Deseret News | Man hurt when gun blasts toilet

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Man hurt when gun blasts toilet

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Vigilant | 2:49 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

Odds of firing if dropped are minuscule. Highly likely that something else happened.

me | 2:51 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

Why would you have a bullet chambered, what if that had hit a kid in the stall next to him?

Eastern Observer | 2:57 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

Duh!

Comments continue below

Why Rip Utah? | 3:04 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

I've lived in a lot of places. Utah is easily one of the nicer places in this country. Yes, Utahns have their share of mishaps and unusual attitudes. Think you'll find a group of people that don't? Good luck. We have unusual liquor laws, awful drivers, big families, the occassional polygamist, and lots of polite people. Let me tell you from experience: life is a whole lot stranger in many other places.

teddy bear | 3:07 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

Hey,you guys! This is UTAH! Many, many people here own guns. My family have owned guns for many generations. Guns may be used for protection someday. This country is no longer safe and we may need them someday to protect our families. I do not own a gun but respect the weapon, if it is used correctly and wisely, like target practice for fun. Anyway, this guy made a dumb mistake because he wasn't thinking, and probably was sitting on the toilet busy devouring one of those sloppy Carl's Jr hamburgers and had a drip in the wrong place that set his gun off. He will learn from this I'm most certain.

Anonymous | 3:12 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

Where do you people come from that think giving up guns and making them illegal is going to make things safer? Things are illegal in this country now, but the criminals STILL do them. The fact that I can own a gun makes you knuckleheads safer. If you take away my rights to own or carry a gun, guess what? The criminals will be the only ones with them. It would be a lot easier for a thief to pick the house without a way to defend if he or she knows that a law abiding person cant own a gun. Welcome to the real world. Matthew Miller

goforit | 3:13 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

if you introduce a gun into your enviroment you are more likely to have an injury due to an accidnet, your (or the neighbor's) kid shooting one aonther, a suicide, or some kind of family member shooting another family member. statistics show that for ever one time a gun is unsed for abona fide self defense reason there are 120 incidents of acciential shootings, suicides, shooting of another family member, etc. So, as someone who cannot fathom or stand the gun toting mentality, please all of you arm yourselves to the hills, because statistically you will be less in numbers in the future. and, no, i dont say thank you to your twisted fantisies about saving the public (myself included) from the crazed mall shooter), i am more afraid of people like the gut who capped the toliet and if my kid happened to be in that bathroom.

Lucky it was just the toilet | 3:13 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

If that bullet had gone through a wall, it's likely that someone would have been hit.

Why isn't this person's name and picture being published?

WHINNERS..... | 3:22 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

OH, STOP! you wimpy fatalist out there--GET A FLIPPIN GRIP! This happens to be a stupid guy who had a stupid accident with his gun, this sort of stuff doesn't happen everyday. Maybe this guy needs to go back to gun school or something, so that he will learn how to be a bit more careful.

My advise to all you fatalist on this post is probably to do the same thing-- GO TO GUN SCHOOL!

Pants on fire | 3:27 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

I don't buy this story at all.

Drops out of is olster and goes off.

Yeah! Right!

Now sell me some swamp land....

WHAT?!? | 3:56 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

..... yeah right!

YOU ARE TOTALLY WRONG! Our family have always had MANY guns in our home for 'MANY GENERATIONS'. My Dad's family use to feed the family by going deer hunting. They no longer hunt for food because we have meat stores nowadays, but my family still own many guns. It's our families tradition to have and own guns. AND may I say, NOT ONCE, IN HUNDREDS OF YEARS, HAS THERE EVER BEEN A ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING IN OUR FAMILY. However, you probably know NOTHING ABOUT GUNS. Those people who buy guns and don't know what they are doing with them afterwords, and have NO TRAINING, are the ones who accidentally shoot themselves and kill others. I agree, GO to Gun training classes!

suzyk | 4:12 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

To "Brian" perfectly stated.

EM | 4:13 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

It gives a whole new meaning to the word "schrapnel" Too funny.

Bill from South Dakota | 4:26 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

We need to stop feeding the trolls! Concealed carry was good, gun was decent, sounds like the problem was the holster. Spend a little green and get some good leather for your piece!

Learning is good | 4:27 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

If you don't know how to use a gun then shut-up! Even Boy scouts are taught how to use a gun correctly. Our son helped clean out a log cabin in the mountains, that was filled with hundreds of rattlesnakes, and he was just a teenager, and he did a very fine job in getting rid of the snakes as well, so that no one was bitten. I think people need to learn more about guns so they are not so afraid of them.

The Truth | 4:28 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

Hey goforit. Do some real unbiased research before you spout statistics that have been found to be lies over and over. YOU ARE TOTALLY 100% WRONG !!! Lookup real statistics on the Bureau of Justice web site.

Argument | 4:30 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

Is this really the place to put arguments on here? I mean, come on! Sure, we can argue about moral rights, the latest football game and such, but over a man shooting a TOILET? Come on! It gave me a good laugh and everybody else should laugh too. It is no reason to start an argument.

Thinning of the herd | 4:36 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

Too bad he didn't kill himself.

I hope he is not breeding.

Diane | 4:50 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

People who have gun permits for a concealed weapon often carry a gun with them, and not intending to use the gun unless to protect themselves and their family.

This guy is in a lot of trouble if he did not have a concealed license for his gun.

Anonymous | 5:28 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

It says in the story that he had a permit and no charges are being filed.

Running bear | 5:30 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

Well, heck sakes, this is Utah--- so give the guy a break. It's not like he was trying to kill anyone.

Broken toilet | 5:41 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

He's lucky he didn't shoot something more personal off.

At least | 7:09 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

we now know one way to bullet plunge the toilet.....LOL!!

To Chamber or NOT | 7:21 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

If you have a handgun WITHOUT a grip safety and you have it holstered and chambered and a strap from your coat works it's way into the trigger area and you pull on your coat then BANG !!! (this really happened to a police officer with a Glock on a range, only it was a strap from his vest)

So, if you DON'T have a grip safety then DON'T have the thing chambered.

Too many know it all's here | 7:30 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

I continue to be amazed at how many uninformed experts out there. If you don't what your talking about just keep your mouth shut, it will help look smarter than you really are. Concealed carry with a round in the chamber is a safe and very acceptable thing. Yes a good holster needs to be used and adequate training is needed. To those that know nothing about what they are talking about (quite a few here), please keep quiet or get some real knowledge before spouting off.
Without all the facts, which we don't have no one can blame anyone. It could be negligence, a defective firearm or just a plan accident. Were all human.

Parry Stallsis | 7:30 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

To: What a Moron 10:30 - "Having a round chambered and ready to fire in the restroom of a fast food joint is unacceptable. Who needs to have a round chambered and ready to fire???"

Dude, if you don't have one locked and loaded, what are you doing in the restroom?

IBS | 7:30 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

I smell a cover up. Have you ever eaten two Double Guacamole Bacon Burgers for breakfast? Well I have and it's not pretty. I think the gun is being framed. My guess is some other form of weaponry caused the bowl to blow.

@Pam | 7:41 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

I am not a goose. I doubt any of the posters on here are geese. If they are, well that would be a story!

missing facts | 7:44 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

I keep looking at the picture of the shattered bowl and wonder why there doesn't appear to be any water on the floor.

Where is the slug? What was the trajectory? My guess is they will find it going toward the floor not coming up from the floor.

Hee hee | 7:47 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

Wow, that's the funniest thing I've seen in a long time.

The Magic Bullet | 9:06 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

To missing facts 7:47 - Ease up on the Mt. Dew, you've been watching too much CSI. This is the story of a demolished toilet not the investigation of the Kennedy assassination.

"The shot came from over there" pointing to the grassy knoll.

To Josh--point proven | 10:12 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

You have proven a point with your post listing all the shootings on Fox news today......namely, that owning a gun places you and your family at MUCH more risk of being injured or killed than not owning one.

Research has shown that a gun kept in the home is 43 TIMES MORE LIKELY to kill a member of the household, or friend, than an intruder.(Arthur Kellermann and Donald Reay. "Protection or Peril? An Analysis of Firearm Related Deaths in the Home." The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 314, no. 24, June 1986, pp. 1557-60.) The use of a firearm to resist a violent assault actually increases the victim's risk of injury and death(FE Zimring, Firearms, violence, and public policy, Scientific American, vol. 265, 1991, p. 48).

This incident proves that people walking around with guns are a hazard and protect NO ONE!!!

Show me some articles about a violent crime being prevented by some random dude on the streets.

43 times more likely!!!!

43 times!!

Anonymous | 10:25 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

To point proven 10:12 "Show me some articles about a violent crime being prevented by some random dude on the streets."

You ever heard of Batman? Superman?

Checkmate!

Josh

The Truth | 10:44 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

To Josh..., Do more homework on that statistic. Mr. Kellermann retracted that bogus stat. What makes a bunch of doctors the experts in gun statistics? Because they have seen a gunshot wound? You are just scared of guns because see too many movies where guns are used by bad guys. My research shows that you are 247 times more likely to die from a cell phone in a car then not having a cell phone in a car.

247 times !!!

(I'm just as qualified as a bunch of doctors because I drive the freeway 50 miles a day)

WHO? | 11:06 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

I thought reporters all learned the Who, what, why, where, and when? We got everything but the WHO?

Rest of the Story?? | 11:04 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009

No one has explained the toilet's role in all of this. Was the man shooting in self-defense? Did the toilet provoke him in some way? What was his relationship with the toilet? Were there other toilets involved? So many unanswered questions...

Anonymous | 12:09 a.m. Jan. 15, 2009

This is just plain stupid!!!

mark | 12:52 a.m. Jan. 15, 2009

Yes, Rick, that is an absurd point of view. Absurd on so many levels. Maybe it is you that needs to do a little more studying of history. You also need practice with critical thinking.

mark | 1:13 a.m. Jan. 15, 2009

To WHAT?!? | 3:56 p.m. Jan. 14, 2009 I am glad that "NOT ONCE, IN HUNDREDS OF YEARS, HAS THERE EVER BEEN A ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING IN OUR FAMILY."
May your family go hundreds of more years without an accidental shooting. (of course I would like to know how you know what has happened in your family in "hundreds of years" as well as how you know your family has owned guns for "hundreds of years.")
My family has not been so lucky. I have lost two family members to gun accidents. One killed on a hunting trip, another (child) killed by a stranger on a hunting trip. Both accidents.
I have also lost two friends to suicide using handguns.
I have also had guns pulled and aimed at me twice.

0802 | 1:31 a.m. Jan. 15, 2009

People like this give the rest of the concealed carry world a bad name. I wish these idiot's would be honest and just admit they were mishandling their firearm. The "woops I dropped it" is a bunch of garbage and I am amazed that the police who are assumed by the masses of ignorant non gun owners to be "experts" in firearms would support such a claim.

I believe every law abiding citizen has the right to carry a firearm if they desire but please if you don't know how to handle it then DON'T CARRY IT!

On The Tonight Show | 1:57 a.m. Jan. 15, 2009

This one is definitely gonna end up on Jay Leno or nominated for a darwin award....lol

Observer | 2:59 a.m. Jan. 15, 2009

I don't believe the gun went off because of hitting the floor. I'm guessing he may have been playing with his gun when it went off.

SJ Bobkins | 3:02 a.m. Jan. 15, 2009

Now this is funny. What an idiot, he needs a gun to protect himself from that flushing thing. I have a theory that gun freaks are compensating for an inadequate certain part of a man's body. Stats prove that the more guns the public has the more people are killed and maimed. That includes the "brave" concealed gun owners who only "have" to prove that they aren't insane or a felon in order to carry loaded firearms capable of destroying human life. That makes real sense doesn't it?

Ian | 5:35 a.m. Jan. 15, 2009

It's not guns that hurt people; it's toilets.

Special mention | 5:48 a.m. Jan. 15, 2009

I have taken the time to read most of these comments (except for the really serious ones...you guys are boring).

I would like to offer two awards:

First, Parry Stallsis | 7:30 p.m.: "Dude, if you don't have one locked and loaded, what are you doing in the restroom?"

Insightful...gets right to the bottom of this story.

Second, Anonymous | 10:25 p.m.: "You ever heard of Batman? Superman? Checkmate!"

Outstanding rebuttal!

Thanks for the excuse to waste my time.

Fodder for late night | 5:52 a.m. Jan. 15, 2009

I had many big laughs this morning reading the comments to this article. I would like to ask PM9 owner what does "antecedently" mean ? Also, to His own falt: What does "falt" spell? I do like your use (or misuse) when you said , "That is not the "hole" story . It was a great pun even if you don't know the difference between "hole" and "whole".
Hopefully some of you will spent more time using the correct (or correctly spelled ) word. Maybe Utah needs to spend more money on "spelling" education !

Anonymous | 6:00 a.m. Jan. 15, 2009

Guns don't kill people, swimming pools do!

krueschhoff | 6:12 a.m. Jan. 15, 2009

He shot the toilet and the toilet shot back. I think we will see a lot more of this - and it won't just be toilets.

A question | 6:15 a.m. Jan. 15, 2009

Would he have to pay "restitution" for the damage in the rest room ? Plumbing repair is expensive. What a bummer for Carl's Jr.

bang | 6:19 a.m. Jan. 15, 2009

Sounds like a crap shoot to me...

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Centerville Police Department

A toilet inside the Carl's Jr. in Centerville is in pieces after a man accidentally dropped his concealed weapon. A bullet struck the toilet, and the flying shrapnel wounded the man.