not clearing, but the cop should have known better than to pull that trigger without checking clear.
This is actually always in my mind. I watch our customers like a hawk because I fear that some day one could enter our shop with a handful/pocketful of ammo, ask to see a gun that it will fit and then slip a few rounds in without us noticing it. That could get ugly on many levels. If they just returned the gun and we just put it back in the case we have a loaded gun in the case without us knowing it. If they had a death wish they could do the deed right there in the shop. If they were hell bent on robbing us they could also do that.
All in all, I pay very close attention to customers and NEVER have more than 1 gun out of the case at a time. But hey, that's just me. How others run their business I can not say.