IL: Accidental shooting at gun show injures two

[seamusTX]

In Bloomington, Illinois, today an unloaded Mini-14 rifle accidentally "went off" resulting in the injury of two people. The victims are expected to survive.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi- ... ?track=rss" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/ar ... 03286.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Egyptian Collectors Association?

- Jim

[puma guy]

In Bloomington, Illinois, today an unloaded Mini-14 rifle accidentally "went off" resulting in the injury of two people. The victims are expected to survive.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi- ... ?track=rss" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/ar ... 03286.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Egyptian Collectors Association?

- Jim

Makes one Wonder..... wait I have to stop for a moment while I quieten the sirens and whistles and loud bells going off in my head. OK.. . . . Or Maybe A Brady Arms Collector had a spare .223. round with no plce to store it.

[Oldgringo]

Southern Illinois is oft called little Egypt . Bloomington not so much.

Too bad about the shooting at the gun show. That's not good...for the shootees or the rest of the us gun lovers.

[longtooth]

I hate it for them.
I hate that the shows are posted in Texas but this is why.

[Teamless]

I hate that the shows are posted in Texas but this is why.

that may be accurate, but at the same time, if you are carrying under CHL, there is NOT a clause to allow removing the weapon from a holster at a gun show.
I for one, if legal, would put it on and go to the show.
I would not pull the weapon as if I did, I would have just broken the law

[seamusTX]

Bloomington is pretty far north.

I was born in Illinois, in Chicago; but Chicago might as well be another country. I've said before that both the city and the rest of the state would be happy to go their separate ways. We just don't need two U.S. senators from Chicago.

I don't know why every gun show operator does not require actions to be tie-wrapped or otherwise blocked, but apparently this one did not.

- Jim

[TexasGal]

Don't need this kind of thing happening. It's fortunate no one was killed...this time. Much as I dislike carrying in a gun with a zip tie and no ammo, I would rather that than this.

[Griz44]

The Egyptian Collectors Association?

Personally, I prefer collecting Russians, the are much hardier and cold weather resistant.

On another note though, the article was not very clear on whose gun it was. Was it a vendors gun or a customers gun? Every time I have taken a gun to a show, it was checked at the door and ty-wrapped through the chamber to make sure it was safe. I can see where if it were a vendors firearm, maybe it did not get checked.

[rm9792]

I hate it for them.
I hate that the shows are posted in Texas but this is why.

" As the patron was laying the rifle back on a vendor table," this implies to me that it was a vendor weapon so how would posting have helped? I wouldnt put it past the Brady crowd pulling a stunt like this by loading that round in it.

[seamusTX]

Paranoia is all well and good, but you are suggesting that someone committed attempted murder to make a political point.

This kind of thing happens when people get lazy about safety checks. Thinking a gun is unloaded after removing the magazine is far too common, combined with lack of trigger discipline. That's why these "unloaded" guns keep "going off."

- Jim

[rm9792]

Honestly I would not doubt it. Liberals have some extremely crazy followers and seem far more prone to viloence than your average conservative. They have burnt many resorts, homes and vehicles with no regard to any humans being around or possibly hurt. They may not have intended for anyone to get hurt but have no issue with collateral damage either. Dont put your morals and values in the mind of a determined liberal. AntiGunners tend to be as violent and hate filled as earth firsters.
I see no reason an FFL vendor would have a round in a new or used rifle, although it may have been a non-ffl selling his personal stock from a table as well. Then I could go with lazy.

[thr_wedge]

I found a vendor's loaded revolver at a gun show a couple years ago. Why I ALWAYS check every firearm I hold. Recently a friend showed me one of his guns. He cleared the firearm, handed it to me, I checked it, looked at it handed it back, he checked it again. SOP.

[QB]

Our gun shows in the DFW metroplex are posted yet I've been to THREE gunshows where there was a ND. In Big Town it was a customer I believe (rifle), in Frisco I'm not sure who it was, at Dallas Market Hall it was a long time vendor.

I just don't know why people think it's OK to pull a trigger without checking to make sure the weapon is unloaded. Even if the rules state no loaded firearms, that doesn't change the rules of safe gun handling.

I've been swept many many times at gunshows and it's just unbelievable what goes on. I'm always on red alert at the gunshows....and a bit jumpy.

[puma guy]

Honestly I would not doubt it. Liberals have some extremely crazy followers and seem far more prone to viloence than your average conservative. They have burnt many resorts, homes and vehicles with no regard to any humans being around or possibly hurt. They may not have intended for anyone to get hurt but have no issue with collateral damage either. Dont put your morals and values in the mind of a determined liberal. AntiGunners tend to be as violent and hate filled as earth firsters.
I see no reason an FFL vendor would have a round in a new or used rifle, although it may have been a non-ffl selling his personal stock from a table as well. Then I could go with lazy.

You beat me to it, but yes I can see a lunatic action from any liberal organization. Granted there are right wing fanatics but usually we know who they are. There has always been a tendency for more violence and violent acts from liberal factions in my opinion. I go back to the days of SDS and sit-ins and radical political group that robbed banks, killed judges, burned buildings, shot police and bombed cars and structures. The libs always justified the actions. Someone is going to point out that there are right wing actions that were heinous as well. There are. But just look at where people like Angela Davis and Bill Aryers are today."Respected" academians. Do you think David Duke could rise to the level of that ilk or the guy who bombed an abortion clinic? IMHO none of the named individuals deserve any respect much less recognition as some sort of leader role in society. We still have among us individuals that will justify their action by the old end justifies the means and it happens more often on the libs side. You rarely hear about ELF any more but I assure you they are still destroying property in the name of their cause. Media is not going to report it. I doubt 1 person in ten knows that before 911 ELF was considered the number one terrorist threat in the US. All you ever heard about was right wing fanatical groups with Nazi ties. So I guess my paranoia was tickled a bit when I saw this. I certainly hope it's not the case, but I wouldn't rule it out altogether.

[seamusTX]

It's possible, of course. But in Illinois a person must have a firearm owner identification card (FOID) to buy or possess a firearm or ammunition. I don't know what they do at gun shows there to see if people who want to look at weapons have a FOID. It may not be possible anonymously and surreptitiously to slip a cartridge into a rifle.

And someone could drive a couple of hundred miles round-trip to Indiana and buy ammunition without an ID.

I'm out of date on Illinois law. I don't know if a private party can legally sell a firearm there without an FFL being involved. (OK, I checked, and a background check and waiting period are required.)

In any case, it took multiple oversights for the weapon to somehow be loaded with the action closed and for someone to pull the trigger.

- Jim