Irresponsible Gun Owner of the Day: Unnamed Hooper, Utah Show Off [Not Shown]

Showing a new gun to people is an inherently risky business (which is why I don’t do it). Do you REALLY know how to make the weapon safe and make 100 percent sure it’s unloaded? Sure, you own plenty of guns. But what about THIS one? As Laurence Olivier famously inquired of Dustin Hoffman, is it safe? By the same token, does the person you’re handing the gun to know the basic rules of gun safety? Does he know not to point that barrel at anyone, ever? Before I share this story of “pride goeth before a gunshot wound,” I’d like to highlight the fact that this accident went down in Hooper, Utah. The town’s named after William Hooper, the “Prophet of Independence,” whose famous letter, I discover, is stunningly verbose. Connection: everyone involved should have seen this one coming. OK, so . . .

Weber County Sheriff’s Deputy Sgt. David MacInnes said the man had arrived at the home with a new gun and wanted to show it off to others who were there. MacInnes said family members were comparing their [unspecified] guns before the 5 p.m. accident occurred. ‘It was a male testosterone thing,’ MacInnes said. He said the gun had passed through several hands when one person assumed it was not loaded and pulled the trigger.

The victim (leg wound) will recover, the shooter will learn a valuable lesson he should have learned before his testicles dropped and the gun owner should be fined. The standard.net tells us “The accident is the subject of a police investigation.” What’s the bet no charges are filed.

Oh, and make no mistake: this sort of shit happens all the time. Back in November, a East Chester, New York police officer James Pelleggi was showing off his Glock’s new laser aiming device when he accidentally shot and killed the observer.

There is an answer to that whole testosterone gun thing: make your own YouTube video with someone who know WTF they’re doing. You may look like an idiot but no one will get killed. (Although calling attention to the shooter’s superfluous shooting glasses as she holds the Desert Eagle for the first time is a really bone headed move.)

Alternatively, preferably, keep it ALL on the down-low. The less the world knows about your gun collection, the better. Journalists excepted. I think.