Democratic Underground Latest Greatest Lobby Journals Search Options Help Login
Google

83-year-old man's gun goes off at the Sunvalley Mall in Concord

Printer-friendly format Printer-friendly format
Printer-friendly format Email this thread to a friend
Printer-friendly format Bookmark this thread
This topic is archived.
Home » Discuss » Topic Forums » Guns Donate to DU
 
n2doc Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-12-10 09:22 AM
Original message
83-year-old man's gun goes off at the Sunvalley Mall in Concord
An 83-year-old man has been arrested after his gun went off inside the 24-Hour Fitness Center at the Sunvalley Mall on Sunday night, according to the Concord Police Department.

It appears the shooting happened by accident, said Lt. Steve Dyer.

At approximately 6:00PM, CPD officers were dispatched to the 24 Hour Fitness Center located at Sun Valley Mall regarding an elderly male suspect who fired a handgun inside the business.

The suspect was located sitting in his vehicle parked in the west parking lot of the mall near the front of the gym. He was detained without incident and a loaded handgun was located inside his vehicle.

The subsequent investigation revealed the suspect, who is a member of the gym, carried the loaded handgun in his gym bag and entered the locker room. At one point the gym bag was either dropped or bumped and the handgun discharged, firing one round into a wall.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/incontracosta/detail?entry_id=61074&tsp=1
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
Euromutt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-12-10 09:34 AM
Response to Original message
1. Had to be a pretty old gun, then
Because modern handguns do not discharge if merely dropped or bumped into a wall; firing pin safeties have been standard for nigh on 30 years by now. What is perhaps a possibility is that something in the bag got inside the trigger guard and snagged the trigger, which is why it's a bad idea to transport a firearm loose, rather than in a holster or case that covers the trigger guard.

Pretty frakkin' negligent of him, one way or another.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Aviation Pro Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-12-10 09:48 AM
Response to Reply #1
2. Agree....
...carrying a firearm in a gym bag is the opposite of good and safe weapon storage and transport.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
MattBaggins Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-12-10 10:08 AM
Response to Reply #2
3. What if the NRA would focus more attention on education for issues
like this instead of trying to be the National Republican Association?
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
OneTenthofOnePercent Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-12-10 10:43 AM
Response to Reply #3
4. They do. The NRA is the number one firearm safety education organization in America.
The NRA alone does more to educate people and prevent accidents than all of the antigun groups combined.
However, people still need to take the initaiative to sign up for the courses.
I've attended two safety/instructional classes. Both were taught by NRA Instructors.

They certainly teach that when transporting a firearm always keep it action-open with a gun lock or in a holster. Never store a firearm, especially loaded, "loose". The only time you should transport a loaded firearm is if that firearm is intended for defense... and that firearm should be reliably secured somehow.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
SteveM Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-12-10 11:50 AM
Response to Reply #3
6. It is distracted by gun-control Dems who play into its hands. nt
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Euromutt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-13-10 12:49 AM
Response to Reply #3
24. You mean like...
...have a web page (http://www.nrahq.org/education/guide.asp) and brochure (http://materials.nrahq.org/go/product.aspx?productid=ES%2014080) with firearms safety rules? Or running a firearm safety program for children up to 3rd grade (http://www.nrahq.org/safety/eddie/)? Or operating a network of certified instructors who provide--among other things--courses in home firearm safety (http://www.nrainstructors.org/CourseCatalog.aspx)?

Yeah, that might be a good idea.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
jazzhound Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-13-10 01:46 AM
Response to Reply #3
25. Can't open the mouth without inserting the foot, eh? n/t
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Vinnie From Indy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-12-10 10:56 AM
Response to Original message
5. People that do dumbass shit like this deserve harsh prison sentences
AND, a lifetime ban from owning any weapons. To think that some innocent person could be shot dead while in a fitness center because some old bastard feels compelled to walk around with a loaded, unsecured gun in gym bag to me is no different than a drunk driver that plows into a school bus.

This should be the law of the land. Also, Dick Cheney should have been prosecuted and given a lifetime ban from owning weapons as well.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
SteveM Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-12-10 11:56 AM
Response to Reply #5
7. I note that he was arrested for his stupid actions...
Had the shot struck and killed someone (your hypothetical equivalent to a DWI "plowing into a school bus"), more charges would be filed. But no one was killed, in gyms or on buses, so he will get his just desserts for his actions.

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-12-10 10:13 PM
Response to Reply #5
17. Deleted message
Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.
 
tburnsten Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-12-10 11:58 AM
Response to Original message
8. No it didn't
He must have not stored it in a safe manner, such as unloaded or in a secure holster or case that protects the trigger, either of which is absolutely basic safe handling and transport procedure, and a pen or something found its way into the trigger guard.

This would not have happened with any pistol commercially available in the United States, or even most of the "junk guns" that the 1968 GCA banned.

The only pistol I can think of that would fire if "bumped" would be the Nambu Type 94, an absolute waste of perfectly good steel designed by a Japanese officer during WWII which was usually more dangerous to the user than to the intended target.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
oneshooter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-12-10 08:19 PM
Response to Reply #8
13.  The Colt SAA and remington SAA could fire if dropped on the hammer
That is why it was commen to only load 5 and keep the hammer on the empty chamber. Modern SAA revolvers such as the Ruger Blackhaek have a hammer block safety, so 6 rounds can be loaded safely.

Oneshooter
Armed and Livin in Texas
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Callisto32 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-12-10 12:40 PM
Response to Original message
9. No such thing as a gun going off.
Well, maybe, under JUST the right circumstances, you could get some old designs to go off if bumped/dropped, et cetera.

Sounds like someone had an ND, to me.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
pipoman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-12-10 02:18 PM
Response to Original message
10. He had it in his waist band,
took it out of his waist band with his finger on the bang button, and it fired. I wonder if anyone looked at his belly to see if he had a print from the pistol. On a similar note I have been told by numerous LEOs over the years that there seems to be bullet holes in many police locker room walls.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
jeepnstein Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-12-10 02:21 PM
Response to Reply #10
11. Paddle holsters are our friend.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
pipoman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-12-10 05:37 PM
Response to Reply #11
12. Isn't this your take on this..
or some such reality, then the guy made up the drop story to hide that he was carrying the gun concealed?

Of coarse we will never know for sure, his story just has some inherent flaws IMHO.


Of coarse there is Thunderwear if he was wearing athletic/elastic waist pants. :)
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
oneshooter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-12-10 08:22 PM
Response to Reply #12
14.  I wonder if he had a CHL?
If not then he was carrying illegally. California law only allows concealed carry with a permit.

Oneshooter
Armed and Livin in Texas
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
pipoman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-12-10 09:41 PM
Response to Reply #14
15. That is why he is saying it was in the bag
IMO. While it may not be excusable, it is explainable and understandable that he forgot it was there. If it was in his waist band, forgot is a tougher sell. In the process of trying to deflect some culpability in a brief, panicked moment, he made an admission to a nearly impossible scenario. I just spent too many years wading through and trying to fortify/justify such panicked excuses...can't put the gene back in the bottle and all that..
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Euromutt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-13-10 05:21 AM
Response to Reply #14
27. He was charged with "Carrying a Loaded Firearm in Public," so presumably not
Concealed carry permits aren't exactly rare in Contra Costa county, but you have to be either retired law enforcement, or politically connected. The most readily available method of becoming connected is to contribute generously to the sheriff's re-election fund, either directly or by joining the Sheriff's Posse (http://www.cocoposse.org/). It's a racket, basically. Read here for more info: http://www.ninehundred.net/~equalccw/expose.html#rupf
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
jeepnstein Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-13-10 08:35 AM
Response to Reply #12
28. Either he was packing...
or he had it bouncing around loose in his gym bag. Either way he needs to just fess up and deal with it. People get killed from negligence.

Nobody's perfect and it only takes a split second to really do some harm. That's why I'm so hard on bad safety practices.

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-12-10 10:08 PM
Response to Original message
16. Deleted message
Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.
 
cowman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-12-10 10:13 PM
Response to Reply #16
18. How can he be
a law abiding criminal?
Inquiring minds want to know
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-12-10 10:16 PM
Response to Reply #18
19. Deleted message
Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.
 
cowman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-12-10 10:19 PM
Response to Reply #19
20. Ha Ha Ha
you really out do yourself everytime. Let's see here, I've been carrying for several years now and I don't remember committing a crime nor have I had the urge to.
Your visceral hatred of gun owners and guns is really going to burn you out someday.
I actually feel pity for you
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-12-10 10:23 PM
Response to Reply #20
21. Deleted message
Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.
 
cowman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-12-10 10:29 PM
Response to Reply #21
22. Well I guess
I don't have to worry about that as my weapons won't be taken away. BTW nice try a goading me but fail
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
ManiacJoe Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-12-10 11:41 PM
Response to Reply #19
23. Do you not read the posts in this forum?
If you did, you would see the most of us go well out of our way to make sure we do not need to shoot anyone.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Euromutt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-13-10 05:04 AM
Response to Reply #16
26. Yep, he should have contributed generously to Sheriff Rupf's re-election fund
Ten years ago, a contribution of $700 in an election year to Rupf's campaign fund would get you a CCW permit in Contra Costa county, even if Rupf had to violate his own policies (such as not issuing permits to residents of incorporated cities) to do it. Assuming, that is, you were a golfing buddy of the DA, or either were or could afford a high-powered lawyer to threaten to sue the CCSD if Rupf didn't give you your permit.

In one particularly egregious case, a guy whom Rupf approved for a permit gave as his "extraordinary good cause" that he had to go into Richmond now and again. No way in hell could you get a permit if you actually lived in Richmond, but if you had to visit Richmond, well, you obviously need to be able to carry a gun!

For some interesting background reading on Rupf's cronyism, see here: http://www.ninehundred.net/~equalccw/expose.html#rupf
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
DU AdBot (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view 
this author's profile Click to add 
this author to your buddy list Click to add 
this author to your Ignore list Mon Dec 09th 2024, 11:05 AM
Response to Original message
Advertisements [?]
 Top

Home » Discuss » Topic Forums » Guns Donate to DU

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators


Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.

Home  |  Discussion Forums  |  Journals |  Store  |  Donate

About DU  |  Contact Us  |  Privacy Policy

Got a message for Democratic Underground? Click here to send us a message.

© 2001 - 2011 Democratic Underground, LLC