“We do not believe Michael intended to hurt his grandchild, but the act was not very smart,” Houchin said.

A Texas grandfather who was about to officiate a wedding in Nebraska errantly shot and wounded his own 12-year-old grandson when he tried to fire a gun in the air to get the attention of guests Saturday, according to authorities.

Odessa, Texas resident Michael Gardner, 62, is facing legal trouble after the Pietta 1860 snub nose revolver went off around 5 p.m. and accidentally struck the young boy in the shoulder at Hillside Events, Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office chief deputy Ben Houchin said during a press conference Monday.

The gun fired a blank round that had black powder in the casing that was glued together, the sheriff’s official said.

Before the attention-catching shot, guests were scattered around the Denton, Nebraska venue because the nuptials started late after someone forgot the wedding rings, Houchin explained.

“When he decided to cock back the hammer of this revolver it slipped and it shot his grandson in the left shoulder, causing an injury,” Houchin said, later adding. “What we believe is the glue injured the child.”

The injury was non-life threatening, though the boy still required hospitalization.

“We do not believe Michael intended to hurt his grandchild, but the act was not very smart,” Houchin said.

Gardner was still slapped with a child abuse charge because of the carelessness and the injury to the youngster, the chief deputy said. He surrendered to authorities Monday.

“It’s just kind of neglectful to take a gun out that has blanks and fire it amongst people,” he said.

  • BluJay320@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    22·
    1 year ago

    I’m not a fan of guns myself, but this is quite a reach.

    There are certainly many, MANY more irresponsible gun owners than responsible ones out there. But to say that there are none is just objectively false.

    Do accidents happen? Yes, and they can happen to anyone. The difference is that a responsible owner’s accident isn’t going to end up with a person getting shot.

    • RaoulDook@lemmy.worldEnglish
      17·
      1 year ago

      No, there are far more responsible gun owners than irresponsible ones. There are roughly 100 million gun owners in the USA. If “most” of those people were irresponsible then there wouldn’t be 100 million of them left. We only hear about the irresponsible ones having accidents or committing crimes, which is a tiny percentage of the overall 100 million.

        • RaoulDook@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          Well considering that car accidents and other accidents not involving cars are typically the 4th or 5th leading cause of death in the USA, versus homicides of any kind being farther down than 10th to 15th place (varying by year)… it would be even More Responsible of you all to not drive or be a passenger in any motor vehicle, and to wear impact-resistant personal armor at all times to prevent injuries from falling. You could wear your protective suit and stay indoors at all times to be Even More Responsible.

          Also considering that heart disease and cancer are the permanent top causes of death in the USA, to be Most Responsible you should do all of the above (never travel and always wear your protective suit and stay indoors) and eat only a healthy diet with plenty of cancer fighting vitamins for every meal.

          • nilloc@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
            1·
            1 year ago

            I’d be inclined to agree with this argument if any of the other causes of death were from devices that are only designed to kill things.