Eastern Missouri man dies after shooting self while teaching firearms safety

[proud2BlibKansan]

IMPERIAL, Mo. | An eastern Missouri man is dead after accidentally shooting himself while teaching firearms safety to his girlfriend.

KSDK-TV reports that 40-year-old James Looney of Imperial died of a gunshot wound to the head.

The shooting happened Friday. Jefferson County Sheriff Glenn Boyer told the station that according to witnesses, Looney was demonstrating how to use the different safety mechanisms on several guns. Witnesses told authorities that Looney would put the guns to his head, ask his girlfriend if she thought the gun would go off, then pull the trigger.

The safety mechanisms worked for the first two guns. But the third gun fired. Looney died Saturday at a hospital.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/1460241.html

[The Straight Story]

1. Well, I am sure his GF understands the safety angle pretty well now (nt)

[divideandconquer]

5. "Gun safety" is an oxymoron if there ever was one

[Critters2]

46. +1 nt

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. Yes, I'll bet she'll never put a gun to her own head and pull the trigger..safety or not

[TxRider]

27. First rule of safety I learned was don't point a gun at anyone

Second rule was always treat a gun as if it's loaded and can fire.

Some teacher this guy was...

[roguevalley]

42. oh crap, The Straight Story. If I laugh I will go to hell I am sure but

that is so damned funny. Dry humor is my achilles heel.

[CreekDog]

44. Never, ever hold a gun like th--

:hide:

[olegramps]

58. And his name was Looney

[lysosome]

2. Those who can't do teach.

[MrScorpio]

3. These jokes write themselves. nt

[Kaylee]

4. Firearm safety by putting a gun to your head....yup.

[Retired AF Dem]

6. Sounds like the safety mechanism in

his brain was broken. Darwin wins again.

[onethatcares]

7. "do you think this will go off"

Hey ya'll, watch me pull a rabbit outa my ass.

Jeeez, there just ain't no accounting for stupidity. I pity his girlfriend though.

[dysfunctional press]

19. usually preceded by: "here, hold my beer for a second..."

[11 Bravo]

9. That's horrible, and I'm truly sorry for his friends and family, but ...

if anyone ever deserved a Darwin Award it's this guy. Pointing a gun at one's head in the name of firearms safety? Asinine! You treat a firearm as if it's always loaded and, the safety is always off.

[DFW]

10. Do they even award Darwin awards to guys named "Looney" ??

"Witnesses told authorities that Looney would put the guns to his head, ask his girlfriend if she thought the gun would go off, then pull the trigger."

I wonder if her answer on that third try was yes?

It's hardly funny, but what the hell other reaction can you have?

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

11. A clearcut ideology of "Do as I say, not as I do." n/t

[Swamp Rat]

12. Darwin +1

:dunce:

[Historic NY]

13. Well bullets kill especially in unloaded guns.

[blondeatlast]

56. I'm already ashamed of myself for giggling at this--now I'm roffling.

And I won't apologize for it, either! :rofl:

[cbdo2007]

14. Based on his teaching "method" - this should qualify him for a Darwin award.

"Looney would put the guns to his head, ask his girlfriend if she thought the gun would go off, then pull the trigger."

This brings up countless questions as well...

1. if he has a gun to his head and asks if the safety is on or not, wouldn't his gf always answer "Yes" knowing he would pull the trigger to test it?

2. who taught this guy "gun safety"? Cause he obviously didn't know enough to be teaching it.

3. did his "gun safety" teacher meet the same demise during his first class?

4. can they really say that he "accidentally shot himself" when he put the gun to his head on purpose and pulled the trigger on purpose?

5. should they really note that this guy was "teaching firearms safety" in the headline? If you're teaching it at Walmart or the gun range, fine, if you're doing it in your house in front of your girlfriend, you probably shouldn't get the respectable distinction of "firearms teacher".

should I go on?

[AlinPA]

15. Looney? The poor guy's name is Looney? OMG.

[dysfunctional press]

18. you got the verb wrong.

his name WAS looney.

[dysfunctional press]

16. he ought to sue the maker of that third gun's safety mechanism.

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. He's dead. How is he supposed to file a lawsuit?

LOL

[Retired AF Dem]

21. I don't think "he" is going to sue

anyone. :) And in case your post isn't being sarcastic the article doesn't state what the third gun was. It could be anything from he forgot to set the safety to it could of been a Glock or a revolver where all he had to do was pull the trigger. As I stated in a earlier post, the safety in his brain was not working.

[jaksavage]

17. There are no words.

Only laughter.
Sorry.

[hankthecrank]

22. guns should always treated as being loaded

Never point it anything you don't want to shoot

never treat a gun as being unloaded

The not pulling trigger doesn't even come into play if you follow the above rules

[Vinnie From Indy]

23. The last thing he said was....

"I have half a mind to quit this demonstration!"

[quiet.american]

24. Poor guy, but this is one of those stories where you just can't make this stuff up. nt

[rd_kent]

25. He was teaching "firearms stupidity" not safety.

[GreenPartyVoter]

32. Agreed

[islandmkl]

26. as my friend Niles says about nearly every potential event that might happen:

"What could possibly go wrong?"

[ohheckyeah]

28. This is terrible

but I can't stop laughing. I'm sorry the guy is dead, really, but how stupid do you have to be to point a gun at your own head and pull a trigger?

And his name is Looney? LOL

[damntexdem]

29. Talk about a learning moment!

Now remember -- the safest thing is to not handle a gun.

[davsand]

30. Bet she's glad he wasn't teaching safe sex.

Stupid should hurt. Just sayin...



Laura

[Skittles]

31. he killed himself, and made it look like an accident

that's what I think

[L0oniX]

60. +1

[BJ10]

33. D'oh!!!

[JVS]

34. Lesson learned

[logosoco]

35. Believe it or not....

this guy used to live next door to me. I hate to speak ill of the dead, but he was an arrogant asshole. Used to call the cops for stupid stuff like somebody was sitting on the other side of his back fence in the shade from one of his trees. He also had cameras around his house (and this is not a neighborhood where one would need that!).
In this unfortunate incident I can totally picture him being a know-it-all and thinking he was smarter than the gun.
He did have a kid (probably just now starting high school) and I feel really bad for the kid.
And for the record....NOT EVERYONE in Jefferson County,MO is a stupid redneck!!!!!!!!!(I have been seeing that on comment boards on this story). I'm sure the mixture of guns and alcohol have caused problems in every county in this country.

[Greyhound]

36. Another "Darwin Award" recipient.

"You can't fix stupid" - Ron White

[DCKit]

37. The school where he learned to teach gun safety is going to lose their accreditation. n/t

[TexasObserver]

38. A guy named Looney did that. Imagine that.

[struggle4progress]

39. Googled "accidentally shot himself" & got 671,000 hits. Didn't realize it's such a popular pasttime.

De gustibus non est disputandum

[Maru Kitteh]

40. It's hard to believe a man of his caliber was single.

[Franzia]

48. .22 or .44?

[GodlyDemocrat]

41. A man died here. Let's show some class and not revel in his death.

Regardless of how ill thought out the demonstration was.

[CreekDog]

43. it's not funny, even if the guy is named "Looney" and he was teaching firearm "safety"

ok maybe a little bit. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :bounce: :bounce: :rofl: :rofl: :party:

[rollingrock]

45. Are you sure this isn't an Onion article?

almost too hard to believe.

[Critters2]

47. Russian Solitaire. nt

[Franzia]

49. 5 bullets, 1 empty chamber?

[Critters2]

50. "Let's see which gun safety doesn't work".

Same effect.

[rollingrock]

54. Before he pulled the trigger

he said to himself 'are ya feeling lucky, punk.'

[malaise]

51. Darwin rules

See yah!

[nadinbrzezinski]

52. YOU NEVER, EVER aim a gun at another human being

unless you intend to kill them.

Even I, the addled medic, know THAT!

RIP, but that is worthy of a Darwin...

[Ikonoklast]

53. How could he have known one thing to teach about firearm safety,

when it is obvious he didn't even understand the very first rule about it?

RULE #1. Always treat a firearm as if it is loaded. ALWAYS. ALWAYS.

RULE #2. Never point the barrel of a firearm at anything you do not intend to kill.


And he was trying to teach someone safety? Sounds like an idiot that didn't understand firearms or safety one little bit.

[immoderate]

55. If he were a spelling teacher, he would start with "moran."

I'm series!!111!!

--imm

[Historic NY]

57. As it turns out firewater & gunpowder don't mix............

Sheriff's deputies believe that alcohol was involved, KDSK reported....

http://news.aol.com/article/man-shoots-self-teaching-gun-safety-dies/680078

[seabeyond]

59. it IS a horrible accident. and easy enough to say, i am sorry for those that

will grieve and have to resolve the end of this mans life in such a tragic manner

[L0oniX]

61. Must have been a repuke.

[xchrom]

62. ...

'Witnesses told authorities that Looney would put the guns to his head, ask his girlfriend if she thought the gun would go off, then pull the trigger.'

[Javaman]

63. maybe on a subtle level, he was unhappy in his relationship with her?

and didn't know how to tell her?

:shrug:

[rucky]

64. Now THAT'S dedication!

He taught the ultimate lesson in gun safety.

[asdjrocky]

65. You don't point guns at someone.

Loaded, unloaded, safety, no safety, locked, unlocked. No exceptions. That is the first "gun safety" tip I ever got and so far, I've managed to live nearly 50 years without shooting anyone, including myself.

I see Darwin's work still rings true.

[SidDithers]

66. Could have been worse...

he could have been pointing it as his GF.

Sid

[bertman]

67. Moral of the story: never take gun safety lessons from a Looney.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

68. Reminds me of that guy who was demonstrating the strength of the safety glass...

in the high rise office building.