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Boy, 13, dies after being shot in head at gun show

Josey1Josey1 Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
edited July 2002 in General Discussion
Boy, 13, dies after being shot in head at gun show

Boy, 13, dies after being shot at gun show
Alabama boy accidentally shot at Norcross gun show

By ANDREA JONES
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer

The 13-year-old Alabama boy accidentally shot in the face at a Gwinnett gun show Sunday died at 12:10 p.m. today, hospital officials said.

A single bullet struck Stephen Bray King in his right eye and lodged in his brain just after noon Sunday, two hours into the Eastman Gun Show.

The boy's father, Anthony Grant, 38, said his son was standing on his left side and facing a vendor's counter when the gun was fired.

It was unclear how the shooting happened or whose gun, a .38-caliber revolver, was involved. Police are still investigating the incident to determine whether charges will be filed, Gwinnett County police spokesman Ray Dunlap said.

Stephen was taken to Scottish Rite Children's Hospital in Atlanta, where he underwent surgery.

He was a rising freshman at Prattville High School in Prattville near Montgomery.


Alabama boy, 13, accidentally shot in head at Norcross gun show
It's unclear who fired round at counter

By RICK BADIE and RICHARD WHITT
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writers

A fun weekend for an Alabama father and son ended in tragedy Sunday when the 13-year-old was accidentally shot in the face at a gun show in Norcross.

A single bullet from a handgun, fired at point-blank range, struck Stephen Bray King in his right eye and lodged in his brain. Stephen was listed in critical condition this morning after surgery at Scottish Rite Children's Hospital of Atlanta.

Stephen, a rising freshman at Prattville High School in Prattville near Montgomery, was attending the gun show with his father, Anthony Grant, 38, of Montgomery.

"We were looking at holsters," Grant said at the hospital. "I was reaching to get money out of my pocket when the shot went off." Stephen was standing on Grant's left side facing the counter. Grant's girlfriend, Kathi McQueen, was standing on his right side.

The shot, which spewed gunpowder residue onto the left side of Grant's T-shirt, barely missed his head and came from directly behind the counter, Grant said. He said he did not see who fired the gun.

"There were all kinds of people behind the counter," said Grant. "I was looking down, so I didn't see anything."

Stephen immediately fell and did not respond to treatment given almost immediately by a physician and an emergency medical technician who were attending the show, Grant said.

McQueen, also of Montgomery, confirmed Grant's version of what happened.

Police are still investigating who was holding the gun.

"It appears to be an accidental shooting," said Gwinnett Police spokesman Ray Dunlap, who did not expect charges to be filed. "At this point, we don't know if it was a vendor's gun, but it was not a gun being exhibited on a table. It was an unfortunate discharge."

After the shooting, paramedics were summoned to treat a vendor at the show who experienced chest pains but did not have to be hospitalized, Dunlap said.

The shooting occurred about 12:15 p.m., two hours into the Eastman Gun Show, which drew thousands Saturday and Sunday to the North Atlanta Trade Center off Indian Trail Road, officials said.

Grant said he and Stephen, who lives with his mother, came to Atlanta for a weekend outing.

"He's a super kid," said Grant. "A smart kid. He was an A-B student. He won a (school) science award last year."

They went to Whitewater Park on Saturday, and he and Stephen had looked forward to attending the gun show, he said.

At Eastman Gun Shows, security workers at the front door check all firearms brought into the show. They attach plastic safety ties to the triggers or firing mechanisms of all guns, including those on exhibit, so they can't be fired.

Vendors, though, are allowed to carry loaded handguns for protection. They can't place the loaded guns on the table or let customers handle them, authorities said Sunday.

Allowing vendors to carry loaded weapons is "where the potential danger is," said Ron Pafford, a Suwanee resident, who attended the gun show Sunday.

"I really can't imagine how somebody else could get in there with a loaded clip," said Pafford, who grew up duck hunting with his father. "When you walk through the door, you have two officers who put a zip-tie on any gun, pistol or shotgun." Eastman Gun Shows started out in 1981 as a one-time event in Albany. Founded by Matthew Eastman, its popularity has grown to the point that 32 shows are scheduled this year, a Web site states.

The gun show closed at 5 p.m. Sunday.

Accidental shootings at gun shows are not common, but they do occur. In May, a gun dealer and his stepson were wounded in an accidental shooting at a Florence, Ala., gun show. The dealer reached for his personal handgun from a side holster when it fired, hitting him in the hand and his stepson in the leg.

Even after the shooting Sunday, folks poured into the gun show. Some arrived with handguns strapped to their waists; others carried rifles and shotguns. Khaled Eid of Lilburn had his twin, 4-year-old boys in tow.

The incident, he said, was yet another reason to "get out of a sport I have loved since I was 12."

http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/metro/0702/15gunshow.html



"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878

Comments

  • beantolebeantole Member Posts: 1,086 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    This makes me very sad. Life is so unfair. No excuse for this shooting
    at all!! What the hell is wrong with some people?? Just no excuse!
  • gravediggergravedigger Member Posts: 945 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    This is just the kind of incident that the anti-gunners have been waiting for to stike the final blow in their gun show 'loophole' campaign. There is no excuse for this shooting. If the gun was from a dealer's table (more than likely), he should have his FFL revoked. What kind of idiot has a loaded gun on his table? At every show I've ever been to, officers always check the guns coming in, but what about the dealers? Sorry to rant like this, but it angers me to know that this poor kid had his life cut short because of some moron.

    -Marcus

    Happiness is a new gun.
  • bullelkbullelk Member Posts: 679 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Most gun shows I've attended require Safety ties on all firearms on display, I think they should require that at all gun shows.

    Secondly, there is no need for the exhibitors to be carrying a loaded firearm in the gun show. There should be enough security in the show where they shouldn't have to worry about protecting themselves. It's okay once they are outside the door.

    If they are so concerned about their safety in a gun show, they should carry a pistol with a detachable magazine, with it detached. Even that, I'm not too crazy about.

    I've been to hundreds of gun shows in my lifetime, and have been an exhibitor many, many times and have never seen a situtation where some exhibitor needed to carry a loaded gun.

    I fear more about the guns on display, and someone sticking a loaded round in one and use it, or leave it on the table for someone else to make a mistake.

    Stop and think about, do you think the exhibitors should really need to carry a loaded gun in the show.

    I may open a can of worms, but incidents like this do more harm to us gun enthusiasts then you can imagine. Anti-Gunners love this kind of BS.
  • BullzeyeBullzeye Member Posts: 3,560
    edited November -1
    Just like in any other interest group, there are a certain small number of gun owners and dealers who are outrageously negligent, mentally disturbed, or just plain moronic. And they cast a pall over the rest of us.

    Gun shows draw large numbers of gun owners and dealers. Therefore, it's logical to assume that the risk of one of the bad apples showing up and causing a crisis increases greatly.

    As I'm sure all of you know, guns are not toys. And there are few other things in this world that are as unforgiving to mistakes, however minor. That's how a small percentage of jerks can cause a dis-proportionally large number of negligent discharges.

    Furthermore: FFL owners are clearly not immune to this. This boy died when the dealer allowed his carry pistol to negligently discharge. It was a .38 revolver, they said, so I can only assume he was an ignorant * who put all 6 rounds into a revolver with no safety and left the hammer down on a loaded chamber. Only takes a little bit of absent-minded fiddling with that hammer...

    Besides, anyone who simply cant live without a fully-loaded revolver on their hip in the middle of a gun show (where every other gun is flex-cuffed open) has serious problems.
  • leeblackmanleeblackman Member Posts: 5,303 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I can't believe this, its an outrage. I want to say its one of those SH*T Happens situations. It just makes me mad they had to make a big story about it. Just anti-gun propaganda, by selective news reporting.

    If I'm wrong please correct me, I won't be offended.

    The sound of a 12 gauge pump clears a house fatser than Rosie O eats a Big Mac !
  • bullelkbullelk Member Posts: 679 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Bullzeye,
    What bothers me is some guys get nu#s off, and seem to think they are pretty big when they are walking around with a gun at their side.

    No offence to most volunteer fireman, but a some of the volunteers get their guns off when they respond to some emergency, and non-emergency situtions. They have to go like a bat out of hell with their red lights flashing, and put other people in danger with their reckless behavior and driving.

    These people have to change their mindset!!

    In the interest of safety and the gun show industry, I think they should put a stop against anyone carrying a loaded firearm in a gun show. It's a shame we have to do that, but I think it's the only way we can save our industry.
  • gskyhawkgskyhawk Member Posts: 4,773
    edited November -1
    I don't know what happen at this show but I was working a show this past winter with a dealer friend of mine when this guy comes up to our table, says he has a pistol to sell and opens up his gun case with a glock model 23 inside with 3 fully loaded mags and he had been thru the guards at the door , yes they had used zip ties on the gun but had still let him come in with the 3 loaded mag right there with the pistol.
    I later went up and asked the gaurds about it and they said all they worried about was checking the guns , they didn't worry about any mags or ammo that might be with the guns, doesn't make much sense to me but that the ways it was at this show.
    how hard would it be for some one to cut that tie off anf pop in a loaded mag?
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