Parents Against Gun Violence has posted, every month for two years now, a list of some of the most egregious examples of gun violence in our nation’s news. This December, like every month since they started, PAGV had to narrow down a very long list: as they pointed out in the comments to their post, about 80 people get shot in the U.S. every day.
What you might not realize are the genuinely God-awful, stupid, inhuman reasons why people get shot. Prepare to be stunned:
- A man tried to rob my store, but I have a concealed carry license, so I pulled out my gun. I unintentionally shot a bystander, and one of my bullets hit a nearby house. The robber got away unharmed. (IL, 12/05)
- I heard a noise so I grabbed my shotgun to investigate, but unintentionally discharged it into my five-month-old baby’s crib. (GA, 12/06)
- I wanted my 14-year-old niece to give me her Jordans so I could sell them. She said no, so I shot her dead. (WA, 12/07)
- My neighbor was watching a movie and the sound was bothering me so I knocked on his door and shot him when he answered. (MO, 12/12)
- My fiancé was holding my dog so I could euthanize it with my gun. The bullet went through the dog and into his wrist. (FL, 12/15)
- I was teaching my wife how to defend herself with a gun when I unintentionally shot her in the shoulder. (OK, 12/16)
- A coworker made a joke about me so I shot him in the butt. (PA, 12/17)
- Dad and I were fighting and his gun fell on the floor. It went off when I picked it up and shot mom dead. (MI, 12/17)
- I was watching the Eagles game with my buddies and we got into an argument about football, so I shot three of them. (PA, 12/20)
- I was using video chat to demonstrate the proper way to clean a gun when I unintentionally shot myself on camera. (FL, 12/22)
- I met a woman who didn’t believe in God, so I shot her dead and made a shrine out of her body. (AZ, 12/24)
- My boyfriend didn’t want to spend Christmas with my mom, so I shot him. (SC, 12/25)
- I got a new gun for Christmas and I was playing with it and unintentionally shot my two-year-old niece in the face. (OR, 12/25)
- Another customer at McDonald’s yelled at me that my order was ready, so I shot him. (FL, 12/26)
- I got into an argument at a family gathering, so I started blasting away in a blind rage. I shot two little kids playing with Christmas presents. (MI, 12/27)
- My brother accused me of disrespecting our mom, so I threatened to shoot him. He handed me my gun and dared me to shoot him, so I did. Twice. (FL, 12/27)
- I grabbed my gun to go see what my dogs were barking at. I unintentionally shot myself in the leg, then lied to police and said a home invader shot me. (NY, 12/28)
- I heard somebody approaching my bed in the middle of the night, so I grabbed my gun and fired. It was my daughter. She’s dead now. (FL, 12/29)
- A car pulled into the parking lot of my apartment complex while the driver consulted the GPS. The headlights were right in my face, so I shot nine times at the car, hitting the six-year-old in the back seat. (TX, 12/29)
- My son’s girlfriend was using my washing machine, and we had a fight about it, so I shot her and another guy who was visiting and then my unarmed son wrestled my gun away and shot me with it. (CA, 12/31)
- A guy fell asleep at my New Year’s Eve party. I thought it would be funny to scare him and wake him up with my gun pointed at his face. But I unintentionally shot him in the head. (AZ, 12/31)
21 people shot for 21 ridiculous reasons — and that’s just one quarter of one day’s worth of shootings for the good old U.S. of A. Gun violence isn’t just an epidemic — it’s an epidemic fueled by an equally frightening epidemic of stupidity, dehumanization, selfishness, and fear.
(Featured image courtesy of LINUZ90 via Flickr, shared using a Creative Commons 2.0 license.)
