Well, It Finally Happened

[Cyrano]

Last weekend I was at the Lubbock, TX, gun show. In mid-afternoon on Saturday, there was a loud 'Crack' and the house fell silent. I heard no yelps of pain or cries of "I'm hit" so luck was with us. I learned later that someone had brought a 22 rifle into the show. It had been inspected and tied at check-in. He was showing it to a dealer, who cut the tie, worked the action, pointed it at the floor (thanks for small mercys), and pulled the trigger. A few people were treated for impacts from 22 fragments. The gun owner should have his head examined for bringing a loaded rifle for sale into the show; the inspectors at the entrance need some pretty severe training, perhaps with a stick, and the dealer needs basic instruction in safe gun handling, again possibly emphasized with a stick.

I've ben going to gun shows since 1959, and pretty regularly since about 1970; this is the first shooting I've witnessed.

On another matter: I brought 12 Iver Johnson revolvers to the show for sale. I thought I'd be lucky to sell one or two; by Saturday evening I'd sold them all!! The buyers were cowboy action shooters. Apparently there's a fairly new competition event for small pocket revolvers, and there's sort of a rush to get them before they dry up. I don't know the course of fire but I know there's no reload, so it doesn't make any difference whether you have a break-top or a solid frame, rod ejector. Power doesn't appear to be a factor; the favorite load for 32 revolvers is a buckshot (OO?) and a magnum pistol primer, no powder. Speed is a factor; one shooter told me he needed to get off five shots in 1 1/2 seconds to be competitive. It's a seller's market; now might be the time to get rid of that IJ, H&R, Forehand & Wadsworth, or (perish the thought) S&W lemon squeezer.

 

[diamonback68]

I was at a gunshow last month and heard the same thing. Kinda scary, really. Turn out a guy about 30 feet away from us had just bought a bag of reloads and dropped the bag and it caused a round to go off. Very unusual, but can happen. Luckily it went up, without much velocity and hit an overhead exposed airduct. Since it was not negligence on his part and only an accident, not a big deal was made over it by the sheriffs that cruise the aisles.

 

[6mmman]

Interesting story and a great reminder to know all about your weapon and how to handle it safely. I have two Winchester 1890's that the family shoots for fun sometimes. If you unload them by removing the mag tube there is still a round in the cartridge carrier! Upon cycling the action that cartridge will be loaded into the chamber. The "unloaded rifle" will be loaded. JUst a quirk of the design but some guns have quirks. It doesnt pay to trust our safety to others.

I too was at a gunshow where a 308 was fired. Not fun!!

 

[feralmerril]

Rifles with magazine tubes are more prone to do it as stated. I havent had a AD, but more than once by inspection I have found a round caught in what you would think a empty rifle!

 

[rburg]

If you attend enough gun shows, you'll eventually hear a gun go off. Not often (because we'd all stop going if it got too far out of hand.) I've got no real statistics to prove what I'm going to say, but its never stopped me before. All the discharges I've seen are caused by poor gun handling practices. What does seem to be scary is the terrible practices of just casually pointing guns at other folks. Its no wonder there is an occasional injury or death from it.

We've had a few dust ups here on this forum (and others) over the hard line many of us take against those who can't understand why we want to deprive them of their right to carry loaded guns. So go to a gun show and watch some time. Its easier if you've got a table because you invariably have periods of nothing going on (boredom). So invest the time instead of whiling it away. Just watch the customers, who are the worst, or the vendors, who should know better.

Its also understandable why we have so many gun accidents in homes or afield. If gun owners do the same things as they do at gun shows, its easy to figure out why we have accidents in both places. Basically we're all to casual about gun safety.

 

[desi2358]

rburg is right on, it happens too darn often and you only have to watch how people act at a show to realize that safe gun handling practices are either forgotten or are unknown to a majority of the attendees. Too many muzzles are being pointed all over. Some guns are hard to check and I really don't want people carrying concealed at the show because some of them will just have to show their gun to someone or wonder how it would fit in a new holster. I know of one incident where the desire to show off a laser led to a gun being fired into a table (after it had been pointed at a vendor who told them to "point that elsewhere"). Think people!! Too many ARE far too casual about gun safety!

 

[ace22]

unfortunately i've been to several gun shows over the years where a round went off because of some negligent behavior.
fortunately nobody was hurt and just as fortunate all of those episodes were in years past. it's been a long time since i witnessed a gun show round go off.

 

[wundudnee]

I have taken firearms to gunshows and had to show the checkers at the door how to open the gun. I showed two of them a 1890 Winchester and neither one could get the slide to operate, you have to let the hammer down.

I have been to two different shows where I heard the dreaded "BANG". Once at Tulsa and at a collectors farm/firearm auction. At the farm auction it was a Marbles gamegetter that was left loaded at the tables. There were four local dealers watching the tables. As a side note, they sold a fully functional grease gun at that auction. The first guy that bought it got cold feet and had it resold. The next guy walked off with it on his shoulder. I heard that later he got a visit from the BATF.

I just naturally assume that every gun I see is loaded. That's why I get real testy when some gomer muzzle sweeps, or uses me to check their scope at a show.

 

[perrazi]

i was at the fall tulsa show about 15yrs ago. when a model 70 in 270 went off 2 tables from me. everything went quiet and the dealer was escorted out. the man had a rack of pre-64 model 70's and i had just looked at some of them. didn't handle the 270 because i don't like the caliber.

 

[Sebago Son]

Stopped Going To Shows....

Witnessed two rounds dropped at recent shows. Both instances were boobs fooling with their pistols in the aisles. Been on both sides of the table and between the moronic sellers and the used car/gun sellers I find little entertainment there anymore... Trapped behind the table you always had to listening to some poor ***'s sobstory about why he needs $400 for a $100 gun to put a tranny in his truck or another's history lesson about how, who, when, why a gun was made.... But I draw the line at being shot at. It's just too much aggravation. I've had enough. Gone are the days (around here at least) where there were friendly gentlemen who truly enjoyed dealing with you and not some cut throat shyster doing his damnest to sliver out the last nickle out of a deal. Throw in the gunfire and I'll stay home thank you very much....

 

[judge]

The world is still the same as it was 50 yrs ago - The gun is always loaded!! Never consider it unloaded.

 

[BE Mike]

What ever happened to the practice of checking a gun's chamber to make sure that it is empty before handing it to another and then having the receiving individual VISUALLY checking the chamber again to verify that it is indeed empty? The person who shot that round should have been banned from the gun show. There is no place for stupid around guns.

 

[H Richard]

I have only heard this once (thank goodness), but it is universal how "quiet" it gets for a few minutes. I have looked at a gun off a table that had a full clip. Dealer wasn't even concerned. That's before the practice of inspecting at the door and plastic ties.

 

[Cyrano]

Does anybody have any details about that new course of fire for the cowboy action shooters that uses little pocket revolvers?

 

[OLDFED]

Thankfully, our gun show managers require all magazines and rifle tubes to be detached and the actions tied. All other types are tied up also before and during the shows. If a potential buyer wants to see the gun innards, the seller removes the tie, inspects the chambers and THEN hands it to the buyer, who is supposed to repeat the process. That's a good practice for all. Saves limbs and lives; keeps the gun shows out of court and keeps shows going for all of us.

 

[semperfi71]

Cyrano, go to SASS-Home of Cowboy Action Shooting and search around for the SASS rules book. It'll explain it all.

I have NEVER understood the "practice" of pulling a trigger to see if a gun is loaded.

I knew of an Uncle-from-the-previous-marriage who was giving a "safety" demonstration to a group of his nephews. He was showing them how to "safely" unload the hunting rifle (a bolt-action) after the hunt and then putting into the vehicle.

He worked the bolt several times, closed it, and pulled the trigger. It went off sending a round into the floor-board of the car he was using for his "demonstration".

 

[Cyrano]

One of my friends was French Gendarme. He had also served in the French Army in Algeria. When he was finished shooting a gun, he worked the aciton several times, THEN looked into the magaszine and chamber to see they were both empty. That's the way the French Army does it.

 

[David LaPell]

My biggest thing at the gun shows is people thinking that they "have" to show me how their gun works. I know how they work. I was at a show last week when I was helping a buddy out and a guy wanted to see a Ruger Single Six. EVen with one good hand I opened the loading gate and was able to roll it along to make sure it was empty. The guy looked at me and asked why I was doing fancy tricks. I politely informed him that I always want to make sure I hand a gun to someone that isn't loaded, and I expect the same courtesy.

I remember going to a gun shop where I looked at a Walther PPK and after I dropped the mag and racked the slide and out came a live .380. I picked it up off the floor and handed it to the owner. It turns out that 10 minutes before I was there someone else had been looking at the gun. I have seen and heard of people bringing a live round with them to see if the gun cycled properly. Sometimes the gun on the rack or the table isn't always the fault of the seller if its found loaded.

 

[rburg]

, but it is universal how "quiet" it gets for a few minutes.

Of course you're right, but you left out the other parts. Its the guys who get up off the floor, and everyone checking their extremities to be sure they're not shot. Then the other part that I found just as amusing as the dead silence. Its that every person in the hall, all 5,000 of them or so, pivoting and looking in the direction of the gun shot. The some of us chuckling because the bullet may not have hit something in that direction.

 

[Combat]

One thing I've noticed about these things is that just about every time it happens the "shooter" has it pointed at the concrete floor. I can see checking a gun like that if you are outside where if it goes off the bullet would go into the soft ground.At least the morons that are not going to check their weapon properly before pulling the trigger should point it straight up and put a hole in the ceiling instead of wounding several people with concrete shrapnel and bullet fragments.