A Texas man accidentally shot a child while officiating a wedding in Lancaster County on Saturday, the sheriff’s office says.

Chief Deputy Ben Houchin said deputies were sent to a wedding at Hillside Events near Denton on a report of a gunshot wound.

Deputies learned that 62-year-old Michael Gardner, the wedding’s officiant, fired a gun to get everyone’s attention.

“He was going to fire in the air, and as he did that, it slipped and went off,” Houchin said.

The gun was loaded with a blank that Gardner made with gunpowder and glue.

  • JustAManOnAToilet@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    arrow-down
    7
    ·
    1 year ago

    So first of all, no we don’t have double the murder rate, and secondly even looking specifically at “firearm related deaths” we aren’t even in the top 5? All that with 120 guns per 100 people, nearly double that of the next country (according to the above commenter).

    • hperrin@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      Yes, there are multiple factors, just like basically everything in life. We’re not the absolute worst at one statistic, so there’s no problem right?

      That stat obviously won’t scale linearly, because it’s not like every 1 person owns 1.2 guns. There are a few people who own like 50 guns, and that drives up the average.

      If you’re cool being the only “first world” nation way up near the top of the gun death list though, I guess there’s probably no convincing you anyway.