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    Depo coming up! 3 birds, one stone!
    #1
    I posted this in another thread but think it needs a thead of it's own.

    Haven't posted any stories in a while. Since my depo is coming up in a few weeks I thought I would post this. I don't think i posted it before. I'm a little nervouse about the depo. I can't believe it takes 4 years for a law suite to make it to court.



    A few years back neighbor asked me if I was interested in buying a 5 gun collection owned by one of his elderly friends needing cash. Back then I didn’t know much about guns, especially old ones. They were all over 25 years old. A few were very cool. I told him I really didn’t have interest but I would try and get rid of them.
    I brought the guns to the gun show at the ft. Lauderdale war memorial. When you walk in there is a table with 3 uniformed-off duty police sitting there and they check every gun to see if it’s loaded, then they secure it by putting a wire tire over the trigger.
    Renea and I walked up to the table and put the duffle bag on it containing the 5 guns. Took the first one out and gave it to the cop. He asked if it was loaded. I told him, “I didn’t think so but I’m not sure. They are not my guns and I don’t know how to open them to check.”
    He told me “don’t worry about it, that’s what we’re here for”.
    I handed him the first gun, he was impressed with the gun, he said hadn’t seen one like that in years. He checked out the 2nd one, then the 3rd and as I handed him the 4th, the cop next to him (which was a miserable old bastard) said, “How many more do you have in there, you’re holding up the line!” I told him I had one left. He said “GIVE IT TO ME”, the cop I was dealing with said, I got it I’m almost done. The old cop grabbed the gun case out of my hand with an attitude. I looked at the cop I had been dealing with and he shrugged his shoulders. About 3 seconds later the loudest boom ever was right in our faces. You could feel the compression in our faces and the smoke felt warm, it was right in our faces. I look at the older cop with the gun still smoking in his hand and he says “Where did that round come from?!!!” he checked the gun to see it was empty and threw it in the table in my direction. “I said I don’t know! You were the one checking it.”
    He then said where is your permit to carry a loaded firearm? I said I don’t have one. He then got up, threw the table out of the way and threw me and Renea against the wall.
    Complete confusion for the next few minutes. People running, screaming, cops coming from everywhere, it was complete tunnel vision for me. The lobby of the war memorial is all marble, granite and terrazzo so it echoed like a bazooka.
    While against the wall no less than 10 cops had us standing there, in hand cuffs, scared to death. We were trying to explain what happened but no one, not even the nice cop we were dealing with would listen to us. One cop said to the old cop that shot the gun “what happened”? He said pointing to Renea and myself, these *******s brought a loaded gun in here. I saw my life flash before my eyes. I thought I was going to jail.
    Just then bad goes to worse. I guy walks around the patrician wall bleeding from his calf. I heard someone say “he got hit”. I almost died. 2 seconds later another guy comes hopping on one foot with his shoe off, bleeding from the side of his foot. Blood was everywhere. It was like a nightmare.
    You think that’s bad? Here comes a guy with his arms over the shoulders of 2 men. He has blood on his thigh.
    3 birds, one stone!
    Things are a little fuzzy for the next little bit but then the place looked like sept. 11th. Sheriffs, state troopers, firemen, EMS, uncover cops, every available cop or firemen in Fort Lauderdale showed up.
    They had us standing against the wall behind the table the cops were sitting. They now had yellow police tape blocking Renea and I back there protecting the blood drops on the floor. We have now had 3 people shot, every cop in Florida looking at us like we are rapists. Apparently it’s a very big deal for a cop to accidently discharge a gun especially if someone is hit. Image 3 people! Now the gun show is closed for entry. There are a load of gun nuts 6 feet away from us on the other side of the tape. We got more dirty looks! We could hear what everyone was saying. I remember hearing someone say; this ******* started shooting and shot a couple of people, now we can’t go in! People were calling us names and giving us dirty looks. It was very scary.
    Renea which is the absolute opposite of me. Never said a curse word in her life, Never had a ticket, never had a confrontation with police and now she is handcuffed, crying, and looking scared to death. I never felt so bad.
    We were interviewed at least a dozen times by every department of law enforcement. After about an hour a guy walks in still in golf shoes. He was the Chief. He was the only decent guy out of the bunch. After he talked to everyone else he came over to us. I immediately said, “I’m so sorry this happened but I told him I didn’t know if it was loaded and he grabbed it”. The chief said, I know. The original cop inspecting the guns told him the story. The chief was very nice and sympathetic. He even said, “This is not your fault! I have told these guys for years this is a dangerous detail, they should have a barrel with sand to point the gun in. He then says look at the element in this place. I looked around and you have skin heads, covered in tattoos with m16’s, brothers with every tooth gold plated with AK47’s on their shoulders, then you have the guys in trench coats standing next to the local Hells Angels group.
    We were given 4 of our 5 guns back and let go after about 4 hours of hell.
    Turns out 2 people were hit with the bullet; the third was hit by a piece of terrazzo from when the bullet hit the floor. Thank god none were serious. I got a few letters about a law suit but nothing ever materialized. I know I have a depo coming up. I can't believe it took 4 years. I did hear the cop that shot the gun was only 3 months away from retirement. I guess he was in a lot of trouble over this. It’s a bad mark on his record and hurts his retirement. Apparently he put the wire tie around the trigger and the grip and pulled the wire tie tight with a pair of pliers. He never checked the chamber which had a round.
    Just another chapter!
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    #2
    Charter Member mikes280's Avatar
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    Wow
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    #3
    So you are just testifying? Not actually named in the suit? That situation sucks badly for everyone involved.
    31 Sonic SS
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    #4
    Registered Trim'd Up's Avatar
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    You would think the guy that checks the guns to see if their loaded would remember to check the gun before pulling the trigger. You have some crazy luck, or lack there of.

    I had an extractor break on a rifle once years ago, when I cleared the chamber, or thought I did, it left the round in the chamber. I closed the bolt (without actually looking in the chamber like an idiot) and pulled the trigger. It scared me to death when it went off along with everyone else in the dark camp ground. Thank god it was pointed in a safe direction.
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    #5
    Registered Expensive Date's Avatar
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    Florida may be different but definitely not proper procedure for clearing checking a firearm.Always treat a gun like its loaded the gun was not in you possession when fired so you liability should be very limited.Four years is about right I got hit by a car years ago took 7 years to go to court only to settle the night before.Good Luck
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    #6
    I am not being sued. Just a wintness.
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    #7
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    Quit workin

    Stay home and write a book
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    #8
    Registered MattBMiller's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by catastrophe View Post
    Quit workin

    Stay home and write a book
    Wow....no kidding
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    #9
    Charter Member txriverrat2001's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by catastrophe View Post
    Quit workin

    Stay home and write a book
    I agree!
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    #10
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    Holy crap, Gino. That's unreal. It could only happen to you.
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    #11
    Founding Member Wrinkleface's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lubejobs42 View Post
    I am not being sued. Just a wintness.
    that's good 2 hear Gino
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    #12
    Founding Member / Super Moderator Ratickle's Avatar
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    I remember that story well........
    Getting bad advice is unfortunate, taking bad advice is a Serious matter!!
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    #13
    Charter Member 95south's Avatar
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    amazing story, just goes to show you how fast life can change. its a good thing that everyone was ok.
    we travel to south florida once a month or so, we are always amazed of the different thing and situations we come across
    so have you been to any more gun shows?
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    #14
    Founding Member Tony's Avatar
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    I remember you posting this story before. Definatley not a good postition to be in.

    I attend a half a dozzen or so gunshows a year, most of the guys checking guns are barely smart enough to keep from chitting themselves. Whenever I take a gun into a show I usually already have the chamber zip tied, if not I hold the gun for them to see the cleared chaber and tell them where to put the zip tie and dont let them touch the gun. On the flip side, half of the mouth breathing attendance at your average gun show has no business being around anything more dangerous than a set of leggos. Keep us updated on how this turns out.
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    #15
    Founding Member/Contributor Sean Stinson's Avatar
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    To Protect and Serve......I wonder how that motto rings on the old cops conscience?????
    God forgives.....The 1% doesn't!!!!!!
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    #16
    Registered Trim'd Up's Avatar
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    I think Gino needs his own section for all of his stories.
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    #17
    A few years back we had one that was working security and walking the show floor put a round through the roof from his own service piece.

    The uniform can be misleading. It doesn't necesarily mean they know what they're doing.
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    #18
    Registered smokeybandit's Avatar
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    Having owned a gun store I can tell you first hand that the uniform does not mean gun expertise or even competence. We had a female officer shoot our computer with her backup gun that she thought was empty. She wanted to sell it so we had to inspect the gun. Sure enough she pulls the trigger as she is handing it over. She never even bothered to check if the chamber was clear. BANG! She killed an innocent keyboard.

    The guys that worked for me used to say that if a cop ever starts shooting at you, stand perfectly still because it's the safest place to be.
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    #19
    Quote Originally Posted by smokeybandit View Post
    The guys that worked for me used to say that if a cop ever starts shooting at you, stand perfectly still because it's the safest place to be.
    Now thats funny!!!!!!!!
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    #20
    Quote Originally Posted by DaveP View Post
    Now thats funny!!!!!!!!
    +1

    Good story Gino- amazing days you have!
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