Gun advocates like to promote the idea that gun violence is a problem involving ‘criminals’ using guns, ignoring the fact that the majority of gun violence comes from otherwise ‘law-abiding’ gun owners who are either a bit unhinged or happen to be having a bad day and decide to use their weapon in a dubious manner. Here are just some of the examples:
Lunatics With GunsÂ
No Spoiler Alerts, or Else!
A police officer in Australia was suspended after he pointed his gun at a colleague to keep him from spoiling the end of a movie. Thirty-year-old Dominic Gaynor was on desk duty when a fellow officer said he’d seen Top Gun: Maverick, and threatened to spill the ending. So Gaynor did what any reasonable person would do in that situation: He pulled out his gun and threatened to shoot him if he did. (The Week, 12-1-2023)
Shooting up a store over mayonnaise
Melvin Williams, a customer at a Subway restaurant, was upset about getting too much mayonnaise on his sandwich. So he pulled out his gun and shot two workers, killing 26-year-old Brittany Macon, and seriously wounding the second, who was shot in front of her 5-year-old son. (The Week, July 8, 2022, p. 7)
Shooting people over BBQ sauce
In Houston, Texas, 30-year-old Andre Thomas opened fire at restaurant workers at a Dickey’s BBQ pit because they didn’t give him enough BBQ sauce with his takeout order. (The Week, 3-11-2022, p. 6)
Prosecutors with guns
In Logan, West Virginia, an assistant prosecutor was apparently annoyed with the fake spiders colleagues had scattered around the office as Halloween decorations. So he did what any reasonable person would do: He pulled out a gun and threatened to shoot them. (USA Today, 11-2-2015, p. 4A) Not only was he not arrested and sent to jail for this incident (if any non-prosecutor had done such a thing, they most certainly would have been prosecuted by this prosecutor), but he only received a minor suspension. That this office apparently considers such behavior only mildly sanctionable tells you a bit about the character of the people who work there.
Shooting at kids for TP-ing your house
Is a common schoolkid prank deserving of the death penalty? Apparently so, at least according to many gun owners. In Spring Valley, Minnesota, police were called after a man used his gun to threaten two students who were covering trees with toilet paper as part of homecoming celebrations – something that had been a school tradition. (USAToday, 10-23-2015, p. 8A) In Huntsville, Alabama, 64-year-old Ronnie Lee Neeley was charged with assault after he came across a group of kids who were toilet-papering the neighbor’s house and decided that shooting at them was a reasonable response. One 16-year-old was struck by his bullets. Several of his friends managed to escape injury. (USA Today, 5-2-2016, p. 4A)
Don’t feed the cats, or else!
An elderly man, 70-year-old Jose Alskeda, pulled out a gun and shot at his neighbors through their front door, firing 4 shots. Why, you might wonder? He was upset that they were feeding stray cats in the neighborhood. Incredibly, this lunatic and menace to society got off with just 5 years of supervised probation and no jail time.
Shooting people over a seat in a theater
In New Mexico, an argument over seating in a movie theater led to a shooting that left 1 man dead. (USA Today, 6-28-2023, p. 3B)
Drawing your gun over thrown popcorn
In Dade City, Florida, in 2014, a retired SWAT commander fatally shot a man during an argument over thrown popcorn. The shooter claimed that he “felt threatened” by the popcorn projectiles and thus needed to use deadly force in response. (USA Today, 2-25-2022, p. 4B)
Murdering a child over orange juice
In 1991, Latasha Harlins, a 15-year-old Black girl, was shot and killed by a store clerk who mistakenly accused her of stealing a bottle of orange juice. Inexplicably, the woman received only probation for murdering this child.
Shooting people over parking spaces
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In March of 2020, a man died after being shot in the head following an altercation over a parking space at a mall in Atlanta. (Frum, 2021)
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A Maryland man is accused of killing 3 people and wounding 3 more in a dispute over a parking spot. (USA Today, 7-25-2023, p. 4B)
Shooting your landscaper because you’re displeased with his work
In August of 2020, a 75-year-old homeowner in Nashville, Tennessee, shot and wounded a landscaper he hired, apparently for not properly hauling brush from his property to the shooter’s pleasing. (Frum 2021)
Shooting teens for loud music
In November of 2020, a lunatic gun owner shot and killed a teenager for playing music too loudly in the parking lot of a motel that both parties were staying at. (Frum, 2021)
*Insert Florida one
When little girls get killed over a noise
A 9-year-old girl riding a scooter lost her life after a man with a gun opened fire because he was upset over a noise. The girl, presumably, wasn’t the actual target, but as often happens, was hit by a stray bullet. (USA Today, 8-9-2023, p. 3B)
People shooting other people over dogs
In the archives of silly reasons people shoot their fellow humans, many shootings occur in regards to disputes over animals:
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In Sioux Falls, South Dakota, a man was arrested after shooting someone 5-times over a disagreement about the treatment of a dog. (USA Today, 6-21-2023, p. 3B)
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In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, two dogs got into a fight. One dog’s owner was trying to retrieve his dog when the other dog’s owner shot at them, wounding the man and killing the dog. (ibid)
Additional resources on Gun Safety: