Geoffrey Hawk may soon have the reputation of gun displays that are a tad too realistic for customers after he accidentally shot a customer while displaying a gun for sale. Hawk, 44, could be criminally charged for the shooting.
Hawk was at the Eagle Arms Gun show (on its face a bad interspecies mix) when he showed Krista Gearhart, 25, a concealed-carry wallet holster to the woman, Krista Gearhart, 25, when the semiautomatic .380 went off and shot her in the thigh.
He has an interesting defense: he claims that he racked the gun previously to guarantee that it was unloaded but had left the gun on the counter while doing a background check on another customer (yes, finally proof that background checks can kill). He suggested that someone may have walked up and strangely loaded the gun and then left it there. Seems a bit implausible but I have never gone to such shows.
If someone did load that weapon, it does not necessary excuse the negligence of Hawk but does implicate that person as well if there are any videotapes of the areas.
Gearhart is being remarkably generous about the ordeal and says that she feels sorry for Hawk.
I understand the recklessness allegation but I still have great trepidation over using the criminal code in such cases of obviously negligence. This clearly should be a matter that puts permits in danger and certainly can lead to civil liability though Gearhart seems disinclined to blame Hawk. Accidents do happen and we have licensing and civil liability systems to handle the repercussions. The steady criminalization of our society raises serious questions of how it is changing our relationship to each other and the state.
Source: Seattle Times
I don’t think there’s much question here. The dealer discharged his firearm, and it could have hurt many more people. Reckless endangerment seems quite appropriate here.
Annie – should military people no longer have guns when they leave the military? If your daughter keeps her gun after she leaves the service, will she be a “silly gun person?” What about when police retire? What about the wives or girlfriends of police? What about business owners walking their deposits to the bank? What about people who live in bad neighborhoods? What about people who live in Alaska who have to hunt for food because there are no grocery stores for 500 miles? What about those who live in bear country in the contiguous US? What about all those people who live near the border in AZ, where they have signs warning citizens it’s unsafe because of the drug cartels who behead and eviscerate people? They can’t sell their homes.
Silly people, wanting to defend themselves and not be bear poo!
My first firearm was a gift from a boyfriend long ago, a cop. He said that he’d never, in his entire career, arrived in time to stop a violent crime from occurring. There’s not enough time to get to a phone, call the police, describe what’s happening, and then wait for police to drive there. Many times, police train their family members and loved ones in firearms, because of what they see on their job everyday. They don’t want someone they care about to be a victim. And they are well aware of the carnage that the dregs of society are capable of.
Oh, You never point a gun at any person unless you intend to kill them. Always assume that the gun is loaded and might go off if you fart. This is called the Gun Fart Policy in the State of Missouri.
she wanted a demonstration, she got a demonstration.
sounds like either her or the dealer should stick to comic cons
Eric – I think my father was extra cautious about never pointing a weapon at anyone because he was trying to make it instinctive in his daughter to avoid any accidents. 🙂
isaac:
“What if her head had been blown off, would she have been so easy to forgive.” Well, no, because she’d be dead. Pretty hard to tell someone you forgive them if you’re dead. Unless you’re in a seance with Whoopy Goldberg.
I stated that she was probably so understanding because it was a flesh wound. She was very lucky.
Neo – yes, that’s what I’m saying. Loved that movie.
Born in the USA! Born in the USA!
I am sorry to you folks who wish to restrain our rights to arm bears. Sorry, right to bear arms. But. This is America. We had to have guns to throw the British out. We might need them to throw the Koch Brothers out.
Anyone who handles a gun who is over the age of 18 is presumed to be an adult and a citizen who can vote. If the person who handled the gun caused it to go off and it shot someone then he is responsible. No apCray about who loaded or unloaded. A gun is presumed to be loaded. A Wacko is presumed to be Wacko.
I am in full support of the right of people, even children, to bear arms. In fact I am the person who funded KidsWithGunRightsNow. The State of Missouri has the best law in America. Google Search Missouri Gun Rights. They did the new law by a Petition or Initiative Petition.
Sh*t happens. Charging this guy is not going to stop it from happening. There is civil liability, but if this guy goes to a jury trial the victim is going to be his best witness.
Military people need guns. Police need guns. Not silly.
Karen S: “It should go against every fiber of your body to point even an “unloaded” gun at someone. Heard the same thing from the people at the gun range.”
I agree with you that being extra cautious at the firing range makes sense.
But I think people go overboard and over-dramatic with the ‘don’t point that thing at me unless you intend to use it’ reaction in every circumstance. Eg, the guns have just been disassembled, cleaned, reassembled, followed by functions checks, the bolts are locked, safeties are on, yet someone still gets upset because a barrel happened to point at him for a second or two. It’s unrealistic to expect for weapons to “point up and down range” 100% of the time except when you’re actually coming on and off the range.
Annie: “Silly gun people.”
You have military in your family, no? Every soldier is “gun people”.
Silly gun people.
Arm one moron and you have to arm them all. The NRA doesn’t want further requirements such as enhanced training, enhanced safety measures, etc. Perhaps if this idiot had been scrutinized a little more the accident would not have happened. And, how is it somehow not such a big deal because it was just a thigh/flesh wound. What if her head had been blown off, would she have been so easy to forgive.
You can’t solve the problem of gun abuse with one move. However, you can reduce the slaughter by layering in/on requirements that keep people from being sloppy around guns and hopefully keep them out of the hands of morons.
Zero tolerance makes sense in narrow circumstances for sociopathic recidivist types who are on a probationary status without presumption of innocence, but as a 1-step, 1-size-fits-all, context-removed frontline reaction, I don’t agree with it, either.
Since I learned to handle firearms as a soldier, I’ve been puzzled by shooting accidents in situations (eg, OP, cleaning gun, horsing around) where the firearm should not be loaded in the 1st place, the safety should be on if there is one, or the gun shouldn’t be able to fire at all (eg, disassembled for cleaning).
A gun doesn’t magically give birth to bullets in the chamber and fire them off randomly and mysteriously. Following basic safety SOPs and knowing whether your weapon is loaded is easy stuff. It’s no harder than turning off your engine and activating your parking brake.
If that’s too hard, perhaps gun dealers should follow an SOP where the guns on display meant for customer handling are set out with the bolt, firing pin, etc, removed. If the customer wants to check the function, the gun dealer at least has to break it open and reassemble the weapon, which should include verifying no round is chambered. It’s overly cautious, but these accidental shootings shouldn’t be happening in the first place.
Even with the handgun loaded with presumably safety off, the gun shouldn’t have fired that easily. How did it fire while he was showing her the holster? Was his finger on the trigger squeezing while he was pulling it out? Was the gun itself defective?
I think you’re saying you have zero tolerance for zero tolerance.
I think zero tolerance is nonsense too.
Every time I’ve gone in a gun store, the guns are never loaded, and not allowed to be loaded. But I’ve never gone to a gun show.
My father always cautioned me to treat every gun as if were loaded, because people get shot accidentally every year by guns they assumed were unloaded. Like the “one in the chamber” mistake. It should go against every fiber of your body to point even an “unloaded” gun at someone. Heard the same thing from the people at the gun range.
I hate that he tried to lie to cover himself. If you do something wrong, just take responsibility. She seems very understanding, probably since it was a flesh wound. But ouch!!!
I do think criminal charges are overkill for what was in fact negligence.
Zero tolerance makes zero sense.
Do I even want to comment on this?
negligence? – yes
Tort? – yes (I always thought torts were civil)
Criminal? – not if you listen to the victim
Not only is it the duty of all those in possession of a firearm to ensure it’s always safe to handle, ie: always cleaned and functioning properly, cleared chamber, etc., but it’s also their duty not to point the firearm at anyone unless it’s to protect themselves or an innocence from serious harm.
JT wrote “Hawk, 44, could be criminally charged for the shooting.”
I learned long ago that one always checks a firearm to see if it is loaded before doing something which could cause injury. This is rule #1. And given that it only takes a second or two, it is criminally negligent to not do so.
As for his defense, I have attended lots of guns shows. Customers never walk behind a vendor’s table.
*Could* be charged? When are we going to start putting dangerous imbeciles in prison?