Woman in her early 80s unintentionally shoots herself in the chest

Delores Smith, of Erie, Pennsylvania is in her early 80s. Wednesday she unintentionally shot herself in the chest with a handgun.
The elderly women lives alone and told police she was looking at her gun when she unintentionally discharged the weapon.
The incident happened around 3 p.m. Smith was unable to call for help and it wasn't until her daughter arrived in the early evening that she was taken to the hospital. Smith was conscious and talking when she was placed in the ambulance. Information about her condition has not been released.

Unintentional shooting at Arlington National Cemetery Injures Woman

On Monday, just an hour and a half before President Obama laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, a handgun was discharged in the parking lot.
An active duty serviceman was in his car, trying to move a gun from under the seat when he dropped the gun. The gun fell under the car and when the serviceman when to retrieve it he unintentionally discharged the gun.
The bullet grazed his mother's leg. She was taken to George Washington University Hospital for treatment.
Guns are not allowed on the cemetery property and military law charges are pending against the serviceman. Police confiscated his gun as evidence.

Man unintentionally shoots himself while target shooting

Dan Gray, of Springfield, Ohio was target shooting with several friends Saturday. As Gray was preparing to shoot he unintentionally discharged the .357 handgun he was holding.
The gun was pointed at his feet and he was shot in the right foot causing serious, but not life-threatening, injury. He was taken to the hospital in Springfield for treatment.
Police said that no charges have been filed because the shooting is believed to be an unintentional, self-inflicted discharge. Alcohol was not involved.

Man unintentionally discharges gun, injures man in apartment next door

Tad Waddell,of Sheffield, Alabama, was cleaning his .45-caliber handgun when he unintentionally discharged the gun. The bullet went through the wall of his apartment into the apartment next door and struck James Gray in the chest.
Gray was taken to the Huntsville Hospital where he is listed in critical condition.
"It's just crazy, I don't know," said a neighbor. "Words can't describe how I feel about this, it's just unbelievable to shoot through a wall and hit somebody and put them in critical condition."
Police will present the findings of their investigation to the District Attorney to see if any charges should be filed against Waddell.
"It was stupid, stupid what happened," said the local police chief. "But one thing we have to say is, yeah it was an accident, this person does not appear that he intentionally done this, but you have to remember that there is a guy fighting for his life right now."

Charges filed in unintentional shooting death of 11-year-old boy

26-year-old Michael Norman, of Lake City, Florida, has been charged with one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm with altered serial numbers and aggravated manslaughter in connection with the unintentional shooting death of 11-year-old Jarvis Jackson.
Norman was babysitting Jackson and two other children. He told police that he didn't feel the apartment complex was safe so he brought a Ruger 9mm handgun with him for protection.
According to the police report, Norman left the firearm on the kitchen table, loaded and unlocked, visible and accessible by others in the apartment, including the children.
Norman was sleeping when he was awakened around 8 a.m. by the sound of a gunshot. According to reports, the 4-year-old girl woke up to see the 2-year-old girl playing with the handgun. The 4-year-old then joined the 2-year-old in handling the gun. While the 4-year-old was playing with the gun it discharged, shooting Jackson in the neck.
Norman told police he bought the gun "from a guy off of the street in White Springs a few weeks ago." According to a neighbor after the shooting Norman fled the apartment screaming for help. He also kept repeating, "I'm gonna go to prison for this, I'm gonna go to prison for this."

2-year-old finds dad's gun, shoots himself in the mouth

A 2-year-old Randolph County, North Carolina boy is in stable condition after unintentionally shooting himself in the mouth. Police are calling it a miracle that the boy survived and was not more seriously injured.
The toddler was home with his parents, Jose Palencia and Agelica Rameriez, when he found his father's improperly locked .45-caliber handgun in his parents' bedroom. According to reports, the boy put the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. The bullet broke a mandible bone in his jaw but luckily missed vital blood vessels and the spinal column.
The sheriff's office has indicated that charges will be filed against one or both of the parents. Storing an unsecured firearm in a place where minors can access it is a misdemeanor in North Carolina with punishment ranging from probation to jail time.

Woman playing golf hit by stray bullet

70-year-old Jane Pendergast was on the fifth hole of the Ocean Forest golf course in Sea Island, Georgia when she was hit by a stray bullet.
65-year-old Edward Johnson was shooting at squirrels on the course with his .22-caliber rifle when he unintentionally shot Pendergast.
Pendergast was shot in the abdomen. She was taken to the hospital and is in stable condition following surgery.
Johnson was been arrested and charged with reckless conduct.

Woman unintentionally shoots and kills herself while showing off her new assault rifle

22-year-old Anastasia Adair, of Federal Heights, Colorado, is described in one news report as a "new gun enthusiast." Anastasia was with her husband and some friends in the garage when she went upstairs to get her recently purchased assault rifle to show to her friends.
As she was walking back down the stairs into the garage she reached to hand the rifle to her husband, Shane, when the gun unintentionally discharged.
Anastasia was shot in the head. She was taken to the local hospital where she was pronounced dead.
According to police, the couple had been firing the rifle the day before and Shane told investigators the gun had a light trigger pull. The police did not identify the specific model but said it was an AK-47 type rifle.

Father showing off handguns unintentionally shoots 13-month-old daughter

26-year-old Kevin Sayre, of Tullahoma, Tennessee, was showing how parts of one handgun were interchangeable with the other one when he unintentionally discharged a handgun. The 9mm bullet struck his 13-month-old daughter, Prissy, in the chest.
The child was taken to the local hospital and later airlifted to the Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.  She is listed in stable, but critical condition.
Sayre has been arrested several times since his first arrest in 2006 for driving with a suspended license.  However, none of the offenses were enough to prohibit him from possessing firearms.
According to his Facebook page his political view is "AK-47 Justice."
Sayre has been charged with aggravated assault in the shooting of his daughter. "It's our contention that it was reckless that he was even performing those steps with the child present," said a police spokesperson.

Gun discharges when woman drops purse, shoots friend in the leg

51-year-old Pamela Beck, of Pinellas Park, Florida was at a Starbucks in a mall in St. Petersburg with her friend, 38-year-old Amie Peterson. When Beck put her purse down to pay for her coffee a loaded handgun in her purse discharged. The bullet from the .25-caliber semi-automatic handgun struck Peterson above the knee.
Peterson was treated and released at a nearby trauma center.
Beck told police that she forgot she had the gun in her purse and that she did not have a concealed weapons permit for the gun. She said her father had given her the gun about a year ago.
In December, 2011, a gun discharged in a Starbucks in Cheyenne, Wyoming when a 17-year-old girl dropped her purse and the .38 special Derringer pistol inside discharged. No one was injured in that incident. The girl's father had given her the gun for protection. And in February, 2012 a gun discharged in a mall in South Carolina when a woman put her purse down and the gun inside fired. The bullet hit the woman's friend in the leg.
Guns are the only consumer product manufactured in American not regulated by a federal agency for health and safety. These guns that discharge when bumped clearly have a design flaw yet the Consumer Product Safety Commission has no authority to issue a recall on any gun.

Obama OFA Staffer Caught in the Crossfire of Someone Else's Gunfight

28-year-old Gregory Jackson is the Southern region director for Organizing for Action, the post-election form of President Obama's grassroots campaign organization. Jackson's job is to build up community support for gun violence prevention legislation in the South region of the U.S.
On April 21st, Jackson was in Washington, D.C. attending his cousin's bachelor party. As he and four others left the party they came upon two men shouting at one another. They walked in the other direction to avoid the fight. But the fight escalated and someone starting shooting.
"Like anybody, we ran," said Jackson. "But as we ran, I caught one of the stray bullets into my right calf."
Jackson has had five surgeries since being shot. He was released from the hospital briefly but had to be sent right back when two blood clots formed in his leg. He has another surgery scheduled.
"It will be another couple weeks, if not months, before I can get fully back to work," he said.
"This traumatic experience brought home how critical it is that our country's representatives take action to prevent these incidents from happening in the future," Jackson added.

Trio of unintentional shootings involving children in Texas in the past week

Last Wednesday, 2-year-old Kinzler Davis, of Corsicana, Texas found a loaded, unlocked handgun in a bedroom in his house and unintentionally shot himself in the head. The boy was flown to the Children's Hospital in Dallas but died of his injuries later that night.
According to police reports, the boy's father was in a walk-in closet in the bedroom at the time of the shooting. The district attorney's office will determine if any charges will be filed. However, under Texas law while a person can be held criminally liable for failing to secure a firearm, if the negligent person is a member of the family of the child who discharged the firearm, and the child was killed, an arrest cannot be made until seven days after the offense was committed.
On Saturday, 5-year-old Jason Haley and another boy, 8, were alone in a bedroom in a house in Denton, Texas when the older boy found a loaded, unlocked .22-caliber rifle. The boy picked up the rifle, pointed it at Jason and fired the gun. Jason was shot in the head. He was taken to the Children's Hospital in Dallas and died of his injuries Monday afternoon. Jason's grandparents were in the house at the time of the shooting, but his parents were at work.
Also on Saturday, a 6-year-old boy from Amarillo, Texas, was at a relative's house when he found a loaded, unlocked handgun that had been "hidden" by the homeowner and unintentionally shot himself in the abdomen. The boy was flow to Lubbock for treatment and is expected to survive. He is currently listed in stable condition. Police reminded the public that children are naturally curious and hiding a weapon out of reach is not the same as gun locks and gun safes.