Do you know anyone who has been shot?

[True Dough]

According to this poll, 44 per cent of Americans know someone who has been shot. I would imagine the percentage would be higher on a forum like Stormfront, but there are many random victims of shootings too. Curious how many DUers know someone who has been shot...


Pew Research released a new report Thursday, finding that 44 percent of American adults polled said they know someone who's been shot, whether it be accidental or on purpose.

Twenty-five percent also said they or a family *member* *have* been threatened with a gun on at least one occasion.

When it comes to support for more gun control, 89 percent of those polled believe people with a mental illness shouldn't be able to obtain guns.

Eighty-four percent want background checks for private gun sales and firearm shows, and nearly 70 percent of people support an assault weapons ban.

https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/06/22/poll-44-percent-of-americans-know-someone-who-has-been-shot/22583590/

[jpak]

1. Yes

A friend of mine was shot and killed by a poacher.

A neighbor was shot by a family member

[niyad]

2. when I was 18--a co-worker, shot while her husband was cleaning his 'empty" gun.

she did survive, but, damn, it was close!!

[BainsBane]

3. My neighbor killed himself with a rifle

when we were both teenagers. So the police said.
He lives in the apartment across the hall from us.

I've had my car shot up, and I've heard plenty of shots out my window.

[MedusaX]

4. Yes. I do know people who have been shot & people who have shot others.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

5. A childhood friend and neighbor was shot and killed by his father in law. Over religion.

Two high school friends killed them selves with handguns.

A neighbor's husband/father killed himself with a shotgun. I still remember the ambulance, fire truck, and cop cars out in front of our house. Monday morning before school. I remember our family doctor standing on their porch - not sure how he wound up there. She must have called him and he ran down the block. I think I was around 5 years old.

Another childhood friend/neighbor just killed himself a few years ago.

Jeeze, I must have grown up in a bad neighborhood.

[True Dough]

6. Wow!

Yeah, you must surpass the average person in this category. My count is only one: a man who used a rifle to commit suicide. He was a youth supervisor when I was a kid.

[Dave Starsky]

18. A childhood friend of mine was killed in a shotgun accident.

He and another classmate were playing with a 12-gauge to see how fast they could eject the shells. My friend took it point blank in the chest. They were 13 years old, I think.

It not only ended my friend's life, but it ruined the lives of his friend and their families to this very day.

The consequences of this nation's gun craziness can't be measured in body counts. That figure doesn't even approach the true, lasting damage done.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

74. I can't imagine there are too many people who don't know someone who committed suicide with a gun.

Or accidental shootings. Someone mentioned downthread how it ruins more than one life.

It reminded me of another friend whose cousin was killed in an accidental shooting when we were in 8th grade. My friend still talks about his cousin to this day. They were very close growing up. Apparently the dad never recovered and took his own life 30 plus years later- with a gun.

The murder of my neighbor Mark still haunts me to this day. His wife died a few years later from cancer - leaving the kids orphans. Mark's sister and brother in law raised the kids.

This article says it was an argument. But the father in law planned the murder. He told his friends and neighbors he was going to Florida. He rented a car and a hotel nearby and showed up on the doorstep at midnight, maced Mark and shot him four times in the chest. I don't know if they ever determined what he had in mind for his daughter or kids.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1994-06-17/news/9406170330_1_fatal-shooting-shooting-death-sheriff-s-police

[True Dough]

96. Reviewing these posts

I would have to agree that many people know someone who has been shot. Yet the poll in the story that I linked in the OP indicates only 44 per cent of Americans know someone who has taken a bullet. Just a minority of people!

[exboyfil]

7. Family friend

Went to college with my wife, and we did stuff together as couples when we were dating. She was shot in the head but survived with permanent brain damage. She was a beautiful vibrant woman, and it took many years for her to get back to some semblance of normalcy. I have auto notify on for her assailant when he comes up for parole, I plan to write a letter requesting denial.

[True Dough]

10. Was the assailant

someone she knew? Some sort of vendetta or personal dispute?

[exboyfil]

13. No. A whack job having a bad day

She was with another teacher for a school field trip. They were outside in a vehicle when the guy having a bad day came by. He robbed them (took her purse), but that really wasn't the motivation.

Her husband was the first suspect, and he had a bad time being harassed by police while he tried to comfort his son. They quickly caught the guy. It was really not something that was planned.

[Jokerman]

8. A friend was shot and killed.

He was basically a good guy but he got involved with the illegal drug trade and was killed over a deal that went bad.

[Awsi Dooger]

9. A good friend of mine from Las Vegas was murdered in 2004

His name was Larry Mathews. I assume it was via gunshot but I don't know for sure. The homicide detective asked tons of questions but wouldn't answer much of anything.

As far as I know it is still unsolved. Larry's body was apparently found in the desert and required a DNA match with his mother to confirm identity.

Larry had a bad habit of bragging about his bankroll and gambling winnings, including a recent 5-figure score at the (then) Las Vegas Hilton. I think that was his downfall, if I had to guess. He had recently relocated to a weekly hotel behind Stardust called Budget Suites. He really didn't want to be there but his preferred location on Convention Center Drive on the opposite side of Stardust was being remodeled.

Larry apparently was supposed to meet a friend at Palace Station for dinner but never showed up. He had trouble with his drivers license so he wasn't driving at the time. Again, this is best-guess more than absolute but we believe Larry trusted someone for that ride -- perhaps from Budget Suites -- and they betrayed him, leading to the murder. I questioned at least 12 to 15 friends. A couple of guys told me they saw Larry late that afternoon and asked if he wanted to hang out with them and then get something to eat, but he declined while saying he had to meet someone in an hour at Palace Station.

I knew a couple of undercover detectives from Treasure Island at the time. They were familiar with Larry and talked about the case frequently with me while I walked with them across the casino floor. Once they heard the Budget Suites connection they really perked up and said it was a likely factor. They emphasized that the particular Budget Suites off Industrial Road was bad news, that many of their customers had problems there including one guy who was set up and brutally attacked and robbed. He was fortunate to survive.

Anyway, I was really shook up and that murder led to my departure from Las Vegas a few years later. I found myself less care free and spending considerably more time at home, instead of walking the sportsbook route at all hours. I was very lucky not to have an incident myself, considering the amount of cash and chips and winning sports tickets I often carried around. The numbers were staggering. I told my dad at one point and his jaw dropped in disbelief. Hey, it takes money to make money. I was playing middles and scalps (arbitrages).

Larry was a great guy. He was from Missouri but more recently from Denver, where his mother lived. I sank while reading the original Missing Person flyer because it indicated Larry hadn't spoken to his mother in about six weeks. Almost immediately I concluded he must be dead. Larry told me many times that he was embarrassed by his father the con man but very proud of his mother and close to her, with regular contact. I had only known Larry for 3 years but we shared many of the same philosophies, especially that everything tends to drift back to the beginning. Like myself, Larry didn't care about short term hysteria or results as opposed to a foundational view of just how good a sports team or individual really was.

[Egnever]

69. Interesting story

Budget suites is a shithole and the area behind the stardust was a really crappy Neighborhood to boot. Advertising money in that area is asking to get robbed. Not intending to say your friend asked to get murdered just trying to point out that is a really bad area .

I can't think of a single budget suites here in town that is not filled with folks living on the edge.

Actually lived in one myself for a few months it was a freak show the entire time.

[Awsi Dooger]

114. I lived in some of the weekly joints when I moved to town

Back in the mid '80s. Let's see, they were called Paradise Resort Inn, Tropicana Inn and Airport Inn. They were convenient and fairly cheap. The going rate at that point was roughly $100 per week but the manager at Paradise Resort Inn agreed to $80 per week if I paid for a month in advance.

Yes, people living on the edge is a good description. My room was broken into once while I was half asleep. Fortunately the guy was startled when someone was inside and he darted away. That was within my first months in town so I learned to be careful

I stayed at Airport Inn the longest. It was somewhat isolated so you basically needed a car and that seemed to raise the level of tenant somewhat.

We warned Larry about bragging about his bankroll. Didn't help. Months before he was killed he was robbed by a hooker outside the CVS on the Strip across from Stardust. She obviously knew he had money because she feigned a hug and then grabbed the roll of 100s out of Larry's pocket. She dashed to a nearby car waiting to take off on the Strip. Larry followed and grabbed the door of the car. He ended up being dragged and badly scratched up, before letting go.

All of us hoped that would be a lesson but all Larry did was switch his money location from top pocket to his socks. Then he would tell people he had switched to his socks. When tap outs asked him for a small loan Larry would hoist his leg on a chair, grab the roll of bills and peel off some cash for the tap out.

Obviously that was stupid but none of us thought it would turn out the way it did. We didn't even know Larry had been murdered for about 6 weeks. This was in spring. Larry was a football bettor but not basketball. It wasn't surprising not to see him at that time of year. He had talked about returning to Suniland Park near the Texas/New Mexico border, as he did the prior spring. They had a casino with favorable bonus machines, and also supposedly you could count cards in blackjack and not be thrown out, or at least not quickly.

After the Missing Person flyer came out I showed it to one friend after another and nobody seemed concerned. "He's at Suniland Park." That was conventional wisdom. Even when the Homicide poster came out asking for information on a couple of people who were pictured on the flyer I still had friends wave it off and insist Larry was fine, that he was still at Suniland Park.

Apparently there was some type of lead regarding jewelry. Months later I got a call from the homicide detective asking about what type of jewelry Larry wore, and specifically a prominent ring. I was embarrassed that I really didn't know. I guess I don't observe that type of thing. But it led me to believe that maybe someone had pawned some jewelry that might be connected to Larry.

[procon]

11. Yes.

My ex tried to shoot me. Luckily he was so drunk he missed, but he fired a pistol nearly point blank and I have a partial hearing loss in one ear. My brother was shot in the chest and nearly died in a hunting accident when his friend was clowning around with an "unloaded" rifle. My sister was peppered with birdshot when a man who was poaching pheasant out of season fired directly at our house.

That's just my immediate family. There is also an uncle who survived after getting shot in the arm by a robber at his store. A couple of cousins got shot in a driveby even though they were at a BBQ in the house next door, one got hit in the calf and the other was just grazed on his leg.

[NightWatcher]

12. Yep and I've been shot at twice.

[Marengo]

14. I grew up in a rather rough area of rural SW Ohio. Shot at twice myself, but not hit. Neighbor

Down the road was shot presumably by a poacher, but fortunately the wound was superficial.

[leftyladyfrommo]

15. I have known 2 people.

One shot in a drive by outside a bar.

One shot while tending bar. Some coked up guy came in looking for his x girlfriend .

Both survived.

[hunter]

16. I don't tell my getting shot stories on DU. They are grim.

Anyone who desires a gun for anything other than utilitarian purposes shouldn't have one. And no, "self defense" is not a utilitarian purpose.

Take the second amendment as it is now interpreted and shove it. Remember, slavery was Constitutional too.

I doubt most cops have the mental stability required to use guns appropriately, and these unstable fearful cops demonstrate it time and time again.

Gun fetishes are a mental illness that ought to disqualify a person from owning a gun. NRA gun fucks have a lot in common with the 14 year old gangsters I encounter. They walk around armed believing they are going to be heroes someday when they shoot some "bad guy." The whole lot of them are losers.

There's probably some hope for the fourteen year old gangster, not so much for the fifty year old guy with a chip on his shoulder and a loaded gun in his nightstand.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

17. A close relative shot her husband to death while he was sleeping.

She claimed that he was physically abusive. She copped a plea and was sentenced to 11 - 15 years in the state penitentiary but was released after three. She later married one of the detectives who investigated the killing.

[True Dough]

25. That is certainly

an odd twist at the end.

[Shell_Seas]

19. Two people, when I was a teenager

The first, TJ, when I was 14 a classmate of mine was at a friend's house, there were 3 boys there smoking marijuana and drinking wine coolers. The boy who's house it was got his parent's gun and was playing with it or showing it off, and TJ got shot and died.

The second, Greg, when I was 18 a group of friends went to get into a fight with another group at a gas station parking lot. A boy in the other group had a gun and shot into the air, or so he thought. Greg was shot in the head. Miraculously, he did not die. Although, they thought he would. All of his friends and family went to the hospital to say goodbye, but he pulled through. After that though he had a very long recovery and had suffered a traumatic brain injury. He was never the same, his speech, his memory, even his personality. It was and still is very sad.

[woodsprite]

20. Unfortunately, it seems that we (DU) know too many.

I have an aunt who was shot and left for dead during a mugging in Baltimore where she was attending law school. She survived, but only due to the persistence of the paramedics who wouldn't let her die. They kept her alive until an ER team took over. It was touch and go for quite awhile. Said aunt is now 82 yo and still assisting in a law practice.

A friend killed himself last summer. He was depressed over a dual diagnosis of Parkinson's and early stage dementia. His wife and daughter came home to find him trying to build up the courage to pull the trigger. They got out of the house and called friends, his dr. and the local police and fire (many of those people were his friends as well - small community). It was several hours, no matter what angle they used, their attempts at talking him down were not working and he succeeded.

Also, 2 friends at work. One was found by her husband and 2 daughters (friends of my daughter) when they pulled into their garage after being picked up from school. The other was found by his wife when she arrived home from work.

Too many....

[Solly Mack]

21. Yes

[SamKnause]

22. Yes.

My uncle shot our dog with a German pistol from WWll. He was drunk. Happened in the mid 60's.

Neighbor shot and killed his self with a shotgun. Happened in the mid 60's.

Ex shot and killed his self. I do not know what type of gun. Happened in the late 90's.

I have been robbed at gun point. A small pistol. It was night shift at a restaurant. Happened in early 70's.

I had a gun pointed inches away from me by ex. Some type of pistol. Happened in early 70's.

Riding in a car with 3 other people, a car in the left lane pointed a gun at us. Happened in early 70's. We

had just left the theater. It was a Clint Eastwood movie. I think it was Magnum Force.

My uncle lost his leg in a hunting accident when he was a teenager. I didn't know he had a wooden leg until

I was 10 or 11 years old. My family never talked about it for some reason.

[Skittles]

23. my dad died of a gunshot wound to the head

he lived for six days

day three was my birthday

[Egnever]

70. Ugh that's rough

How old were you? Not that it is ever a good time for that sort of thing.

[dawg]

24. I know at least three people who committed suicide by gun.

But I don't think I know anyone who was shot by someone else.

[quitnesset]

26. 11 percent?

Who are the 11% who believe mentally ill people should be able to obtain guns????

[hunter]

36. They're afraid they could be labeled "mentally ill" and have their guns taken away.

It's pretty obvious.

And the thing is, myself, a person who isn't functional without powerful psych meds, believes their guns *should* be taken away.

Fortunately I'm not conflicted about this because I've never been interested in guns. I'm not going to let any imaginary bad guys live in my head on the off-chance I might run into a real bad guy someday that I'd care to shoot. For every gun hero there are dozens of fools who have shot family, friends, coworkers, complete strangers, and themselves. There are small children who have found guns and shot themselves or family.

There are too many fools with guns in this nation and many of us know their victims.

[Demsrule86]

27. My cousin was shot in a little store in Virginia near Charlottesville...

by a serial killer who had killed form California to Virginia...he made my cousin beg for his life and then shot him numerous times. Now a gun saved my life when I lived out in the middle of nowhere and some bad guys came calling...didn't even have a phone...I loaded up the rifle,hand gun and shot gun (Grandpa taught me to shoot). I was protecting my baby daughter (oldest). I have no doubt they would have killed both of us after a miserable rape. I shot at them and meant to kill them. Lucky for them I used the shotgun which was to heavy for me and bucked up...winged at least one of them as there was blood. They all left. So, I see both sides. You live out in the middle of nowhere you need a gun in my opinion. I live in town and don't own one now. I don't want my kids messing with them and we have a good police department nearby and my area is pretty much crime free.

[mnhtnbb]

28. Yes

1) a hunting accident where my husband was part of a group hunting ducks. One guy--our dentist-- got shot in the butt when a shotgun went off. No permanent damage.

2) a good friend of my oldest son used a pistol to commit suicide when my son was a senior in high school.

3) my youngest son and a friend were robbed at gunpoint on a Sunday afternoon in an alley between a parking lot and the main
street through Chapel Hill. My son and his friend were in high school and they gave up all of about $30. between them to the guy
who stuck a sawed off shotgun in their faces.

[mercuryblues]

29. A relative

was shot point blank. Her ex walked into the restaurant she was at and shot her. Missed her carotid artery by 1/10 of a centimeter.
A family friend's ex-husband took their 4 year old son for a Sunday visit. Drove into the woods, killed the boy and then shot himself.

[lpbk2713]

30. When I was 10 or 12 one friend shot another.

The three us were roaming in the woods. One kid had a .22. Two of us were standing at one end of a culvert, the kid with the .22 was at the other end. He thought if he shot in the culvert it would make a cool noise. He didn't check to see where we were. He shot the other guy in the leg. By some miracle it wasn't serious. He was much too young to be handling a firearm unsupervised. I don't know if the parents had to answer for anything but they should have. Some times it occurs to me how lucky I am to have survived my childhood.

[flyingfysh]

31. I have a cousin who was murdered by her husband

The police never bothered to prosecute.

[True Dough]

42. Whaaat?

How does that happen? Was the husband also law enforcement?

[flyingfysh]

43. We don't know.

The DA never does anything, and we don't know the reason. The murderer was not in law enforcement.

[Turbineguy]

32. A former special ops guy i know

shot himself through his hand. Cleaning the gun. Hydra-shok 9mm. Messy. Lots of surgeries. He's OK now.

I've been shot at (ha-ha you missed me!) and one time threatened with a shotgun in my face. The trick when you are threatened is to de-escalate the situation instead of follow the natural instinct to get really pissed.

A colleague who ran a charity orphanage in Manila was shot twice in the back of the head. Official verdict was suicide. It was during the Marcos years.

[CherokeeDem]

33. Yes....

A state trooper friend who was shot by drug dealers who got scared when he pulled them over for a broken tail light. A family member shot in a robbery in a convenience store where he was a customer and my uncle who was shot in WW2 and won three Bronze Stars.

Thankfully, they all survived. Too many do not.

I want as stringent gun laws as possible.

[Runningdawg]

34. Yes

My ex-husbands best friend. He opened his door to a meth-head neighbor and got both barrels of a shotgun point blank in the chest. The neighbor then reloaded, put the shotgun in his wifes mouth and pulled both triggers again - the gun jammed. He left and police arrested him 30 minutes later. He was asleep in bed covered in our friends blood. He received life in prison.
BTW everyone in the neighborhood knew this guy and avoided him. He never said why he shot our friend.

[haele]

35. Shot at or shot? I was shot at twice while in the military.

One was someone else's stupid mistake during a watch change (at least three ricochet impacts before the bullet lodged into a bulkhead - I hit the deck so hard I got a bruise on my chin), the other was someone who had a workplace issue and decided to go out in a blaze of glory.
I've either witnessed or witnessed the aftermath of four fatal shootings (including suicide in the latter incident). Two different domestic incidents, one suicide, one random act at a bar fight.
I've known around 50 (maybe more) shot but survived due to being active duty from 1977 - 1997. Lots of Vietnam vets and a few Korean era vets (including my uncle).

Haele

[ghostsinthemachine]

37. I've been a gun crime victim many times

I've been a victim of gun crime quite a few times. Not once would having a gun have helped me. I would have taken a life, probably my Father's, or a guy who robbed me, with a gun. The only way it could have helped was if I had it, in my hand, loaded and cocked at the time of the incident. But, I might have taken a life. What was a horrible situation would have been unbearable. As it was, my life got turned Topsy turvy, divorce, losing everything, court cases, testimony, due to gun crime. 27 shots, fired by illegal, and legal, guns in my Fair Oaks CA neighborhood. Nobody got hurt, nobody went to jail. (Everyone should have). Guy put a gun to my head and pulled the trigger, but the gun jammed. Luckily I didn't die. But my life totally changed.

I got my first gun at 10. A Ted Williams, bolt action 22, bought at a hardware store in Chico CA. Gun safety was drilled into me and others who went camping with us. Camping was the only place we ever even saw the gun(s). After a while bigger guns entered the camping experience. We had a spot that allowed us to shoot freely, no other people, a bank across the creek. Sometimes, we would strap our rifles on our dirt bikes and ride to "Lead Hill" and shoot. A scad of us kids. Great safe place known for being full of lead due to everyone going there to Target shoot.
As an adult, I was once a gun owner, I especially loved black powder (no rash decisions with powder weapons), but my temper scared me, and I got rid of my guns. My Dad kept his, and every time he got mad, out the guns would come. Or the threat. Me, my kids, my brother, you name it, at least the threat was ever present. I was 14 the first time. Over an odd entry in my checkbook. So many times, I have no clear recollection of one specific event. I have "the dream" once a month. As he aged, he refused to be diagnosed for Alzheimer's or Dementia, so he could continue to get guns. (We would remove boxes full from his house a couple times a year, after threatening my Mom, our families etc). He would buy them legally, or at the casino where he played cards. We'd take em from him, a a week later he would call, tell us he was going to kill my Mom, us and himself. This went on for decades.

Most people who own guns, and by most, I mean all, couldn't shoot them to save their lives (pun totally intended). When involved in life and death gun situations, the adreneline rush is so great that there is absolutely NO FUCKING CHANCE they would hit their targets. Few go to ranges even to shoot. Big difference between target shooting and life or death. And even fewer are trained for that situation. Couple that with responsible gun ownership, no way. In a safe? Locked? In the dresser? No, in that case, it happens far too fast for you to get to your weapon, load it to have any affect.

Guns are also the number one reason for in home burglaries. Easy to sell, high value, and easily hidden. Yep, want to invite burglars? Tell em you have guns. The bars, or fortress like stores of the gun sellers tells you how dangerous it is to have guns anywhere.
My friend, Bulldog, who was ex marine, kickboxer and all around tough son of bitch, killed two people breaking into his house. Everywhere he went he was a hero. Yeah way to go. Bulldog (so named because he had a tattoo of a bulldog covering his entire bald head) would tell me how fucked it really was. The guy changed completely. "It's only stuff they were after". "What if I gave them everything, including my guns" he would ask. H couldn't live with himself and on the one year anniversary, killed himself over "stuff".

[True Dough]

44. Glad you survived those close calls

Interesting and tragic situation with your friend. Hailed as a hero but it caused him such immense inner-turmoil and grief. Such a shame that the incident happened in the first place.

[ghostsinthemachine]

49. I'm sure they were after his guns

Only things of value he had. Lived in a shack, old everything. He was proud of his guns though and talked of them endlessly.

[jcmaine72]

38. Sadly, a childhood friend of mine got heavily into drugs when he was in his late teens.

He was shot to death in a drug deal gone wrong at the tender age of 24.

[titaniumsalute]

39. My sister was shot and killed by her husband

That's the only one but yes. Family tragedy.

[Drahthaardogs]

40. Yes

A hunting accident. Rather freakish. A bullet went through the animal, was thrown off course, exited and struck a man in the neck. It went in about three inches but did not hit anything vital.

[True Dough]

45. If you can call being struck by a bullet lucky

I guess that qualifies??

[Drahthaardogs]

75. The kicker,

It was a turkey and the guy shot it with 00 buck shot, which is illegal for turkey. One pellet hit him. He sued and won a nice settlement.


Worth it.

[hardluck]

41. Yes. My father

By the police

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

46. Excluding my family members who are criminals...

some of whom have been shot more than once.

I work with somebody who was shot in a workplace shooting in the early 90's and I have a neighbor who was shot in an armed robbery when she was in college in Florida.

[L. Coyote]

47. Yes, shot twice, and missed twice too. He survives to this day. Several others also, some dead.

I was stabbed nine times one fine morning in Central America while investigating illegal aid to the Contras, just before Iran-Contra came to light. Quick action by strangers saved my life.

Had a gun shoved in my throat for breaking up a fight once. Had someone shoot right above my head once. Almost got shot by a 12-year-old practicing with a rifle, bullet cut down some grass stems right in front of me.
Life is exciting enough without guns. Always best to avoid humans ...

[Lee-Lee]

48. Lots

Working in law enforcement will do that.

[xmas74]

50. Yes.

Several people.

[David__77]

51. Yes. He killed himself.

....

[TeapotInATempest]

52. When we were 20 years old

An acquaintance of mine was shot in the head and killed by her ex-boyfriend. She had a restraining order out and was so afraid of him she hadn't left her house in a week, but she couldn't stand being in the house anymore. She decided to walk to the corner store for a snack but he was hiding in the bushes outside her house, waiting for her.

[womanofthehills]

53. A friend's toddler boy was killed by a neighbor toddler boy

The neighbor boy came to their house with his dad's gun and killed my friends first child.

Also, I worked at a children's hospital in NM and a little girl about 4 yrs old was admitted paralyzed from a gun shot. Her parents did not keep guns in the house. A friend of the father's hid his gun above a doorway in their house. The kids saw him, got the gun down and the 6 yr old girl shot her 4 yr old sister. After months of rehab, the little girl recovered enough to walk, but with a limp and one arm that remained paralyzed. It was so sad. The family was from Mexico and the mother was super protective of her 3 kids. She said she rarely left them with a babysitter, but this one day she went to bingo and left them with her mother. When she got back from bingo, all she could see was flashing lights and paramedic in front of her house.

[aikoaiko]

54. Mostly, the 'mentally ill' as they would be adjudicated are not shooting people.

And assault weapons like AR and AK-style rifles make a a tiny fraction of deaths by gun.

So if you really don't want to do much about gun violence then focus on those two things.

I know 3 people personally who have been shot.

[Squinch]

55. Three. Not by their own hand.

[Rorey]

57. Sadly, yes

The first was when I was in elementary school and another kid at my school "accidentally" shot himself in the head. He lived, but was never the same.

One of my husband's good friends shot himself in the stomach. He was drunk and depressed over a woman. He didn't make it.

My brother-in-law shot himself in the hand while handling a handgun. He's okay.

Also, a co-worker's son was having a birthday party. I believe he was about 13. He decided it would be cool to show off his dad's handgun. The story wasn't consistent, but in the end one of his birthday guests died on the living room floor after the gun went off. I was friends with the co-worker prior to this incident, but she and her family didn't really own up to their responsibility in the tragedy and I couldn't get past that. It was sheer stupidity that the kids would have access to a handgun, and no parents were home at the time of the shooting. Co-worker had the gall to complain about the blood on her sofa. She still has her son.

[mitch96]

58. Ahhh lemme see

My childhood buddy, mentally ill shot him self and died. Highschool chum shot in the head in VietNam.. friendly fire incident...

Now compare that to how many people do you know how have been stabbed to death.. it's a lot smaller I bet. For me? ZERO
m

[Bayard]

59. Yes

Two close family members killed themselves with guns. I had an aunt that was also killed when her husband's gun supposedly fired when he was cleaning it.

I was attacked by a wacko with a butcher knife in my much younger running days. Out for a 5 mile run, and this guy with a stocking over his head jumped out of the bushes. Luckily I came away with only scraped knees where he tried to drag me across the road. I basically outran him. He was caught and turned out to be a serial rapist. I testified at the trial.

I am definitely not in that kind of shape now. I have a loaded shotgun by my front door, and I know how to use it. I don't have kids. I am in the country, and this area is known for its meth and other drug problems. The husband travels a lot for months at a time. Hopefully I would not have to defend myself, with the two noisy monster-sized dogs I have, but I would have no problem doing that. Sorry.

[mitch96]

63. I have a loaded shotgun by my front door,

I applaud you for being prepared for the worst but hoping for the best... Living in the country has it's pluses and it's minuses..
m

[shanti]

60. Does 100 years ago count?

If so, yes.

[True Dough]

61. Grandparent? n/t

[shanti]

68. maternal great grandfather

he had a drinking problem, shot his wife (not my ggrandmother), and then himself after a tiff on thanksgiving.

oh wait, i remember another person, a guy i dated briefly. he discovered that he had inoperable cancer and shot himself in his backyard. he was a former LEO.

[ileus]

62. Several.....13 off the top of my head.

2 Were murdered.

1 accidental hunting accident (living)

1 may have been murder but was declared an Accident

1 may have been murder but was declared an Accident while playing Russian Roulette with 2 others

1 that may have been suicide but declared an Accident

4 friends committed suicide

2 attempted suicides but were unsuccessful


I'm sure if I thought a while longer I could recall a several more suicides.

My grandfather (shot back in the 50's) someone knocked on the door and he went out on the porch and someone shot him with a shotgun in the chest....

[2naSalit]

64. Yup..

more than I care to say.... more than a couple of folks.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

65. I'm amazed by the stories in this thread! I've only known one person who was shot.

She was a co-worker and a former high school classmate, shot in the head and killed during a robbery

It could have been me instead, but maybe not if the killer was honest about his motive to commit murder.

I worked with the girl at a beer drive-thru in a pretty safe suburb. The company, which owned several beer drive-thru stores, called me during one of my days off work to ask me to fill in for an absent employee at another location. I'd already filled in at that location a few times and I didn't like it because the area was dangerous, so I declined the offer. They apparently called my female co-worker later and she agreed to do it. The drive-thru was robbed that same night and that's when she was killed.

Her male co-worker at that location was also shot in the head, but he survived and ID'd the killer months later (after he was arrested for another robbery). The killer eventually admitted to the robbery and shootings. He claimed to recognize my female co-worker from a long conversation at a grocery store where he previously worked as a bagger. After the robbery was underway, he feared that she could identify him to authorities. That's why he shot her, or so he said. I suppose he decided to shoot the man as well since the crime involved murder at that point anyway.

[True Dough]

66. "I'm amazed by the stories in this thread!"

You and me both!!!

[trentwestcott]

67. Does it count if they have been shot by themselves?

If so then I know two, both of whom negligently discharged firearms into their own hands. The first guy made up a story about getting robbed at an ATM and responding heroically against overwhelming odds. When the police went to investigate the area for clues they found that the ATM in question was no longer an ATM and hadn't been for months. DOH!!! The second guy just sheepishly admitted his error at the ER and called it a day, sold all of his guns and never shot again.

[True Dough]

71. Yes

Plenty of self-inflicted wound stories in this thread, sadly.

[Phentex]

72. My sister was shot during a store robbery. My college boyfriend after a car jack...

Both survived. Other horrific things happened in both incidents so the scars were more than physical.

[KingDem]

73. I was Shot Throught The Heart!

And you were to blame.

I bet you still give love a bad name.

[H2O Man]

76. Yes.

Quite a few.

[jberryhill]

77. NO AND YOU CAN'T PROVE OTHERWISE!

I don't care what they told you. They are making it up!

[kimbutgar]

78. I just heard of my friend's ex boyfriend who got shot and killed last weekend

43 year old light skinned black man who tried to break up a fight outside a bar and got shot and killed by a 27 year old white guy.

I hate guns.

[Egnever]

83. I am curious what do their skin colors have to do with it?

[kimbutgar]

94. You got me

[lostnfound]

79. Zero.

I hope it stays that way.

[nini]

80. yea.. and killed

My son never got over his friend being murdered when he was in high school.

Others too.

[phylny]

81. Our dog, Jack Bauer, has a .22 caliber bullet in him.

That must've happened before we got him. He was in a shelter when we found him and were fortunate to take him home to live with us. We didn't find out about the bullet until he had to have an x-ray for something else. Our vet told me they see it "all the time."

[Thor_MN]

82. I did.

Worked in a nursing home during my college years as a nursing assistant. Helped care for several WWII vets and you could see the marks left on their bodies by bullets and shrapnel.

So I don't know if that counts or not... I don't know anyone currently alive that has been shot, or I don't know they had been shot, if they had.

[elehhhhna]

84. Only young men who shot themselves. Does that count ?

[doc03]

85. I had two friends from work commit suicide with a gun. Two people I worked

with got drunk together after work and shot and killed a black teenager walking home from school on a downtown sidewalk. They were both racist assholes they got 15 years. Another person I know had been hounded by this guy that beat him up every time they ran into each other, the last time he was fed up and shot and killed the attacker. I think he got 10 or 15 years. I know two others that were shot before and lived. A steel mill in Steubenville Ohio was a tough place.

[Not Ruth]

86. Given how many people know someone in the military, 44% sounds low

[Deb]

87. yes

3 suicides and 3 accidents (2 of these were with security/law enforcement guns)

[marybourg]

88. Yes.

1) Long ago former neighbor shot in a store holdup. He was the store owner.

2) Recent neighbor killed self with a handgun.

[A Brand New World]

89. Yes, when I was 16, back in 1972, my dad shot my mom and step-dad.

Then he killed himself. My mom and step-dad both survived. Tough, tough time.

[Squinch]

115. Wow. Peace to you.

What a horror for you to live through.

[Butterflies]

90. No. I have lived kind of a sheltered life though.

I've never had anything to do with guns. I have never shot a gun.

[rurallib]

91. Yeah - don't want to add them up but probably a dozen or more

starting with my best friend's dad being shot in a botched robbery when I was staying over night at age 12.

At least 3 suicides one of whom was a very close friend, a couple of jealous husbands.
My daughters both had kids in their elementary classes who had parents murdered.

I myself have been shot at 5 or 6 times but never hit.
No. I was never in the military.

I try not to even think about it.
ETA - this is in a rural midwest area.

[kacekwl]

92. Yes two, luckily both survived.

[Sancho]

93. Yes...

People Control, Not Gun Control

This is my generic response to gun threads where people are shot and killed by the dumb or criminal possession of guns. For the record, I grew up in the South and on military bases. I was taught about firearms as a child, and I grew up hunting, was a member of the NRA, and I still own guns. In the 70’s, I dropped out of the NRA because they become more radical and less interested in safety and training. Some personal experiences where people I know were involved in shootings caused me to realize that anyone could obtain and posses a gun no matter how illogical it was for them to have a gun. Also, easy access to more powerful guns, guns in the hands of children, and guns that weren’t secured are out of control in our society. As such, here’s what I now think ought to be the requirements to possess a gun. I’m not debating the legal language, I just think it’s the reasonable way to stop the shootings. Notice, none of this restricts the type of guns sold. This is aimed at the people who shoot others, because it’s clear that they should never have had a gun.

1.) Anyone in possession of a gun (whether they own it or not) should have a regularly renewed license. If you want to call it a permit, certificate, or something else that's fine.
2.) To get a license, you should have a background check, and be examined by a professional for emotional and mental stability appropriate for gun possession. It might be appropriate to require that examination to be accompanied by references from family, friends, employers, etc. This check is not to subject you to a mental health diagnosis, just check on your superficial and apparent gun-worthyness.
3.) To get the license, you should be required to take a safety course and pass a test appropriate to the type of gun you want to use.
4.) To get a license, you should be over 21. Under 21, you could only use a gun under direct supervision of a licensed person and after obtaining a learner’s license. Your license might be restricted if you have children or criminals or other unsafe people living in your home. (If you want to argue 18 or 25 or some other age, fine. 21 makes sense to me.)
5.) If you possess a gun, you would have to carry a liability insurance policy specifically for gun ownership - and likely you would have to provide proof of appropriate storage, security, and whatever statistical reasons that emerge that would drive the costs and ability to get insurance.
6.) You could not purchase a gun or ammunition without a license, and purchases would have a waiting period.
7.) If you possess a gun without a license, you go to jail, the gun is impounded, and a judge will have to let you go (just like a DUI).
8.) No one should carry an unsecured gun (except in a locked case, unloaded) when outside of home. Guns should be secure when transporting to a shooting event without demonstrating a special need. Their license should indicate training and special carry circumstances beyond recreational shooting (security guard, etc.). If you are carrying your gun while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, you lose your gun and license.
9.) If you buy, sell, give away, or inherit a gun, your license information should be recorded.
10.) If you accidentally discharge your gun, commit a crime, get referred by a mental health professional, are served a restraining order, etc., you should lose your license and guns until reinstated by a serious relicensing process.

Most of you know that a license is no big deal. Besides a driver’s license you need a license to fish, operate a boat, or many other activities. I realize these differ by state, but that is not a reason to let anyone without a bit of sense pack a semiautomatic weapon in public, on the roads, and in schools. I think we need to make it much harder for some people to have guns.

[struggle4progress]

95. I've known a few

Woman shot dead by lover
Kid who committed suicide after romantic spat
Woman who committed suicide after financial problem
Guy shot in jaw by friends

[mrmpa]

97. Yes indeed I have..........

in one school I taught I had one student shot 7 times (survived) and he was only, another student at this school was shot 4 times, he also survived. What helped them survive in Baltimore was the Trauma Center they were taken to.

At another school I taught at I had two students who were killed. One was killed by a former student of mine, he is now serving life in prison without the possibility of parole. He was 18 when he committed the murder

[Luciferous]

98. Nope, guess I'm pretty lucky.

[dixiegrrrrl]

99. Several incidents in my long life.

Someone I am very close to but will not name, accidentally shot himself in the leg with a 22, while hunting. Small hole going in, not so small going out, he was 16, and this was in the early '60's.
I mention it because gunshot wounds + extremely rural town =piss poor care. After 3 badly done surgeries that resulted in a permanent, and painful, limp, he was told he would never walk again, but somehow he managed to walk with a very bad limp.
Flash forward to the year 2000, after managing to hold down pretty good jobs despite the leg problem, the foot became increasingly difficult to walk on, so he went on disability.
and here is the important part. The state Dr. who examined him was from Iraq. He was very experienced in all sorts of gun injuries, and was amazed that poor guy had ever managed to walk on such a damaged foot. Instant acceptance of the disability.
All goes to point out that while we hear of people being wounded by guns, there is little said about the long term devastation.

1975....my mother's older brother was a vicious alcoholic who beat his kids and his wife for years. Wife was a sweet gentle woman, I really liked her. I hated him, and was really happy to hear that he was shot to death when the husband of his lady friend came home earlier than planned. Shot my uncle just outside the home, he died face down in the mud. Mom's whole family was actually-quietly- relieved.

Early 1980's, my 16 y/o son was going to a party of a long time friend of his, but was delayed, and during that time someone walked in and shot one of the party goers, turned out the victim owed the shooter some money for drugs. Then 3 others were shot, total of 2 deaths, one bad wound.
My son, at 16, was smart enough to not tell me about it for a year. I still get nauseated thinking how close I came to losing him.

2 mentally ill male clients, both black, were killed ( separately, different years) when they went off their meds.
The family of one of them called police, wanting the guy to be taken to emergency room, but police shot the guy. There was a very good chance that if I had been there, I could have talked him into coming with me to ER, I knew him well.

Other client, same deal, except he had taken off all his clothes and was trying to break into a neighbor's house, why no one knows, police shot him.
Police, esp, down here in the South, do not like being around crazy acting guys in the middle of the night.

I was away at a conference from the Mental Health Center where i worked when the office staff got a call from a guy who said he was coming to pick up his wife after her counseling appt, what time please would she be there. Office staff told him, not knowing she was a battered wife and had a TRO on him. He showed up, shot her in the parking lot, she died, he went to prison, and I raised all sorts of hell about therapists not telling staff to protect client info.

Have lived here in the land of guns, booze, meth, and eager cops for over 30 years now, and find no need for a gun as long as I live in town. Out in the country here, would probably want one, meth use has spread widely, thus break-ins. I do recognize the need for frequent target practice and gun safety skills if I did have one.

[Liberal In Texas]

108. Your point about long term devistation is a good one.

We have been acculturated by our TV dramas to think that getting shot is not big thing. In one episode the hero takes a couple of "flesh wounds" or is shot in the gut and has a bit of a time of it, but next week he or she is back as good as new. Maybe they had to walk around with a cast for the rest of one of the episodes.

A gunshot wound does not leave you "as good as new." Ever.

Just because you survived it, doesn't make it something like a cold you caught and will get over. Gunshot wound victims never get over the trauma and disability they cause.

[mopinko]

100. had a friend who was a murder- suicide.

in hindsight, we all saw that he had fallen apart before our eyes.

people get shot in my hood about once a week.

[redstateblues]

101. Country singer Trace Atkins was shot by his first wife

After he dared her to

[Blue_true]

102. No family. Know no one else.

My world has been largely gun free. I may know people that have guns, but they never display them around me.

[Upthevibe]

105. I also am stunned at some of these stories...

Wow....so sorry to my fellow DU'ers
I have a friend whose father committed suicide by shooting himself when (I think we were in our late 30's about 20 years ago) and
I have a good friend who was walking down the main strip in Vegas with a group of friends and there was a drive by and he was shot in the leg (but it wasn't serious).....

[Canoe52]

103. Stepfather, suicide, 22 caliber pistol to the forehead.

Coworker, seeing who could do a faster quick-draw while on a fishing trip with a couple of buddies.
Shot himself in the hip, bullet traveling down his leg, when he accidentally discharged the gun as he pulled it out of the holster.
Walked with a cane the rest of his life.

[Liberal In Texas]

104. Noon news TV weatherman I used to work with shot himself in the chest.

He lived, missed every vital organ in his body.

He was still a jerk later.

[redstateblues]

106. Played in a band with a guy who shot himself in the foot to avoid the draft

He actually ended up being shot to death in a bad part of Atlanta

[Mrs. Overall]

107. Yes. Suicides and war.

[DFW]

109. I slightly knew a friend of my dad's who was fatally shot in 1968

His name was Robert F. Kennedy. Preventing that shooting could well have changed the course of world history.

[Hamlette]

110. Michael, from a very famous Supreme Court case, shot and killed himself at 18.

I worked with his mother in a small public defenders office. She had been a school teacher and the district's rule was if you were pregnant, you had to take unpaid leave 5 months before the expected birth date. She was pregnant with Michael and sued. It is one of the first gender discrimination suits we women won leading up to Roe v. Wade (abortion). Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur is the name of the case from 1972. She got interested in the law through her involvement in the case and went to law school. Michael had been involved in a number of thefts. When he got caught for the last one, he left a suicide "note" on the home answering machine and went into the foothills and shot himself.

I also went to law school with Ted Bundy. Ask me anything.

[True Dough]

112. Did you get the sense

that something was "off" about Mr. Bundy?

[Hamlette]

116. we thought he was innocent, until his trial

the odd part was people started sharing stories of odd events involving Bundy. Even adding them all up, they were not all that odd. "I saw him late at night when I was eating at International House of Pancakes, it was like 2 in the morning". I thought "well, you were there at 2 am so it wasn't THAT odd". Things like that. I remembering thinking once you are suspected of something as horrible as that, all your past deeds are seen as guilty even deeds that were not so odd.

I didn't know him that well, I thought he was a show off, egotist, but there were lots of them in law school. One friend spent lots of time with him and did not think him strange at all.

[Hortensis]

111. And yet most of us never worry about it.

That includes me. I spent a couple decades as an appraiser, knocking on the doors of strangers every day, routinely trespassing and climbing fences to check out unoccupied comps, going into very badly policed ("high crime&quot neighborhoods as needed. I was cautious, getting out of them before midafternoon, but never bothered worrying about being shot. PEOPLE live in those neighborhoods, grandmas sweep yards while they wait for their little ones to come home from school. The American Dream is even alive and fairly well on those neighborhoods because they're "home" for many families and their friends and relatives. The two times I really thought I might die was because of the attack dogs many families resort to for lack of police protection.

I've had someone who didn't want anyone to buy land shooting over my head to discourage me (that's not the reason we didn't buy), people playing in the desert causing ricochets from a hill of rocks to threaten our camp (put my small son under an RV while I rode a motorcycle over to let them know). Our neighbor in Florida wears a "Protected by Smith & Wesson" t-shirt and has probably a million-dollar gun collection, but we made friends with him.

This is just for balance because of the ridiculous number of "yesses" here when a large majority of Americans go about our lives without worrying in the least about being shot. In spite of the great need for better gun control, for good reason.

[politicat]

113. Yes. A cousin was asleep in his house. The gunsmith down the road tested a handgun.

The bullet crossed 500 yards of pond, a hedge, went through the house walls and into my sleeping cousin's back. He thought he was having a heart attack and died within minutes.

The gunsmith was a moron. The DA and the judge were worse. The DA only charged him with a misdemeanor and the judge only gave him probation.

My cousin left a wife, three children, a mortgage and relatively little in pension/401k/life insurance. There was nothing to justify a civil suit -- the smith rented his house, was an employee of someone else.

Most of my clients have been shot or shot at (I study PTSD). Several of my students over the years have been shot or nearly shot. (For obs.)

I'm nearly certain my XY parent overtly threatened my XX parent at least once. He certainly implied the threat nearly every day, to anyone less powerful.

Random, intentional, overt, covert... doesn't matter. More people in the US have been threatened or shot than people in the UK have been threatened or stabbed. The guns are a huge part of it, but the power of exceptionalism has evil tendencies.