Passively Constructed Negligent Discharge Story of the Day: Amish Edition

By Robert Farago

Indiana County man dies when gun discharges in apparent accident the headline at post-gazette.com proclaims. Condolences to the family and all, but at least the gun discharged itself accidentally, rather that intentionally. The truth? “Allen J. Troyer, 21, grabbed a black powder revolver [not shown] that his 12-year-old cousin was holding, and the gun discharged around 9:30 p.m at Whitaker Road in Smicksburg, according to the Indiana County coroner.” Back powder revolver? Hmmm. Let’s try that again . . .

The two were sitting in a room with other male relatives when Mr. Troyer asked the boy to hand him the gun. When Mr. Troyer grabbed the barrel, the gun discharged and a bullet struck him in the chest.

Yeah, not quite there yet. How does grabbing the barrel of a gun set-off the trigger?

Noah Byler, a member of the same Amish community and the owner of Byler’s Harness and Shoe Shop nearby, described the revolver as a flintlock.

A flintlock gun has “what you would call a hair trigger,” Mr. Byler, 34, said. “If he would have bumped that trigger at all, it would have went off.”

I’m not familiar with the hair triggerness of a flintlock firearms, which have …read more

Source:: Truth About Guns