Three gun show accidents happened on Saturday’s Gun Appreciation Day in North Carolina, Ohio, and Indiana. Three people were injured in North Carolina, one person in Ohio, and one person in Indiana. Saturday was a busy day with gun shows and most likely gun show accidents because it was Gun Appreciation Day according to an International Business Times report on Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013.
The gun show accident that happened in North Carolina at the Dixie Gun and Knife Show injured a 50-year-old man and a 54-year-old woman. Also injured during North Carolina’s gun show was a 54-year-old retired Wake County Sheriff's deputy who was working at the show. None of the three people in North Carolina sustained any life-threatening injuries.
The accident at North Carolina’s gun show happened when Gary Lynn Wilson went to the gun show’s entrance to have his 12-gauge shotgun checked. When he took it out of the gun case, the shotgun accidentally fired. Brian Long, a spokesperson for the gun show host, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, said that all three were “struck by birdshot from the gun.”
Despite the gun show accident in North Carolina, the gun show event is scheduled to continue on Sunday. However, no private gun sales or the carrying of personal guns will be allowed while on the gun show property.
The gun show accident in Ohio happened at the Medina Gun Show at the Medina County Fairgrounds. When a gun dealer was checking out a semi-automatic handgun that he bought Saturday, he accidentally pulled the trigger. Even though the dealer had taken out the gun’s magazine, he forgot to take out one last round of the chamber.
“Police say the gun's magazine had been removed from the firearm but one round remained in the chamber.”
According to Medina’s Police Chief Pat Berarducci, it appears that “the bullet struck the floor, then a longtime friend of the gun dealer. The man was wounded in the arm and leg.”
The victim of Ohio’s gun show accident was taken by helicopter to a Cleveland hospital. Cleveland is about 30 miles north of Medina. His condition is not known at this time.
The gun show accident in Indiana happened shortly after 4:15 p.m. at the Indiana State Fairgrounds during the Indy 1500 Gun and Knife Show. Emory L. Cozee was loading a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun when he accidentally shot himself in the hand. WISH-TV in Indianapolis reported on Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013 that Emory L. Cozee had been a visitor to the gun show.
“The man, identified as Emory L. Cozee, 54, was walking back to his car, was loading his .45 caliber semi-automatic and accidentally shot himself in the hand, Varner says.”
Indiana’s State Police rushed to the Indy 1500 Gun and Knife Show and the gun victim was taken to Wishard Memorial Hospital. The gun show will continue on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Three gun show accidents in three different states under three different circumstances appears to be sending a message. If gun shows and gun owners are not safe from guns, how can a whole nation.
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