Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2017/11/17/gentleman-accidentally-shoots.html
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Church really is the best place for a murder/suicide don’tcha know.
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Thoughts and prayers…
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Obviously the solution is more guns.
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Thank dog a good guy with a gun was there to shoot the shooter with his own gun. I feel bad about the wife though.
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What is the statistic?
If you own a gun, it is X times more likely to harm you or someone you love, than to be used in defense of yourself or someone you love.
What is the value of X?
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The thing I hate about seeing this kind of article/post (with the unstated implications made just by the context of the hosting site, such as BoingBoing, Reddit, or elsewhere) is that gun advocates will interpret this as “yet another case of libtards cherry-picking news to make poor justifications for banning or limiting gun ownership in America”, and simultaneously gun-control advocates will often see this exactly as that – further justification for more stringent gun control. And yet, the person posting the news can plausibly deny having any agenda to their action, even though just the act of posting the article on a liberal-leaning site like BoingBoing is all the context most of the audience actually requires.
I think it might be socially responsible (or at least less contributory to the polarization and divisiveness that plagues the modern environment of Internet + social media) to post these kinds of articles with a succinct caveat message saying that the post is neither intended to support nor challenge whatever issue (in this case, gun control) that it could be commonly interpreted as supporting or challenging, in the context in which it was posted. I think this would go a long way toward combating the kind of passive-aggressive blogging or journalism that so vastly contributes to the current seething bitterness between “sides” of various controversial, political topics.
PS - I am not a gun advocate or enthusiast. From my years in the Boy Scouts, I know how to safely handle and use firearms. I don’t own any, though, and haven’t actually fired anything more dangerous than a paintball marker since my years in Scouting. I just like honest and socially beneficial news and discourse, and hate seeing the kinds of things which I think actively contribute to unnecessarily triggering or inflammatory social dynamics. How about we have empathy for our ideological adversaries and try to be excellent to each other, Bill & Ted fashion?
PPS - To illustrate my point, it’s only been 22 minutes since this article was posted, and already look at the comments it is generating. Predictably deprecatory and inflammatory towards gun advocates. All that will do is further entrench gun advocates in their distaste (might I call it hatred?) of the “libtard” community. That is, by implicitly encouraging this kind of inane discourse, all this sort of article/post actually does is give a place for liberals to uselessly vent their anger, and further galvanize gun advocates against being open-minded about implementing “better” gun control in America. We’re shooting ourselves in the foot, and possibly our hand and our wife’s abdomen, just by posting this stuff.
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I am a strong second amendment advocate, I am solidly pro-gun.
Most American gun owners are people I wouldn’t trust with a potato peeler, let alone a firearm.
I do not think it is hypocritical or uncalled for to treat these as separate, albeit connected, issues.
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What a load of BS! Everyone knows that when a white guy’s gun fires at the wrong time it’s always because the gun “just went off.”
(Also – no safety switch on that gun? To borrow a phrase, “Pastors don’t let parishoners buy Glocks.”)
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Well said, Mike!
Does x=1000? Or is it more than 1000? Seems like it’s more than 1000.
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Point: Made.
Alas, not the point he was trying to make.
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Really? Because what I see is mocking the idiotic statements made by news anchors recently, a mocking of politicians willingness to jump into a news cycle while doing nothing about the problem, someone pointing out a well established fact, and a couple of people making fun of the common pro-gun clichés.
The kind of folks you’re so concerned with upsetting a/ aren’t here, and b/ are never going to be swayed. They’re busy producing videos like the one discussed here: This chilling NRA ad calls on its members to save America by fighting liberals - Vox
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Seriously? You read a post pointing out the supreme irony of a proud gun owner who manages to shoot himself…and his wife…in a church…during a talk on gun violence, and what you get out of it is a need to handhold those who can’t read it for what it actually is?
By the by, it is you who is dividing the viewpoints into two diametrically opposing sides, when there are many, many variations of viewpoint on the gun issue, none of which are altered in any way by pointing out that guns are unsafe when people don’t treat them responsibly.
For the record, I am both a long time gun owner, AND in favor of increased regulation over their sales and ownership. I see no contradiction in that position.
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@abides and @llamaspit: both of your points are legitimate, I am certainly representing the likely unpopular position of advocating for unnecessary “hand holding” in a public forum. I suppose I’ve enjoyed BoingBoing for so many years, in my own fashion, that it displeases me to see it used as a forum for perpetuating what I perceive as counter-productive social dynamics. But I’ll admit, there are many people who can exist comfortably “above” that noise, and many who likely enjoy BoingBoing as a forum for exactly that kind of emotionally-charged discourse. Maybe what I’m suggesting is just unrealistic, if not misguided. It’s just my $0.02, which aren’t even worth that much.
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Not that I’m a mind reader or anything, but judging by the other BB editors @Carla_Sinclair probably does support the issue.
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I suppose one lesson from this is that a person who was at one point a reliable and safe user of guns can become an unsafe user of guns, possibly due to age related changes in physiology. So there might be a need to deal with that.
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I decided years ago I was never going to church, ever again.
I would like to thank this “gentleman” for confirming the best decision I ever made.
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I think that some regulatory changes with regards to driver’s licenses are overdue for this as well. IMO, the new norm for any licensing program with public safety impacts should be mandatory (but free) recertification every year after a certain age.
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