A Texas man accidentally shot a child while officiating a wedding in Lancaster County on Saturday, the sheriff’s office says.

Chief Deputy Ben Houchin said deputies were sent to a wedding at Hillside Events near Denton on a report of a gunshot wound.

Deputies learned that 62-year-old Michael Gardner, the wedding’s officiant, fired a gun to get everyone’s attention.

“He was going to fire in the air, and as he did that, it slipped and went off,” Houchin said.

The gun was loaded with a blank that Gardner made with gunpowder and glue.

  • Nougat
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    1052 years ago

    Houchin said Gardner accidentally shot a child in the shoulder. They were taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

    Also, it was a blank, so the kid doesn’t have a bullet hole. None of this excuses wielding a firearm irresponsibly in a crowd of people, and I’ll take “Trigger discipline” for $200, Alex. Just wanted to bring to the fore that the kid will be okay.

      • Alien Nathan Edward
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        112 years ago

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Lee#Death

        In a film shoot prior to the fatal scene, the gun that was used as a prop (a real revolver) was loaded with improperly made dummy rounds, improvised from live cartridges that had the powder charges removed by the special effects crew, so in close-ups the revolver would show normal-looking ammunition. However, the crew neglected to remove the primers from the cartridges, and at some point before the fatal event, one of the rounds had been fired. Although there were no powder charges, the energy from the ignited primer was enough to separate the bullet from the casing and push it part-way into the gun barrel, where it got stuck—a dangerous condition known as a squib load.

        During the fatal scene, which called for the revolver to be fired at Lee from a distance of 3.6–4.5 meters (12–15 ft), the dummy cartridges were replaced with blank rounds, which contained a powder charge and the primer, but no solid bullet, allowing the gun to be fired with sound and flash effects without the risk of an actual projectile. However, the gun was not properly checked and cleared before the blank was fired, and the dummy bullet previously lodged in the barrel was then propelled forward by the blank’s propellant and shot out the muzzle with almost the same force as if the round were live, striking Lee in the abdomen.[101][102]

        So two blanks, one with no powder and the other with no bullet, effectively formed one round of live ammunition. What a truly wild story.

        • @I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world
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          62 years ago

          It “slipped”?! How about not firing guns if your hands are not dexterous enough to point it correctly. Pretty much any time you fire a gun there is going to be a direction it could “slip” to that will kill someone.

      • @n0m4n@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        Gun safety rules.

        1. ALWAYS keep the gun pointed in a safe direction;
        2. ALWAYS keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot
        3. ALWAYS keep the gun unloaded until ready to use.

        Every gun is considered loaded until proven otherwise. Every pull of the trigger will cost $10,000, as lawyers become involved, per NRA literature. Hearing damage by firing close to people is another risk.

    • Hey you might get a kick out of this. If you look carefully in the show Farscape you will notice that the person in the show who was an ex-solider never has her finger on the trigger unless firing but the untrained people with her do.

    • @rosymind@leminal.space
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      32 years ago

      Kid will survive, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be traumatized. Still, I’m glad the guy at least had the foresight not to stick a real bullet in there… why he thought firing a gun was the best way to get attention, though, is beyond me. If someone fires a gun in my near vicinity I’m not suddenly going to go “ohhh, it’s time to pay attention to the pastor” Nah. Imma be running for the hills before I even know my legs are moving

      • @PoliticalAgitator@lemm.ee
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        2 years ago

        The guy at least had the foresight not to stick a real bullet in there

        The next one might not because America’s gun laws – especially in Texas – are based on voluntarily following good practises.

        Whenever something like this happens, pro-gun people flock to the comments to pat themselves on the back by telling everyone that they would never do that with a gun because they have trigger discipline and they treat guns with respect.

        But so what? They might never drive drunk but that doesn’t mean we can abolish DUI laws.

        What laws did this guy break and what is his punishment? Was it illegal to make his own sketchy blanks? Was it illegal to injure an innocent person with a firearm? Was it illegal to have a firearm at a wedding or to brandish it? Is he going to be prevented from owning firearms in the future now that he has proven to be a dumb fuck?

        And most importantly, what is the pro-gun community going to do to prevent things like this happening again?

        But we know the answer. He probably broke zero laws and will still be able to own all the guns he wants and take them to all the weddings he wants. His punishment will be minor or non-existent. The pro-gun community will do absolutely nothing to address the shortcomings of their laws, they’ll just tut about it on the internet.

        Republicans value $16 million a year and a voting bloc that will tolerate anything over people’s lives. The gun lobby values profits over people’s lives.

        But the pro-gun community sells people out for convenience.

  • @CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world
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    862 years ago

    The only reason his grandkid is still alive is because he wasn’t QUITE stupid enough to put live rounds in his ‘attention getter’. What a moron.

    I’ve seen a guy shoot his daughter in the leg at a public outdoor range because he cleared a misfire in his handgun incorrectly. She lived, but goddamn. It only takes a second of inattention to kill someone and it happens all the time. These people do not treat firearms with respect. It’s not a fucking noisemaker or a penis replacement. It kills, instantly.

    • @OhShitSon@lemm.ee
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      2 years ago

      Which is why the rest of the world thinks it’s fucking insane how lax gun laws are in the US.

    • TragicNotCute
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      222 years ago

      I just imagine the internal conversation that morning.

      well I could bring a bell, or maybe even an air horn. I want to make sure I can control the group. I guess I could also raise my voice too.

      OR…

      • @GentlemanLoser@ttrpg.network
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        182 years ago

        Sorta, yep! It happened in two parts - for one scene the gun had homemade cartridges with primer and and an actual bullet, but no gunpowder, so that the ammo looked real in close-ups of the gun. At some point that round was fired and the primer was enough to discharge the bullet, which lodged itself in the barrel.

        Then, later on in another scene, they loaded the same gun with blanks full of powder and primer but no bullet, so when fired they’d get the usual bang and flash. Except, since there was a bullet lodged in the barrel, the blank round still had enough force to propel the bullet out the rest of the way and into Brandon Lee.

        It happened in such a freaky way that it feels like there must be more to it, but just as likely human stupidity and bad luck.

        • @Salamendacious@lemmy.world
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          62 years ago

          I didn’t look up the actual incident so I wasn’t actually aware of that. What I was trying to say is that I think there’s this thought in a lot of people’s head’s that blanks are completely safe and they’re not. At close range or if there’s some debris in the barrel a blank can be dangerous.

            • @Salamendacious@lemmy.world
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              12 years ago

              Oh I never took it that you were challenging me. I was a little amped up. I get pretty indignant whenever I see easily avoidable gun violence. People who leave their guns out for children to find, I’ve read about a guy who was showing off his new laser sight and shot his girlfriend’s child killed him or her (I can’t remember which), the stores feel endless. it really boils my blood. I appreciate that you gave me the details. I always thought it was a foreign object, like a pebble or something, that just happened to be in the barrel.

      • @CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world
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        42 years ago

        Sort of. He was actually killed by a bullet that had lodged in the barrel from a previous issue with the weapon. The blank just fired the bullet that was lodged in the barrel.

        People have killed themselves with blanks though, usually screwing around pretending to commit suicide and then accidentally doing it. I remember reading about an actor that put pistol loaded with blanks up to his head and pulled the trigger. There’s enough gas force coming out the end to put a hole in you at that range.

        • @TopRamenBinLaden@sh.itjust.works
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          2 years ago

          Yea, the only way a properly made blank can be dangerous is if the gun barrel is close enough for the ignited gasses to do damage from what I understand. So if you put the barrel right up against something, the gasses will push through and take a chunk with it.

    • @agent_flounder@lemmy.one
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      162 years ago

      This is why, while I support recognizing the right to self defense, I do not support Constitutional carry. Something this dangerous should require regular safety training. I felt the same about driving.

    • @afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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      132 years ago

      See this kinda stuff is why I don’t own a real firearm. I grew up with guns in the house, went shooting with friends and my dad. I don’t need a way to accidentally kill someone around.

    • The Barto
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      232 years ago

      Depends on if he’s a good kid or a bad kid, because it’s good people with guns that stop bad people with guns apparently…

      • @Pratai@lemmy.ca
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        62 years ago

        And the simple fact that you wold have such a suspicion speaks volumes of people like you.

        • @anonono@lemmy.world
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          02 years ago

          The complete opposite. I accussed them of being pleased when these things happen as they get to campaign against guns with it, not because they want kids safe, but because they get a self-righteous hard-on when doing it.

  • Colonel Sanders
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    2 years ago

    Tell me you’re from Texas without actually telling me you’re from Texas

  • Schwim Dandy
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    302 years ago

    Had the child been armed, this tragedy would have never occurred. 'Murica!

    • @ChiefSinner@lemm.ee
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      52 years ago

      Yes, but it was loaded with self made blanks. He probably messed up the blanks and it shot some shrapnel.

      • @Treczoks@lemmy.world
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        72 years ago

        Even then this is not acceptable. And wasn’t there the rule that you never point a firearm at people you don’t intend to shoot, even when the weapon is not loaded?

        Why do Americans blatantly ignore the reasons that repeatedly (daily!) show that not every yokel should have access to firearms in the first place?

  • Phoenixz
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    262 years ago

    I go to a wedding and I take with me…

    A gun!

    Only in America!

  • @moitoi@feddit.de
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    212 years ago

    Deputies learned that 62-year-old Michael Gardner, the wedding’s officiant, fired a gun to get everyone’s attention.

    When did he think it was a good idea? When?

  • @Treczoks@lemmy.world
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    202 years ago

    fired a gun to get everyone’s attention.

    He f-ing what? Even if he didn’t shot the child, this man belongs behind bar for sheer stupidity.

    Reason No. 4020 for “American people in general should not have access to firearms”.

  • @DTFpanda@lemmy.world
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    152 years ago

    Makes me think of that scene from the Office when Dwight randomly fires a gun in the air at the start of the rabies awareness race. First time I saw that, I thought, “they sure do know how to exaggerate American culture” but alas, here we are.

  • @crashoverride@lemmy.world
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    142 years ago

    If there is anyone here who has cause to think that I should not have a gun, speak now or forever…BANG…oh shit, sorry kid!