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submitted 10 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

A Texas man accidentally shot a child while officiating a wedding in Lancaster County on Saturday, the sheriff’s office says.

Chief Deputy Ben Houchin said deputies were sent to a wedding at Hillside Events near Denton on a report of a gunshot wound.

Deputies learned that 62-year-old Michael Gardner, the wedding’s officiant, fired a gun to get everyone’s attention.

“He was going to fire in the air, and as he did that, it slipped and went off,” Houchin said.

The gun was loaded with a blank that Gardner made with gunpowder and glue.

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[-] pineapplelover@lemm.ee 232 points 10 months ago

The child should've also carried a gun to protect themselves from bad wedding officiants.

[-] Blackbeard@lemmy.world 96 points 10 months ago

The only thing that stops a bad pastor with a gun is a good toddler with a gun.

[-] BruceTwarzen@kbin.social 31 points 10 months ago

Child molesters hate you right now

[-] meco03211@lemmy.world 15 points 10 months ago

catholic church wants to know your location

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[-] Swim@lemmy.ca 14 points 10 months ago
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[-] Nougat@kbin.social 104 points 10 months ago

Houchin said Gardner accidentally shot a child in the shoulder. They were taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

Also, it was a blank, so the kid doesn't have a bullet hole. None of this excuses wielding a firearm irresponsibly in a crowd of people, and I'll take "Trigger discipline" for $200, Alex. Just wanted to bring to the fore that the kid will be okay.

[-] RampageDon@lemmy.ml 51 points 10 months ago

A home made blank from glue and gunpowder lmao

[-] JustAManOnAToilet@lemmy.world 35 points 10 months ago

What are you some kind of city boy that buys his blanks at the store?

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[-] pete_the_cat@lemmy.world 22 points 10 months ago

Blanks can kill, ask Brandon Lee.

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[-] SheeEttin@lemmy.world 13 points 10 months ago

And also "not pointing a gun toward a crowd" discipline.

[-] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 15 points 10 months ago

It says they meant to point it upward and it slipped but "not drawing a gun in a crowd" would have been better.

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[-] CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world 87 points 10 months ago

The only reason his grandkid is still alive is because he wasn't QUITE stupid enough to put live rounds in his 'attention getter'. What a moron.

I've seen a guy shoot his daughter in the leg at a public outdoor range because he cleared a misfire in his handgun incorrectly. She lived, but goddamn. It only takes a second of inattention to kill someone and it happens all the time. These people do not treat firearms with respect. It's not a fucking noisemaker or a penis replacement. It kills, instantly.

[-] OhShitSon@lemm.ee 46 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Which is why the rest of the world thinks it's fucking insane how lax gun laws are in the US.

[-] CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world 34 points 10 months ago

And the rest of the world is right.

[-] TragicNotCute@lemmy.world 24 points 10 months ago

I just imagine the internal conversation that morning.

well I could bring a bell, or maybe even an air horn. I want to make sure I can control the group. I guess I could also raise my voice too.

OR…

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[-] agent_flounder@lemmy.one 17 points 10 months ago

This is why, while I support recognizing the right to self defense, I do not support Constitutional carry. Something this dangerous should require regular safety training. I felt the same about driving.

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[-] Salamendacious@lemmy.world 16 points 10 months ago

Blanks are not 100% safe either. A blank is what killed Brandon Lee on the set of the Crow back in the 90s.

[-] GentlemanLoser@ttrpg.network 18 points 10 months ago

Sorta, yep! It happened in two parts - for one scene the gun had homemade cartridges with primer and and an actual bullet, but no gunpowder, so that the ammo looked real in close-ups of the gun. At some point that round was fired and the primer was enough to discharge the bullet, which lodged itself in the barrel.

Then, later on in another scene, they loaded the same gun with blanks full of powder and primer but no bullet, so when fired they'd get the usual bang and flash. Except, since there was a bullet lodged in the barrel, the blank round still had enough force to propel the bullet out the rest of the way and into Brandon Lee.

It happened in such a freaky way that it feels like there must be more to it, but just as likely human stupidity and bad luck.

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[-] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 13 points 10 months ago

See this kinda stuff is why I don't own a real firearm. I grew up with guns in the house, went shooting with friends and my dad. I don't need a way to accidentally kill someone around.

[-] Pratai@lemmy.ca 76 points 10 months ago

If the kid had a gun, that wouldn’t have happened, right? AMiRiTe?

[-] ElBarto@sh.itjust.works 24 points 10 months ago

Depends on if he's a good kid or a bad kid, because it's good people with guns that stop bad people with guns apparently...

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[-] breadsmasher@lemmy.world 57 points 10 months ago

“buh guns not the the problem!1!”

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[-] sturmblast@lemmy.world 56 points 10 months ago

who the fuck has guns at their wedding?

[-] AA5B@lemmy.world 31 points 10 months ago

Who the fuck uses a gun to get someone’s attention?

[-] SheeEttin@lemmy.world 28 points 10 months ago

Track and field race officials.

But they use special starter pistols.

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[-] acutfjg@feddit.nl 22 points 10 months ago

I would say Texans, but idiots is more apt.

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[-] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 54 points 10 months ago

If only there has been a good officiant with a gun!

[-] ColonelSanders@lemmy.world 32 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Tell me you're from Texas without actually telling me you're from Texas

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[-] schwim@reddthat.com 30 points 10 months ago

Had the child been armed, this tragedy would have never occurred. 'Murica!

[-] Treczoks@lemmy.world 26 points 10 months ago

It is no accident if a person carries a gun with no real reason to do so.

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[-] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 26 points 10 months ago

I go to a wedding and I take with me...

A gun!

Only in America!

[-] Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca 17 points 10 months ago

Aren't there countries where multiple people fire AK47s in the air after a wedding?

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[-] cabron_offsets@lemmy.world 25 points 10 months ago

Fucking backward degenerates.

[-] Treczoks@lemmy.world 21 points 10 months ago

fired a gun to get everyone’s attention.

He f-ing what? Even if he didn't shot the child, this man belongs behind bar for sheer stupidity.

Reason No. 4020 for "American people in general should not have access to firearms".

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[-] moitoi@feddit.de 21 points 10 months ago

Deputies learned that 62-year-old Michael Gardner, the wedding’s officiant, fired a gun to get everyone’s attention.

When did he think it was a good idea? When?

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[-] DTFpanda@lemmy.world 15 points 10 months ago

Makes me think of that scene from the Office when Dwight randomly fires a gun in the air at the start of the rabies awareness race. First time I saw that, I thought, "they sure do know how to exaggerate American culture" but alas, here we are.

[-] crashoverride@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago

If there is anyone here who has cause to think that I should not have a gun, speak now or forever...BANG.....oh shit, sorry kid!

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this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2023
494 points (97.5% liked)

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