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
Titan: “Not true. I spent my four in the Navy and I wouldn’t have a gun if it was given to me.” Hahaha – doesn’t that make you a sailer rather than a soldier? I get seasick too easily to ever survive the Navy! They would have thrown me overboard.
Eric – I hate those ninja bullets. Or when guns give birth to bullets. Darn bullets.
Annie:
“I don’t think any military member can keep their guns. They go back to the armory, I may be wrong, but I think that’s what I’ve heard. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. My military daughter and her husband don’t have guns or rifles in their home. My other conservative daughter and her husband keep hunting rifles locked up tightly and keep no hand guns. My other son and daughter and her husband do not have guns. They all seem quite normal.”
I could be wrong, but I do not think your service rifle follows you when you switch duty stations. I was talking about owning weapons in general. I can’t think of a single person I know who is or was in the military who does not own a personal firearm.
Do the hunting rifles qualify your daughter and her husband as “silly gun people?” Do you tell them that they should not own weapons? Are they as normal as your other son and daughter who do not have guns?
Sorry, but the “silly gun people” comment seemed to have no idea who uses guns in everyday life, or that there are lawful reasons to own them.
Eric:
“We understand guns are tools, not talismans. I believe as fewer American men have served in the armed forces, the mystic view of guns has grown.”
So true. I’ve always been taught that weapons are tools that require responsibility and serious safety precautions. Knives, staple guns, and nail guns all carry responsibilities for their safe usage.
It’s weird. You never hear that cars kill people. Or knives kill people. Or rope. Or blunt instruments. With every other instrument I can think of, the perpetrator is held accountable. But not so with guns. The blame gets put on guns and gun owners, not the criminals who misuse them. And then they come out with new restrictive laws that only law-abiding citizens follow, which does nothing to prevent gun crimes by the mentally ill. I am not aware of anyone who said, wait, I can’t use this gun to kill someone because the magazine holds too many bullets.
Eric:
True. He was also very severe about keeping my finger off the trigger until I was ready to fire. He was in the military, so I benefited from all the stories about the difference between camouflage and cover, etc. But I wonder if I would hesitate at a crucial moment, since I never served in the military or police myself, and never did repetitive drills. I would hope not.
I was pretty glad for the availability of firearms when we had a 4 foot rattler in our backyard, striking at the dogs. We’d put up snake fencing, but it must have found a chink, or followed a rodent hole in. It was so long, I didn’t dare try the shovel method. And if it had gotten away, it would have been possibly struck my little boy when he went in the backyard next.
My dad convinced a would-be-intruder to find another house simply by chambering a round on the other side of a door. He didn’t say a word. I wasn’t born yet, but I believe my brother was a baby. There was a beat of silence, and then, “I’m very sorry sir. I’ll just be leaving now,” from the other side of the door that he had been trying to break into. This was at night, so he had to assume there would be people home. No good intentions, that’s for sure.
Paul Schulte:
Whether one carries a personal weapon in the Navy depends on what one’s job is and where one is doing it. Disbursing officers and their escort are armed when ashore carrying cash and aboard ship while conducting payday. The petty officer of the watch is armed on the quarterdeck in port. The designated in-port security team has immediate access to arms. On nuclear-armed ships there are armed guards in designated spaces. There are always riflemen manning the rail during swim calls (not very common) and in man overboard situations in case of sharks. Boarding parties are usually armed. Combat pilots carry a sidearm the last I heard.
porkchop – reminds me of Jimmy Steward in The Man Who Killed Liberty Valance. The have the guns, but can they shoot? 😉
As far back as I can remember, gun shows have required all handguns to be unloaded and made safe with a zip-tie. For semi-automatics, the zip-tie goes down the barrel and out the ejector port. No need to rack the slide to check for an empty chamber.
WordMess is miss firing on comments.
One of mine just got blasted by Mr. Trigger Happy.
Tough case.
“The Columbia County district attorney’s office will determine whether the vendor, Geoffrey Hawk, will face criminal charges stemming from the shooting Saturday at the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds, Officer Brad Sharrow said.
…
Joel Koehler, the gun show organizer, said Hawk was asked to close his booth and leave the show, which continued Sunday. The show has an entrance sign that says “No Loaded Weapons” and Koehler said his staff checks all guns to ensure they are unloaded before they are brought in for display.” (JT’s Link)
Dredd, I retrieved your comment at 3:42.
Eric: “You have military in your family, no? Every soldier is “gun people”.”
Not true. I spent my four in the Navy and I wouldn’t have a gun if it was given to me.
kraaken – except for basic I thought they did not allow naval personnel to be armed. The Navy has those big a** guns. 😉
I learned the hard way some people just comment to get negative attention, that being all they’re really capable of getting.
This is a civil matter, not criminal. It’s funny, there are often domestic problems that cops love to tell the person who called, “This is a civil matter, ma’am.” When there is potential for real criminal activity. Cops say they like to do preventive work, but for the most part they’re full o’ shit. They want easy pops, like this one.
Karen S,
Your dad applied standard gun safety teaching, but in my opinion, it’s better to emphasize other practices such as trigger discipline and weapon awareness (whether the safety is switched on, whether a round is chambered). It’s best not to fire off a round accidently no matter where the weapon is pointed. One can drop a weapon, a round can ricochet, punch through a wall, etc..
Also, if it ever came down to that moment where the tool meets its purpose, I don’t want to hesitate – and I don’t want my soldiers to hesitate – pointing a gun at someone with intent just because it’s been drilled into us not to point our guns at people.
Gun safety teaching is not either/or, of course.
Another safety measure that may make more sense than displaying disassembled weapons if assembling and disassembling is too much of a hassle for salesmen and customers or if there’s a fear of mixing up and/or losing parts: plugs.
Lock the bolt, insert an easily and quickly removable/replaceable plastic or rubber plug in the chamber, and there’s no mystery whether a ninja bullet crawled inside the gun while you weren’t looking. Then release the bolt and pull that trigger all you want.
wrxdave: “If he is convicted, the victim here may have little to recover in remedies.”
A civil case can be brought separately from the criminal case. It’s common for lawyers to wait for a criminal case to resolve and incorporate the result in a subsequent civil case.
Restitution can also be part of a criminal case, but that request is up to the prosecution, which doesn’t directly represent the victim and it takes places in criminal context. Whether restitution indemnifies the criminal defendant from subsequent civil action, I don’t know given that a prosecutor doesn’t directly represent the victim.
Neo, I was expecting gun lovers to make a remark to the effect that they were ‘strange’ for not being enamored with gun ownership.
The Army’s weapons are owned by and stay with the Army. In some other militaries, soldiers keep their guns with them. Many service members do own firearms, including civilian versions of the firearms they use at work. We understand guns are tools, not talismans. I believe as fewer American men have served in the armed forces, the mystic view of guns has grown. At least, being a soldier demystified them for me.
I haven’t had a gun to call my own since turning in my M249, M16A2, and M9 for the last time, but I have no objection to doing so again. I’m comfortable with them. If it ever makes more sense for me to own a gun than not own a gun, then I’ll own a gun. I appreciate having the right to do so.
Annie: They all seem quite normal.
Defining “normal” can present quite a quandary.
I am of the opinion that normalcy is the expression of one’s opinions based on their perceptions of personal and social norms at any given time.
I don’t know whether to laugh…. or to laugh!!!!
Charl Van Wyk’s warning to Americans on gun control
http://youtu.be/hkR0sXHKvRY
There are civil remedies and there are criminal punishments. If he is convicted, the victim here may have little to recover in remedies. This was a negligent shooting by somebody who absolutely should have known better. No firearm at any gun show of the many I have attended is ever allowed to cross the threshold loaded. I have a feeling he was showing his personal gun and holster and thus should have been even more familiar with it, but it should still not be allowed loaded into a gun show, simply because these types of mistakes can be so easily made.
Thank God he didn’t carry a .45 or .44 Magnum instead, or no remedy might be sufficient.
We have, in this country, criminalized far too much stuff in general. We do have a Civil Court System ideally suited to exactly this situation. Generally, in the past at least, the “intent” was required for many criminal acts, he obviously did not intend to shoot her. This is negligence and stupidity.
When have we all not been negligent or stupid about something (hopefully NOT our firearms), do we all need a little prison time to punish us for that? Or perhaps making restitution is the better lesson that at least provided some benefit to both parties. With prison, both parties lose.
I don’t think any military member can keep their guns. They go back to the armory, I may be wrong, but I think that’s what I’ve heard. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. My military daughter and her husband don’t have guns or rifles in their home. My other conservative daughter and her husband keep hunting rifles locked up tightly and keep no hand guns. My other son and daughter and her husband do not have guns. They all seem quite normal. 🙂