Three shot at gun show on gun appreciation day
Two people were injured at the Dixie Gun and Knife Show in North Carolina when a gun discharged during a security check at the fair’s entrance.
Three people were injured in an accidental shooting at a North Carolina gun show as pro-gun supporters marked gun appreciation day.
Officials at the Dixie Gun and Knife Show said a 12-gauge shotgun discharged while its owner was showing the gun to law enforcement officer during a security check at the fair's entrance, reports AP.
WRAL reports that Linwood Hester, 54, of Durham, NC brought the shotgun to the show at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds and was attempting to remove it from its case when the weapon went off.
"I want to emphasize that this was an accident," Joel Keith, police chief with the state Department of Agriculture told WRAL."At the time, no employee, no officer had inspected that gun."
The incident happened on Saturday afternoon, which just happens to be the day that pro-gun enthusiasts have marked as gun appreciation day.
A group called Guns Across America planned to rally in 49 states on Saturday to protest increasing calls for tightening gun laws, reports Reuters.
The Obama administration has already begun a push for an assault weapon ban after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School that killed 20 children and 6 adults in December.
"There is no question in my mind that if the federal government could get away with it they would keep passing gun laws until the Second Amendment has gone," Eric Reed, an airline pilot in Texas who launched the group told Reuters. "We as a people have to stand together on this."