Good question on press coverage
Someone negligently discharged a firearm. No details on whether it’s the booger hook on the bang switch, trying to catch a dropped gun, or failing to clear a chamber variety (the most common types, based on my experience reading the news). But it’s definitely got the “I was just cleaning it and it went off in my hand” angle. But this, I found interesting:
Investigators said the gun owner won’t face charges because he has a carry permit.
There is no law I’m aware of that would exempt someone from liability or criminal charges for a negligent discharge by virtue of having a carry permit. Bad reporting by the press or the police, I dunno. But that is not the reason there were no charges.
I got this story from a liberal blog here in Tennessee and gun owners don’t make her “feel” safe, as though her feelings mean fuck all. But she has this interesting post, which is a different take on something I’ve mentioned a lot. The lefty take on it is: Ah, the liberal media. Have you noticed, as I have, that whenever there’s an accidental shooting, the media immediately switches to the passive voice?
It’s true. The press says things like “the gun fired”, “the gun went off”, or “the gun discharged” as if all by its own self. Kind of like SUVs and how they always hit things as though there’s no driver or anything and they’re just running around willy-nilly by their own selves hitting things all the time.
Whenever we gun nuts cover it, we comment about how it fired all by itself and try to figure out what the shooter did to cause that to happen. But the press thinks guns are magic and treats them as such. Why? I have a couple of theories. The first is that they probably get the police reports and police reports are riddled with the passive voice. Seriously, read some. So, they take what the police said and parrot it. And quite a lot of press coverage about negligent discharges consists of police negligently discharging their firearms. Here’s one that someone emailed me just today:
According to police reports and witnesses, an off-duty Gonzales Police Officer was at a strip club in Gonzales, LA on March 13, 2013. The police report states the officer, Chase Delatte, walked into the men’s restroom around 1:38 a.m. to check if his personal firearm in an ankle holster was loaded.
The Glock handgun accidentally fired, according to the report.
See? The police report goes into CYA mode for another cop, using the passive voice. The language is then adopted for other shootings and, voila, guns are magical in the press! Even witnesses buy this nonsense:
It could have went off anywhere he was just sitting down at the table it could have accidentally been going off. He could have accidentally shot anybody
No, stripper, they don’t just go off. And read the quotes from the police report, all passive voice. Anyway, I can’t tell from the article but it looks like a case of “stop touching it”. No need to handle a firearm in public, especially after a drinking.
The other theory I have about press coverage is that the amount of gun knowledge your average reporter has could maybe halfway fill a thimble. And they really think that these things just go off all the time by themselves.
April 7th, 2013 at 11:32 pm
It’s a way to maintain a constant irrational fear of (non-government) guns among the general population. In Canada, where it’s been deeply ingrained for a long time, you notice that even otherwise intelligent people who would know better, don’t. It’s jarring to see how effective the control is.
April 8th, 2013 at 12:16 am
A wall of words from Say Uncle?
April 8th, 2013 at 1:51 am
The stripper might be confusing the Glock with other “guns” that go off unexpectedly.
Officer Delatte should know that you load your backup gun before placing it in the ankle holster and therefore make it unnecessary to check in the restroom at 1:38am…
TS
April 8th, 2013 at 9:23 am
I’m willing to give the news media some slack, because saying the idiot fired the gun would impair the “investigation” or whatever. Anyway, idiots are going to buy whatever their favorite media outlet says, whether they speak reasonably or not.
April 8th, 2013 at 10:04 am
The left and reporters (BIRM) all believe in Gun Cooties so its not surprising that they try to spread the disease.
April 8th, 2013 at 10:29 am
Remember, kids, LEOs are the only folks professional enough and trained enough to handle firearms!!!
April 8th, 2013 at 2:29 pm
“The other theory I have about press coverage is that the amount of gun knowledge your average reporter has could maybe halfway fill a thimble.”
I am assuming you are referring to the Monopoly token and not an actual sized thimble.