Shooting at the gun show, idiots

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Attended the Tanner show just outside Denver today (technically unincorporated Adams County). Making a final walk through (only purchase was some HKS speedloaders for the 27), when "bang" followed by total silence for a couple of seconds. Everyone knew what it was.

Loudspeaker announced for everyone to remain calm, situation was being handled, anyone with medical experience/license report to the section where it happened. I was on the opposite side of the building, talking to a friend and we both shook our heads. Word is that one of the vendors got hit in the leg, a guy was taken out in handcuffs-deputies are always there in addition to private security, paramedics on scene very fast-don't know if they were staged nearby or what.

The show remained open, I left. Hope the injury isn't serious. I know when we consider how many people attend shows these incidents are not common but still unsettling.
 
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Looked up news on it and so far nothing more than what you said, but saw news of the same thing at that show in 2010. Chest Wound back then.
 
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If nobody gets themselves killed, most of us can laugh afterwards. Yes, somebody is/was an idiot. The better shows throw the culprit out on his ear, or have the police do it. Its also instructive to look around in the seconds afterward. The first order of business is to check yourself for new holes, and to kind of check your pants to see if they're still clean and stuff. The patrons generally are in 2 places. Standing where they were the instant of the shot, or kissing the floor while trying to become one with it. Who sez uncle sugar didn't teach you anything.

I've been to a total of one Goodman show after he failed to prosecute the offender up in Dayton, OH. He didn't want to be bothered to stay around to make court on Monday. They should have shot both the shooter and the promoter.

We don't go to gunshows to get ourselves shot or shot at. We do it for fun, and shootings kill the fun for most of us. I don't care what you think your rights are, they don't include your behavior being that bad. My opinions are pretty harsh. If you insist you have the right to carry, OK. But if through nothing else, you shoot someone, or just fire a shot in a gun show, you should never have any other gun rights. Anywhere, ever. No "do over". The full story almost always comes out in a day or two.

Usually its a vendors gun he just forgot to unload or check. Second most common is a fool who lies and says he doesn't have a firearm, then wants to test it in a holster. Then puts his fat finger on the bang switch.

Somewhere on the internet is a web cam of a gun sitting in a closet. It been there for years now and hasn't shot by itself. I've had guns for most of my life and none of them has "self fired". It takes ignorant human intervention to make that take place.

I hope the OP here keeps us updated on the story.
 
jack the toad said:
I've witnessed ND's/AD's at g-shows more times than I can recall. I'm guessing maybe 5 or 6. It sure gets quiet for a moment or two following.
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same here, at least that many times. the last time a friend of mine, (since passed) was shot in the gut by his table partner.
none of these incidents are good for our hobby, people need to be aware of what they're doing.
 
For the most part I DON'T go to shows that often. Never any real deals to be had. The one in Brevard has run that well dry. They have one every month. I did go a few years back to have a twenty- something female proceeded to dump a very full 7 11 big gulp drink all down my back . Wall to wall at time . Never an apology. At that show if you where a carry you went to front desk they zipped tied your empty firearm .They would cut on the way out.
 
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It's a requirement here in Arizona that all firearms brought into a show by customers be checked at the entry to make sure they are unloaded and then cable tied. Vendors are required to do the same with all the firearms they have out for sale. Additionally all magazine are removed from the firearm while it's on display.The promoter checks the tables for this and a vendor not complying may get ONE warning. After that they are ejected from the show. I do the Crossroads shows and there was an AD a couple of years ago but in was in the SAR building which is NOT part of the Crossroads show. Naturally the media made a far bigger deal of of it then it was with helicopters circling, mobile camera trucks etc.
Jim
 
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At one point I went to every gun show within a 2hr drive. Every weekend from 2008 to 2014. Only heard one!

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italiansport said:
It's a requirement here in Arizona that all firearms brought into a show by customers be checked at the entry to make sure they are unloaded and then cable tied. Vendors are required to do the same with all the firearms they have out for sale. Additionally all magazine are removed from the firearm while it's on display.The promoter checks the tables for this and a vendor not complying may get ONE warning. After that they are ejected from the show. I do the Crossroads shows and there was an AD a couple of years ago but in was in the SAR building which is NOT part of the Crossroads show. Naturally the media made a far bigger deal of of it then it was with helicopters circling, mobile camera trucks etc.
Jim
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Same here in Idaho. Rules say you cannot bring a loaded gun in and they have door booths you have to go through where they check if guns are loaded and then zip-tie them. However on one occasion even though that was the rules one of the door guys recognized the man in front of me as one of his friends, when he asked the friend to unload the pistol he then stopped himself and waved him in, saying it was ok for his buddy to sneak the loaded gun in (it was his carry gun). Sometimes rules aren't enough if people don't enforce them.
I have also seen them zip-tie the guns in a way that they can still be fired, seems a little pointless.
 
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SuperGoat said:
saying it was ok for his buddy to sneak the loaded gun in (it was his carry gun). Sometimes rules aren't enough if people don't enforce them.
I have also seen them zip-tie the guns in a way that they can still be fired, seems a little pointless.
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The door guards aren't the cream of the crop. Their the ones financially stressed they can get to work weekends at minimum wage. I do wonder how many of our posters have the experience to safely clear every kind of gun that comes to the door. Don't forget the 2 dozen others impatiently waiting in line to get in. Probably a high stress job for little pay. It also has its risks.

Line avoidance is worth talking about. Here where I live there was a minority "night club" that had a shooting. Multiple shooters, several fatalities. The investigation so far has yielded the rumor that you could pay more and get in the back door for an extra charge. Kind of a wolves and sheep kind of deal. For just a few dollars more. At gun shows you can just lie and say you don't have a gun.

At a typical gun show, you may have 800 or a 1000 tables. Each has between 10 and 100 guns. No one polices the vendors, they're just assumed to understand and have checked each and every one of their guns. We all know that doesn't happen. The guns I have up for sale are tied by me. I don't untie them between shows. But at each show I see bundles of ties being put on guns. Some guys really do spend the time checking each and every one.
 
While at a show couple of years back i was standing next to a guy who wanted to look at a small semi auto.
The table holder said sure,let me clear it first. My first thought was thats great she has great gun handling awareness. She then proceeded to point the gun at my stomach and pull back the slide.
She did it so quickly I didn't even have the time to fully get out of the way. Some words were exchanged. Most of them were mine.

The only time I felt fearful of my life at a show.
 
That was the point of my T shirt....

ace22 said:
same here, at least that many times. the last time a friend of mine, (since passed) was shot in the gut by his table partner.
none of these incidents are good for our hobby, people need to be aware of what they're doing.
Click to expand...

That's why I had this made. It seems most people don't know that a few simple rules could save a lot of injures and lives.
 

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Went to our small local gun show yesterday. Good LEO friend of mine has been holding this show about four or five times a year in a late 30's WPA building in a municipal park. Billed as the area's Original Gun Show.

Anyhow, walked through the show twice or better, talked to a bunch of friends, bought some plastic .410 shotshell boxes to clean up some loose storage (shoulda bought one more, but you know how that always goes). Went outside to sit in the shade and catch the walkups before thy got inside and started hearing sirens. Around here, the Fire Department runs first in on EMS calls, and the ambulance is a private service. Sirens kept getting louder, sure enough, headed down the park drive. First thing I thought was ND . . .

(Thankfully (or not, if you're the patient) it was a medical emergency. No gunfire)
 
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