On a regular basis, individuals across the U.S. demonstrate that they are not responsible
gun owners. Oh, they may have passed a background check (or not, bc there are flaws in the federal background check requirement) and obtained a license and/or a permit, but have they demonstrated-prior to owning a gun-that they aren’t an aggressive individual with a hair-trigger temper? Have they shown knowledge of how to resolve conflicts without resorting to violence? Do they know how to properly clean a gun or that firearms and alcohol are a bad mix? Do they know how to correctly store a gun (especially in a home with children)? Sadly, a great many people don’t (or if they do, they disregard this knowledge). And those that don’t should never be allowed to own firearms bc they are irresponsible. Here are five examples of irresponsible gun owners:

Texas mother-of-two, 23, shot dead by her brother-in-law after the child, 8, accidentally fired a rifle through a door

A 23-year-old woman died over the weekend after she was shot by an eight-year-old child in her East Texas home.

Carmen Danielle Morris of Elkhart, Texas was killed after the boy picked up a rifle around 4:30pm Saturday and fired a shot that pierced a door and struck her in the head, police said.

The child was in another room with the woman’s husband, who was cleaning weapons, Anderson County sheriff Greg Taylor said.

The boy was the little brother of the woman’s husband, family members told the Palestine Herald-Press.

The couple’s sons, aged two and five, were in the home at the time of the shooting, according to the Herald-Press. Child protective services were called to investigate.

The incident happened on the 300 block of Anderson County Road 1370.

Morris was transported to hospital in nearby Palestine, and later by helicopter to a Tyler hospital, where she died Sunday.

I just don’t understand these people who do not take extra precautions with their firearms in a home with children. The rifle was just sitting there. *Loaded*?!  And was the father cleaning his guns while they were loaded? Last I checked, you’re supposed to ensure they are not loaded before cleaning them. I’d ask “do people take gun safety courses before they buy a firearm”, but I suspect the answer for far too many people is “no”.

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GEORGIA MAN LOSES HIS LEG AFTER SHOOTING LAWNMOWER PACKED WITH EXPLOSIVE

Deputies were called to a rural area near David Thomas Presley’s home in Monroe on Sunday after the incident. Presley was with a group of friends when he shot the lawnmower, which was packed with three pounds of an explosive sold under the name Tannerite.

“It is a patented combination of ammonium nitrate and aluminium powder that is supplied as two separate powders that are mixed and shaken to produce an explosive,” local fire Battalion Chief Craig League told the Loganville Local News.

League said the substance is sold in outdoor stores around the area, and has become “extremely popular” in recent years.

“It has become quite common for us to run calls involving Tannerite,” he explained. “Typically two to five calls per week.”

In Presley’s case, he lost his leg when a piece of shrapnel sheared it off. His friends put him in a vehicle and had gotten as far as a nearby driveway when they encountered an ambulance. He was subsequently airlifted to an Atlanta hospital. His current condition is unknown.

Gun owners like this must do an intelligence/common sense purge before handling their firearms, bc holy fuck, why on Earth would you fire a high velocity projectile at explosive material under such conditions?! I’d say “what were they thinking”, but it’s clear thinking wasn’t very high on the list of things going through their brains that day.

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CHARGES: COLD SPRING MAN TRIED TO SHOOT WIFE WHILE SHE BREASTFED THEIR BABY

According to the criminal complaint, a woman reported the abuse to the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office at 4:53 p.m. Monday, Feb. 8. The suspect was identified as 28-year-old Nicholas George Lehmeier of Cold Spring.

During the investigation, the sheriff’s office learned that the woman and Lehmeier had been in a relationship for more than 10 years and that the woman had been a victim of abuse during those years, according to the criminal complaint.

In April 2015, Lehmeier assaulted a child who was 7 years old at the time, and because of it, their five minor children were removed from the home, according to the criminal complaint. He was charged with malicious punishment of a child for that incident and pleaded guilty to fifth-degree assault in November 2015.

July 2, 2015, was the first night they were able to bring their baby home since the child had been removed from their home; the other children had not yet been returned to the home, according to the criminal complaint.

The woman said she was sitting on the couch holding the baby and that Lehmeier became upset because she was spending time with the child and not with him. She said Lehmeier blamed her for the children being removed, and she responded that she wasn’t the one who had been criminally charged.

The woman said Lehmeier then grabbed a 12-gauge shotgun, loaded it and pointed it at her and the child. She said he then pulled the trigger but that the gun didn’t go off, according to the complaint.

She said he then loaded a revolver, saying, “One bullet is all I need to end this,” according to the complaint. She asked him if she could at least put the child to bed first so he wouldn’t be hurt.

Lehmeier then left the room and fired the gun out of the bedroom window, according to the complaint.

The woman said she never reported the abuse because Lehmeier always threatened to kill her or the children.

Not only should this piece of shit domestic abuser *not* be allowed to ever own a gun, he should be in jail. For a LONG damn time. And he should not be allowed contact with the children for a long period of time, until it is determined that he’s not a raging asshole. Assuming that point is reached, he should then only be allowed supervised visits with them. If I contort my head, I can almost, maybe, kinda sorta see feeling jealous that your girlfriend is spending less time with you and more time with your child. We’re human. Jealousy happens. I get that. But after those pangs of jealousy, a decent person (were they to feel this way in the first place) ought to recognize that the needs of the child supersede yours. If for some bizarre reason you cannot reach that conclusion, as inconceivable as it is to me, take your ass elsewhere. Go read a book. Go masturbate. Go watch some Netflix. Don’t go grab a gun and threaten your girlfriend and your child! WTF is wrong with this assclam?!

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 Woman angry over haircut allegedly tries to shoot barber

Adrian Blanche Swain, 29, got a haircut around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday and returned to the 619 Barber Shop on 30th Street three hours later complaining about it, San Diego police Sgt. Ray Battrick said. Swain pulled out a gun, tried to pull the trigger three times, but the gun jammed, he said.

“The gun had bullets but malfunctioned,” Battrick said.

The barber and another person wrestled the woman to the ground and were able to get the gun out of her hand, police said.

Swain was arrested by police and faces charges of attempted murder.

I’m 100% opposed to guns. I once wanted to hit up a shooting range and fire a gun, but nope. Not any longer. I know that a gun in the home increases the risk of suicide and homicide, so I don’t want to live in a household with a firearm. All that said, I do acknowledge some cases where owning a gun is justified. I might not like the idea of target practice, other people do, so I can accept that. Farmers who need to protect their cattle or sheep are justified in using guns. Someone who purchases a gun and uses it in self-defense or to protect the lives of others, I can get behind that.  Those are pretty much the only justifiable uses for a firearm. Note that none of those reasons includes “you fucked up my hair”. A reasonable person whose barber screws up their hair goes back to the barber and talks to them to reach some sort of resolution. A reasonable person does *NOT* try to kill the barber. If you’re the kind of person who would resort to attempted murder bc a barber fucked up your hair-you should never be allowed to own a firearm.

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