This past weekend a student in Orlando, Florida was shot in a class. There are many copies of the article floating around, but they all seem to have the same text so here’s a link to one of the articles.

A few things about this report need to be addressed.

A gun instructor accidently shot a student in the foot Saturday during an NRA class to receive certification to carry a concealed weapon, Orlando police said.

First, it should be noted that the NRA doesn’t specifically have classes about concealed carry certification. The NRA course “Personal Protection Outside the Home” does talk about concealed carry techniques, but it has nothing to do with actual certification. However, many states accept NRA training as the “required training” component towards the state’s licensing requirements. So, the above statement is a bit of a half-truth. If we want to get a little more pedantic, the NRA is very specific that a firearm is not referred to as a “weapon”. Furthermore, knives, sticks, saps, clubs, swords, nunchucks, and so on are also weapons, but any sort of “license to carry a concealed weapon” is about handguns. Thus the above sentence is better phrased: “A gun instructor negligently shot a student in the foot Saturday during a class to receive certification to carry a concealed handgun, Orlando police said.”

Nevertheless, the question remains: why was there live ammunition in the classroom? If this instructor was an NRA Certified Instructor, he should know that NRA policy states you are not to have live ammo in the classroom.

Second, why was the instructor’s gun out of the holster? If you do have a live gun, if things are running hot, it’s simple: put it in the holster, leave it there, don’t touch it and mess with it. This is what you risk.

Third, this NRA instructor violated the 3 very rules that are fundamental to the very course he was teaching. I don’t know what course he was teaching, but every NRA course I’m aware of discusses the 3 safety rules:

1. Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.
2. Always keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.
3. Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use.

And by the accounts we have, all 3 rules were violated. Not the sort of learning the students wanted, but they got a sober lesson in what happens if you violate the rules.

Granted, we are without complete details of the incident, so the above is based upon what was reported. Regardless of some specific details, the indisputable fact is a student was on the receiving end of a bullet from an instructor’s gun. For that to happen, the basic rules of gun safety had to be violated. Other information may come to light that clear up some other details, but the fundamental problem appears to be indisputable.

“We won’t be having anything like that in our church in the future,” [church communication’s director Kristy-Lee] Lawley said.

The event was being held in a classroom at a local church, because some of the church members requested holding the class there. Not church-sponsored, just an available location. It’s a shame that the negligence of one has now ruined things for everyone. I hope the church would be willing to reconsider, but I can understand their reluctance.

I love how the article ends:

This was not the first time something’s gone wrong during a gun demonstration in Orlando. In 2004, a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration shot himself in the thigh with a .40-caliber Glock pistol while talking to schoolchildren about gun safety.

That situation was something totally different. Yes it still reeks of rules violations, yes it will forever live in Internet infamy. But the way it was tacked onto the article? Good grief… a little reporter bias? It also ignores something. The implication of the above is this is now 2 instances of such a thing happening in Orlando in the past 6 years (or more). I don’t have the numbers, but I’d reason hundreds if not thousands of other successful gun courses have occurred in Orlando in the past 6+ years and nothing happened. Let’s ignore all the good for the sake of a little sensationalized reporting.

Bottom line: the rules start with an important word — always.