“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Politeness. It’s catching.
Police said before handing the pistol to the 23-year-old, the 20-year-old man attempted to clear a live round from the firearm’s chamber and remove other bullets from the gun.
While taking out the magazine and attempting to eject a round, the gun apparently slipped out of the 20-year-olds’ hands. As he attempted to catch the gun, the pistol fired.
Afterthought:
Note how “he dropped the gun” somehow turned into “the gun slipped . . . out of his hands.”
Follow the reportage of gunnuttery closely and you will see it’s almost always the gun’s fault. It’s never the gun nut’s fault. The gun mysteriously “goes off” or “discharges” without intervention of human agency.
Words matter.
There is a reason that, some years ago, the National Safety Council stopped referring to automobile “accidents” and started referring to “crashes” in defensive driving courses (and I’ve taken a few–something do with reduced insurance rate). Until gun nuts are held responsible in the popular mind for their gunnuttery, gunnuttery will continue apace.
