Gun show incidents are giving idiots a bad name

Dear editor:

So, the story is that Saturday, one genius managed to place a loaded gun on display at the Fort Boise Gun Show. A second genius picked up the gun and fired it. The bullet hit some other guns and sent shrapnel flying. Two casualties to bystanders, including an eye injury, which could be quite serious.

This is about the fifth story I've read this year of accidental shootings at gun shows. Maybe Congress should be considering "foreground" checks in addition to background checks for gun shows. Foreground checks would try to determine whether the people organizing gun shows and displaying weapons are actually smart enough to do so without accidentally killing someone. These people give us average idiots a bad name, and I find it hard enough being an idiot without that.

The thing to take away from this incident, besides the obvious fact that guns are dangerous, is never assume a gun is not loaded. We all know guns are not supposed to be loaded at a gun show. But that doesn't mean it's OK to pick one up and squeeze the trigger without checking to make sure there's no ammunition in it. And, if you don't know how to check, don't pick the gun up. Ask someone who knows to show you how to check it. That's how we all learned. Somebody showed us.

-- Jim Breslin