this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2023

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Wedding officiant accidentally shoots own grandson after trying to get guests’ attention (nypost.com)

submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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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.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Top three mythological creatures of American folklore:

Bigfoot
Mothman
The Responsible Gun Owner

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

Responsible Gun Owners: We must arm the Bigfoots and Mothmans!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

You never hear about responsible gun owners, because responsible gun ownership is rarely newsworthy.

[–] jordanlund -1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

In fairness, you never hear about the Responsible Gun Owner. ;)

[–] Cliffjumper 14 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I've never been to a wedding where tapping the side of a wine glass didn't immediately silence the room.

No idea why a gun would be necessary.

[–] MethodicalSpark 10 points 11 months ago

Texas.

[–] jordanlund 12 points 11 months ago

Friendly reminder that blanks aren't necessarily "safe".

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon-Erik_Hexum

In a bullet, you have a primer, gunpowder, and the projectile itself. The hammer strikes the primer, sets off the gunpowder, and sends the projectile on its way.

A blank still has the primer and the gunpowder, but instead of a projectile, there's wadding which holds the whole thing together.

The common cause of injury is that the wadding is ejected with enough force to cause injury, in this case, it was the glue holding the wadding in that was blown out, injuring the child.

In the case of Brandon Lee, the gun had an actual bullet lodged in the barrel. When the blank fired, it ejected that bullet as well, killing Lee.

In the case of Halyna Hutchins and the Rust set, live firearms and rounds had been mixed and used interchangably with prop guns and blanks, WHICH SHOULD NEVER BE DONE, resulting in a real firearm with real ammunition being used on set.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago

Apparently what was needed here was a good grandson with a gun.

That there is republican logic.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I've been to a bunch of weddings, never thought, "you know what? This wedding could use more gunfire."

Also, if you need to use a gun to get people's attention at a wedding, you shouldn't be officiating it...

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

Did the grandson return fire?

[–] Nastybutler 2 points 11 months ago

Well, I'd say he successfully got everyone's attention

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

Basically it’s the episode where Homer Simpson gets a gun.

[+] shalafi -9 points 11 months ago (2 children)

That's nothing like what most people would gather from the headline. None the less, you are responsible for following the rules, even with a non-lethal charge.

And those wads are no joke! I've reloaded shotgun shells with homemade BP and stuck the wad in an old pallet from 20'.

Weirdly enough, this is about the only situation I can imagine where it's perfectly OK to shoot in the air. But that was not where the gun was pointed, now was it?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Weirdly enough, this is about the only situation I can imagine where it’s perfectly OK to shoot in the air.

Spoken like a genuine "responsible gun owner."

[–] shalafi 0 points 11 months ago

Ever shot off fireworks? Ya know, those black powder driven rockets that leave bits of plastic falling back to Earth? Yeah, same thing.

[–] shalafi -1 points 11 months ago

Spoken like someone with no experience in the subject at hand.