Negligent Discharge at Gunshow...

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David4516

David4516

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I thought this was a myth that the antis came up with. I've been to the gun show numerous times in the past without incident and always thought that they were pretty safe. I no longer feel that way after today.

Was at the Wes Knodel gun show in Centralia WA today with friend. About 20 minutes after we arrived there was a very loud "bang". I have never seen a crowd that large go silent that fast. You could have heard a pin drop. Someone manged to discharge a center fire rifle (didn't get a good look at it so I don't know exactly what it was). Every gun show I've been too (this one included) all guns are zip-tied with the action open. So I have no idea how this happened.

Thankfully nobody was hurt. Honestly I think this is a miracle, with how crowed that show was, the bullet should have passed through 3 or 4 people before stopping. I think God was looking out for us today.

This whole experience has left me with a bad taste in my mouth when it comes to gun shows. I don't know if I'll ever go back to one. There are so many people handling so many different firearms, that at any given moment it seems one is always pointed right at me. Now I'm going to have to worry if it's going to go off at just the wrong moment. Am I being paranoid?
 
I was at the Los Angeles county gun show back in the mid 90's (8 MILESof tables) and a fellow fired off a 380 about 2 aisles across from me. Security detained him and I kept shopping. What an idiot!
 
We had a show a couple years ago in Hopkinsville ky. A guy made it to his truck with his new pistol before shooting his buddy in the butt. I was inside and heard a commotion but didn't hear the shot.

The issue with the gun shows and zip ties is that every one of them uses zip ties. People are wise to this...so if a guy wants to sell his revolver he carries extra zip ties in his pocket along with a pair of nail clippers and proceeds to let people try out the revolver by cutting off the zip tie. Now this may sound funny but in ky we don't have to transfer if sold to another ky resident and person to person transactions are very informal, so it is quite easy to sell a gun at a show...and I have seen several instances of extra zipties floating around on the sales floor.
 
I have only been to a hand full of gun shows and all of them have seemed sleezy with one or two good venders mixed in.

But I never felt like I was in danger. But your experience gives me a reason to be concerned.
 
I just heard a story about a gun show today where a crimson trace dealer uses his personal firearm as a demo, he dropped the mag but didn't clear the chamber. The first customer luckily followed his safety check and moved the slide to the rear and a live round fell out of the chamber! I would like to se the gift card amount that guy for from crimson trace... At least I hope he got something!!!
 
...it seems one is always pointed right at me. Now I'm going to have to worry if it's going to go off at just the wrong moment. Am I being paranoid?
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A couple of weeks ago, one of my coworkers was getting a haircut and noticed a commotion across the street.

Turns out that at the pawn shop across from the barber, a clerk handed a customer a firearm to look at. The customer discharged the firearm in the process of handling it and shot another customer in the head.

I doubt that David Michael Tilger would call you paranoid.

Using the excuse of "It's not loaded." to justify pointing a gun at another person while handling it is never acceptable.
 
There are small, but real, risks involved in going to gun shows, just as there are small, but real, risks in flying in airplanes. I go to gun shows anyway. There's more of a chance of being hit by a car on the way to the parking lot than of being shot at the show.
 
What will happen to gun shows inside a given state If somebody dies from an ND?

In Bloomington IL about two years ago didn't a Mini 14's .223 bullet hit three people, including a guy who suffered a serious abdominal injury?

Apparently vendors either are trusted to Not make mistakes preparing for the next day, or they buy a gun from a customer/another vendor and don't want to question whether somebody else checked it.
Maybe it is the social clique phenomenon, where many people are uncomfy displaying any skepticism of good, trusted buddies' actions.
 
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AlexanderA said:
There are small, but real, risks involved in going to gun shows, just as there are small, but real, risks in flying in airplanes. I go to gun shows anyway. There's more of a chance of being hit by a car on the way to the parking lot than of being shot at the show.
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Well, if you're going to be reasonable then there is no point continuing this discussion! ;)
 
I don't go to gun shows anymore either. Mostly due to the outrageous almost comical pricing and seemingly lack if anything good. The shows in my area at least. I always would walk in excited and out disappointed. Back in the day we had a show called bill goodmans that I remember was just Awesome. But they left. Now it's so different.
 
I've been attending gun shows since 1978, several shows a year. Saw one accidental discharge in all those years.

A sherriff deputy shot himself in the foot at the concession stand.
 
When anyone hands me a firearm I clear it immediately as an automatic reaction. Unless all involved are on the firing line at the range and it is hot. But if everybody did this every time things would be lots less newsworthy I bet. IMHO the dealers at the show have a LOT to watch/keep control of, and the minimal times a ND/AD happens is nothing short of a miracle. I have even heard rumors of an individual putting rounds into handguns at a show somewhere or other semi locally. Never found the story or a person in attendance to back that rumor up however.:scrutiny:
FWIW the firearms in shows around here are not zip tied as a rule unless the dealer wants to but personal firearms you try to sell or have purchased do have to be zip tied while you remain there.
 
Just to put this into perspective, every year hunters are shot accidentally in the woods. Statistically, it's riskier to go hunting than to attend gun shows. But nobody stops hunting because of that risk. Let's face it. Guns are inherently dangerous. They're meant to be.

Safe gun handling should be our mantra. I'm sure everybody on this forum is very conscious of this. The problem is that we don't have control over the other guys, either in the woods or at gun shows. I see some very wild characters at gun shows. I try to give them a very wide berth.
 
Thanks for the reminder!

I have to admit I have taken my two sons with me to a couple of gun shows and while I focused on making sure they followed safe gun handling and basic etiquette rules, I think I've taken for granted that everyone else was as well. I guess it's kind of like driving...you can follow all the rules of the road but still get hit by someone who isn't, so you have to watch out for "the other guy."

We've got an "older" RO at the range we shoot at who has stepped in and corrected my sons for what some might say are minor infractions, but I always thank him for making sure we all stay focused at all times.
 
As brainless as most cattle at gun shows are, it speaks to the safety of firearms and the organizers that they are not more commonly discharged unintentionally. How many car accidents do you think that many people are involved in after the show (heck, in the parking lot for that matter :D)

TCB
 
And folks wonder why I get upset as they point a muzzle my way.
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This is my pet peeve at gunshows.

The private sellers wandering around with signs advertising what they are selling that stop in the middle of an already crowded aisle to show things off....

I am all for face to face sales between legal folks, but I wish the promoters would rope off a place off to the side or something for the private sales so that muzzles are not waving around in my face....not to mention the folks walking around with fingers on triggers...
 
Paranoid........yes. People do stupid things everywhere including gun shows. No place is immune to stupid behavior. It's not the place, it's the people and unfortunately they go to gun shows, malls, theaters and to all sorts of places. Staying away from gun shows will not keep you away from them.
 
There was a ND at a gun show here a few years ago. Apparently a person was test fitting holsters on their carry gun when it went off. Scary stuff when a ND happens in a tightly crowded area.
 
NeuseRvrRat said:
Unsafe gun handling is one of many reasons why I no longer go to gunshows.
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I don't go to them either. Frankly I feel the same way about gun ranges. There is something about being in a space where a lot of people I do not know are shooting guns. I hardly ever go to a gun range. Fortunately I have places in the country to shoot.
 
The gun shows I infrequently attend have police at all entries and ask if you have guns on you. A "no" and you pass through as quick as it's said, a "yes" they make sure it's clear and zip tie the action.

I don't know if the vendors go through the same process as attendees.
 
I've been attending gun shows since the mid 60's.....Back then ,the people there were mostly knowledgeable ,safe gun handlers.........I find today, many peoples gun handling experience comes from watching TV shows and not proper training......Seeing unsafe firearm handling these days at a gun show is a common occurrence instead of a oddity..........
 
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I used to attend the Wanamacher 4,000 table show here in OK. But there have been so many instances of NDs it doesn't seem safe anymore.

The last show I attended that had a ND, it was a dealer, with one of his own guns, at his own table. He discharged a shotgun, shattering his display case and the display case of the dealer next to him. He also injured the dealer next to him.

I remember they taped the area off. There was blood and glass on the floor. Security immediately escorted the guy off the premises and said he was to never return. I don't know if they enforced it.

The dealer that got injured, I heard, was ok. I don't know if he got hurt by shotgun pellets or by glass.
 
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