Always unload your gun before cleaning

[scottaa1]

Ummm... Ooops?

Washington (CNN) -- A crew member aboard a U.S. Navy ship accidentally fired a machine gun into the Polish port city of Gdynia on Wednesday while cleaning the weapon, Navy officials said Friday.

Skipper says crew member 'no longer his little buddy'

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/10/30/poland.us.navy.shoot/index.html

[WaCougMBS]

Also, make sure to unload before giving demonstrations to a classroom full of kids

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj4yUpR1PB0

[Jumptastic]

I can't even imagine what the officer was thinking....

It probably wasn't even his fault that the gun was loaded, but still he must have felt pretty stupid:/

[lmcjaho]

When I was in college I was on a ski trip and one of the guys in the room they put me in was a gun collector/nut (not a common pastime here in Canada) and he was also a druggie and a drunk, but he made a specific point of telling me that he doesn't touch his guns while high or drunk ANYMORE.

The reason?

Well, one day while cleaning his (illegal here in Canada) fully auto MAC10 while baked he accidentally discharged it in his bedroom, firing off a burst of around 8 rounds that hit his stereo, wall, and pet cat (bear in mind this story takes place pre-Boondock Saints so I'm inclined to believe it rather than dismiss it as movie copy-cat stuff) and nearly giving his mom (who was down in the kitchen just below his room) a heart-attack. Apparently he was fortunate that the wall he shot was the side of the house that had a brick fascia and not the back wall which was only vinyl siding

This is the same guy who showed me video (alas, pre youtube days) of him and his friend "abducting" a six foot teddy bear he had given to his now-ex girlfriend and taking it out to the quarry where they gave it a mock-trial for "treason" and "giving comfort to the enemy" and sentencing it to death by firing squad - at which point they proceeded to dismantle this big bear with 12-guages loaded with birdshot. It was pretty frickin' hilarious to be honest...