A group of elderly friends were enjoying time together Sunday afternoon at Kaladi Brothers coffee shop on Kobuk Street, when an unidentified 76-year-old man began passing around the new 9mm pistol he’d recently purchased.
The weapon made its way around the table from hand to hand in the Kenai Peninsula restaurant, until one of the friends, thinking the gun was unloaded, pointed the pistol under the table and pulled the trigger.
The bullet struck the metal base of the table and sprayed shrapnel. The table and bullet fragmented, striking the lower leg of a 75-year-old woman sitting with the group.
Her injuries where determined non- life threatening and she was taken to the hospital where her wounds were treated.
Lt. Duane Kant of the Soldotna Police Department said charges will “probably not” be filed for the negligence,
“Obviously, we would like to see folks handling their firearms in a place other than a business that’s open for business,” Kant said, adding an important firearm safety rule which was obviously ignored, “All guns are always loaded.”
The four firearm safety rules are:
Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.
Do not point a firearm at anything you are not willing to destroy.
Always treat every firearm as if it were loaded.
Know your target and what is beyond.
Fortunately, no one died during this incidence of negligence and no one is being prosecuted. But not every example of disregard for firearm safety rules ends up as happily.
As in this case when a 14-year-old boy was killed while on a weekend drive with his family last year.
Firearm safety is everyone’s responsibility and the duty of all gun owners to spread this basic, lifesaving knowledge. And we must all do our part to keep firearm safety in the forefront of our thoughts when handling them.
What do you think of this shooting? Leave a comment below to let me know.
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