Gunfight re-enactment goes awry in Tombstone, Arizona

[CatWoman]

TOMBSTONE, Ariz. -- Two people were hit with bullets Sunday during a gunfight re-enactment in the Old West town of Tombstone that was supposed to involve blanks.

The shooting occurred Sunday afternoon as two actors in the Tombstone Vigilante group engaged in a standoff as they re-enacted an episode from the town made famous by Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and the O.K. Corral.

The Tombstone Marshal's Office said actor Tom Carter's guns fired live rounds, hitting a fellow member of the group.

CBS Tuscon affiliate KOLD-TV, citing the Cochise County Sheriff's Office, reports Ken Curtis was struck in the upper-groin area. Curtis fell to the ground and was flown to a hospital in Tucson, where he underwent surgery to remove the bullet.

Other rounds struck businesses and a female bystander. The sheriff's office told KOLD says the woman was hit by shrapnel and refused medical treatment.

KOLD says Carter arrived late and didn't have his gun properly inspected.


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/gunfight-re-enactment-goes-awry-in-tombstone-arizona/

[HassleCat]

1. Forrest Gump would say stupid is as stupid does

The actors use their personal revolvers for the reenactment, apparently. They don't even have special pistols that fire only blanks. Keeping it real, too real.

[leftyladyfrommo]

2. Oops! nt

[Rebkeh]

3. Unsurprised

Having been to one of these reenactments, I can't say this is unexpected. Tombstone, AZ is a surreal place.

Still though, a live round in a fake gunfight?

[panader0]

4. I live about twenty miles away and our band has played there many times.

Yes, it can be a bit surreal.
Welcome to DU.

[Rebkeh]

43. Thanks

So welcoming here, it's nice.

[cherokeeprogressive]

58. Have you ever been to Karchner Caverns?

A most awesome place.

[GGJohn]

66. Hey there fellow Arizonian,

I live up around the Flagstaff area, beautiful country.

[LonePirate]

5. Another responsible gun owner suddenly makes the news for being irresponsible.

The gun rights people like to tout responsible gun owners; but all it takes is one slip up to have harmful and deadly consequences.

[GGJohn]

50. 99.9% of firearms owners are responsible citizens. eom.

[HERVEPA]

63. yeh, right. Only 1 of 1000 irresponsible. Who the hell are you trying to kid.

[GGJohn]

65. Over 300 million firearms in the country,

Firearm crimes and negligent discharges are at 20 year lows, so, yeah, 99.9% of firearm owners are responsible citizens.

[hunter]

6. Hooray! Another happy story of gun love.

[ScreamingMeemie]

7. Time to stop reenacting 25-second gunfights made famous by Hollywood.

[GGJohn]

51. Why?

Just because one moron didn't make sure he didn't have live rounds means that Tombstone should ban this tourist attraction?

[ScreamingMeemie]

55. Because the whole thing is a farce. Twenty-five seconds. As a kid, I laughed my head off

at the stupid production.

(I don't give a damn about your gun thing, just so you know (I don't do the gun battles and speak with my vote). I just don't like twisted history).

[GGJohn]

56. It's a tourist attraction, why would you deny tourists this?

What harm does it cause?


And I speak with my votes also, but I don't see what that has to do with this thread.

[CatWoman]

60. LOL

[GGJohn]

62. LOL?

Ok, I guess I fail to see the humor, but whatever.

[ScreamingMeemie]

61. One word. Stupid.

It's stupid, and it doesn't accurately reflect history, and we as a society are dumb enough as it is. End of story. Find something else to get tourist-y over.

[GGJohn]

64. So what?

If that's what tourists want to see, what harm does it cause?
Suppose they don't want to find something else to get "tourist-y" over?

I fail to see why your so negative about people wanting to attend a tourist attraction, it's their money, it's their time, it's their enjoyment, let them enjoy themselves, it causes no harm to anyone.

[ScreamingMeemie]

70. You asked. I answered. Sorry. I said my piece. Time to get rid of it.

Go argue with someone else because you aren't changing my mind over the twisting of American history for entertainment.

[GGJohn]

71. My contention is that YOU want to ban a tourist attraction because it

doesn't follow history to a tee.
That just seems a tad bit extremist to me, but, whatever.

[hobbit709]

80. Wouldn't be much of an attraction if they showed how it really went down.

Basically the Earp gang ambushed the Clanton gang from behind.

[lonestarnot]

81. Duyup. Snort.

[Quackers]

8. Something doesn't sound right.

Real bullets look nothing like blank rounds. Blanks usually won't properly cycle a weapon unless they have a blank firing adapter which would prevent a real bullet from exiting the barrel. In addition, it shouldn't have been loaded until it was ready to use. Where did the real ammo come from? I think someone should face charges over this.

[ProfessorGAC]

9. I Would Expect They Would

At the very least, this is tortious negligence.

[Adrahil]

10. Ummm... pretty sure he was using a revolver.... not a semi-auto.

But yeah, real cartridges aren't usually easily mistaken for blanks....

I've done re-enactments using real firearms before, and we were always meticulous to inspect every round of ammo.

[Quackers]

18. True

I don't even know of anyone that has live ammo out in the open while handling blanks. With it being a revolver, he either used a speed loader when loading, r he loaded each round one at a time. Either way, he should have noticed that they were live rounds. There is a third option and I think it is probably what happened. This guy kept his weapon loaded. He drove from home without verifying what type of load was inside. Once on the range, he never bothered checking anything and just started shooting. Either way, he was negligent in his actions.

[Recursion]

74. Yeah, I still have trouble imagining someone mistaking a blank for a live round

[Adrahil]

82. There are blanks that resemble real ammo....

In that they have a fake "bullet" on them. They are mainly intended for use in lever action rifles (so they feed correctly). I could see them being used since the front of the round is visible in a revolver and these would look more realistic, but they are easy to tell from the real deal by even a casual inspection. Definite negligence involved here. Someone just hit the legal lottery.

[Erose999]

34. Why wouldn't they require a gun that can only fire blanks anyway. Like a starting pistol? Why even

have the remote possibility of this happening? This speaks to a deeper problem than just one guy mixing up live and blank rounds.

[Quackers]

35. They make those. nt

[oneshooter]

38. That would hold true if the weapons used were semi-automatics.

The weapons used were Colt SAA and Winchester M1866 or 1873 rifles. All of which are manually loaded.

The failure was in the safety protocol and vetting of ALL ammunition used.

[joeybee12]

11. Yup, don't inspect the gun...

Guy should have been told he couldn't participate.

[MrScorpio]

12. Is the gun OK?

[CatWoman]

15. LOL

[MrScorpio]

17. I wondering how it's feeling

Hopefully it's not too despondent.

There's nothing worse than a depressed firearm.

[Crunchy Frog]

32. It's happy, happy, happy!

This is what a firearm lives for.

[yellowcanine]

16. Well the gun "fired 5 live rounds" all by itself so it must be not only okay but human.

"The Tombstone Marshal's Office said actor Tom Carter's guns fired live rounds,..."

[Lancero]

13. Sounds like their reenactment of people getting shot went off perfectly

[ronnie624]

14. Why would adults feel compelled to "reenact" a fairytale, anyway?

Don't they have anything better to do with their spare time, considering the issues we face these days? What a colossal waste of time and effort.

[Quackers]

19. Well, it's not a fairytale. This is a real place. The gunfight actually happened.

But on another note, adults do all kinds of stuff like this for enjoyment. Look up the term "LARPing'. I know another group build scale battleships that actually fire ball bearings. They then reenact historical battles. To each their own is what I say.

[ronnie624]

21. The actual facts about the event

are doubtless very different from the popularized version. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, Tombstone, however.

People throughout the world, including the dingbats featured in the OP's article, need to start focusing on the effects we are having on the biosphere, instead of wasting their efforts "reenacting" silly fairy tales. The issue is that serious.

[Quackers]

22. You can't regulate what people do with their free time. It would be silly to do so. nt

[ronnie624]

27. I said nothing about 'regulating'.

I merely suggested that their efforts would be better served doing something useful. It was nothing more than a benign comment on a political message board, not a call for dictatorship.

[Quackers]

29. What's wrong with a dictatorship?

Lol, jk.

[Snobblevitch]

30. It's about tourism, not just a bunch of guys doing this for their own amusement.

[Codeine]

42. You have no hobbies?

No boardgames, no XBox, no pickup soccer in the park?

[struggle4progress]

48. Many of us try to avoid hobbies involving the possible shooting of others

[GGJohn]

54. You are aware that those aren't real people on those video games aren't you? eom.

[struggle4progress]

76. Which people on which video games aren't real?

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

49. >> fairytales? <<

Sure they were...

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/earp/earphome.html

[GGJohn]

53. So in your world,

people aren't allowed to relax and have fun?

[jwirr]

28. This is a tourism community. People go there because of its

old west history.

[Crunchy Frog]

33. Do you find Renaissance festivals objectionable too?

[ronnie624]

36. Objectionable, lol?

A bunch of doofuses "reenacting" a fairytale gunfight is just silly to me, that's all. I didn't mean to offend any sensibilities.

[GGJohn]

52. A fairy tale?

Are you seriously suggesting that the gunfight at the OK Corral didn't really happen?

[Marr]

72. Ask a clergyman. /nt

[Victor_c3]

20. Having had shot blanks in training

I don't understand how anyone could mistake a blank for a live bullet when loading a weapon.

A blank has a crimped end and is slightly (although obviously) shorter in length. A live round has a bullet sticking out of the shell and is longer. The weight difference is even obvious in your hand.

[Lizzie Poppet]

25. Particularly when loading a single-action revolver like that.

You have to load each round individually: the cylinder on an old "cowboy" single-action revolver doesn't swing out like it does on a double-action revolver, so you can't use a speedloader.

What I suspect happened was that this imbecile had previously loaded the weapon with live rounds, mis-remembered that fact, and then made the incomprehensibly-stupid mistake of not physically verifying that each round was a blank before the performance.

[marmar]

23. This country is becoming a parody of itself.

[frogmarch]

24. It's happened in Hill City and

other towns in the Black Hills too, and there also have been injuries involving blanks.

[tblue37]

41. I believe a blank killed Brandon Lee during the filming of "The Crow." nt

[Mendocino]

44. In 1984

actor John-Erik Hexum fooling around while on set, placed a .44 magnum loaded with one blank to his temple. Not realizing the potential danger he fired. The concussive force and wadding from the blank shattered his skull. After six days he was declared brain-dead and taken off life support. Some good did result, as many organs, his corneas and even skin were donated to several in need.

[tblue37]

46. People underestimate the danger of blanks at close range. nt

[Agnosticsherbet]

26. If Wyatt and his brothers had just not attempted to confiscate the guns

of those fine upstanding drunks, cattle rustlers, card cheats, and thieves this would not have happened.

[Crunchy Frog]

31. Call them "Freedom wounds" not gunshot wounds.

And praise the liberties that allow you to experience such injuries.

[ladyVet]

37. That gun owner was not "responsible", and should be prosecuted.

There's no excuse for someone not knowing what they have loaded in a weapon, nor for bringing a loaded weapon to an event such as this. A gun should be unloaded when not in actual use, and thoroughly checked before loading.

My father and a bunch of his friends used to be actors in a local old west show. It was loads of fun, and we kids enjoyed playing around the entire theme park during the summer. Daddy and his friends had the best time being outlaws and the law, cowboy style!

They used real guns, but shot blanks. I don't remember my father actually ever having any real bullets. He used to load and reload the ammo they used in the act, and only blanks.

The guys never rode around with loaded weapons, and they studied hard to be safe both for themselves and the people who watched their act. My father was also very concerned about his children, and kept the firing pin hidden so we couldn't accidentally shoot the gun (a replica Colt). He let each of us (except for the baby and toddler) shoot some blanks to take the mystery out of it.

He was very big on safety, and always said never to point a gun at someone, unless you intend to kill them, because no matter how sure you are a gun isn't loaded, there's always a chance it is.

[Baitball Blogger]

39. I saw this plot in Beautiful Creatures.

[madinmaryland]

40. I bet someone gets tombstoned for that!!

[Ptah]

45. pew! pew! pew!

pew! pew! pew!

Tombstone gunfight re-enactor could face charges

TOMBSTONE, Ariz. — The shooting of an actor with a real bullet during a historical re-enactment show in Tombstone could result in criminal charges, the Tombstone Marshal's Office said.

The shooting happened Sunday afternoon as two performers from the Tombstone Vigilantes group re-enacted a gunfight in the 19th century mining town made famous by Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and the O.K. Corral. A bystander also was hurt but declined medical treatment.

One of the actor's guns fired live rounds, hitting a fellow member of the group, the Tombstone Marshal's Office said. Ken Curtis fell to the ground and was flown to a hospital in Tucson, where he underwent surgery to remove the bullet.

The marshal's office said Monday the shooting is being classified as an aggravated assault based on the recklessness and serious injury involved. No arrests have been made and the report will be forwarded to the Cochise County Attorney's Office for review.

http://tucson.com/news/local/tombstone-gunfight-re-enactor-could-face-charges/article_44a2fdbc-7610-11e5-a68b-2b5c4c529948.html

[bluedigger]

47. Was this guy there, too?

[kwassa]

57. Got stopped by the border patrol approaching Tombstone ....

Roadblock on the main highway going in.

We had also had this happen to us in upstate New York, on the highway from Canada. Stopped near both borders.

Also saw the reenactment of the gunfight at the So-So Corral. Many reenactors wandering around town in full Western drag.

My favorite part was visiting the Boot Hill Cemetery. The only entrance is through the gift shop, which for some reason sells lots of fudge.

[cherokeeprogressive]

59. Sounds like Ken Curtis was sneakin' around with Tom Carter's Lady Friend maybe. nt

[Orrex]

67. Wait... Who exactly is the huckleberry in this scenario?

[GGJohn]

68. ....

[Art_from_Ark]

69. When I saw the name "Ken Curtis", I thought of this guy:

"Matth-yewwwww"

[CBGLuthier]

79. he was never really a "singing cowboy" but he could sing rings around all of them

[Liberal_in_LA]

73. Big mistake

[Recursion]

75. The infamous El Guapo...

[Warren DeMontague]

77. "In a way, each of us has an El Guapo to face."

"...For some, shyness might be their El Guapo. For others, a lack of education might be their El Guapo. For us, El Guapo is a big, dangerous man who wants to kill us. But as sure as my name is Lucky Day, the people of Santa Poco can conquer their own personal El Guapo, who also happens to be *the actual* El Guapo!"

[Warren DeMontague]

78. I got two guns

One for each of ya