2016 Darwin Award

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william
Posts: 1467
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2004 12:31 pm
Location: New Hampshire, USA

2016 Darwin Award

Post by william »

GaryN
Posts: 637
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2004 4:57 pm
Location: California

Re: 2016 Darwin Award

Post by GaryN »

Unfortunate to loose a gun supporter, under any circumstance.
shaky hands
Posts: 413
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2012 9:56 pm
Location: USA

Re: 2016 Darwin Award

Post by shaky hands »

"Darwin Award" usually refers to a voraciously inane conduct by the deceased person. The article referenced provides no details about the accident and suggests only that Michael D. Harmon, 71, was shot by another person. A veteran, a gun rights supporter, a Reverend, a father and grandfather has died. RIP.
william
Posts: 1467
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2004 12:31 pm
Location: New Hampshire, USA

Re: 2016 Darwin Award

Post by william »

shaky hands wrote:"Darwin Award" usually refers to a voraciously inane conduct by the deceased person. The article referenced provides no details about the accident and suggests only that Michael D. Harmon, 71, was shot by another person. A veteran, a gun rights supporter, a Reverend, a father and grandfather has died. RIP.
I can't even translate "voraciously inane" into English. But here's the second paragraph of the article:
"Police say Michael D. Harmon, 71, died at his home on Brunelle Avenue after a handgun he was showing to a teenage boy went off while the 16-year-old was handling it."
He handed a loaded gun (What, did he think it was not loaded?) to another person who had no reason to suspect it wasn't safe. Whatever else he was, he was an irresponsible knucklehead who violated a basic rule of gun handling.

At least the teenager was physically unharmed, although I don't want to think about his psychological wounds.
JFuller
Posts: 94
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2007 8:42 pm
Location: British Columbia

Re: 2016 Darwin Award

Post by JFuller »

[quote="william"][quote="shaky hands"]"Darwin Award" usually refers to a voraciously inane conduct by the deceased person. The article referenced provides no details about the accident and suggests only that Michael D. Harmon, 71, was shot by another person. A veteran, a gun rights supporter, a Reverend, a father and grandfather has died. RIP.[/quote]

I can't even translate "voraciously inane" into English. But here's the second paragraph of the article:
[color=#BF0000]"Police say Michael D. Harmon, 71, died at his home on Brunelle Avenue after a handgun he was showing to a teenage boy went off while the 16-year-old was handling it."[/color]
He handed a loaded gun (What, did he think it was not loaded?) to another person who had no reason to suspect it wasn't safe. Whatever else he was, he was an irresponsible knucklehead who violated a basic rule of gun handling.

At least the teenager was [b]physically[/b] unharmed, although I don't want to think about his psychological wounds.[/quote]
+1
Dr. Jim
Posts: 260
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 3:32 pm
Location: Airdrie, Alberta, Canada

Re: 2016 Darwin Award

Post by Dr. Jim »

Well maybe you can nominate it for the next award year at darwinawards.com but since a second individual was involved, I don't think it will pass the test. The awards are given only after a nomination and voting over a year. If it does not involve direct stupid action resulting in self death it would not qualify. This might be equivocal, I'll leave it to the judges.

Dr Jim
shaky hands
Posts: 413
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2012 9:56 pm
Location: USA

Re: 2016 Darwin Award

Post by shaky hands »

william wrote:But here's the second paragraph of the article:
"Police say Michael D. Harmon, 71, died at his home on Brunelle Avenue after a handgun he was showing to a teenage boy went off while the 16-year-old was handling it."
He handed a loaded gun (What, did he think it was not loaded?) to another person who had no reason to suspect it wasn't safe.
No, the article does not state that he handed a loaded gun to another and also has nothing about that other person's state of mind. You are making inferences here which might be true or might be not. Usually waiting for more information is prudent.

“The circumstances under which the gun was introduced is still under investigation,” said McCausland, who did not know why the gun was loaded. “It is just one of the many questions we have.”

If everything is so clear, may be you should contact investigator McCausland and resolve his many questions.
Chia
Posts: 359
Joined: Thu Aug 18, 2016 7:53 am

Re: 2016 Darwin Award

Post by Chia »

FYI Shaky, while you're right, it's standard practice in all newspaper and law enforcement to avoid reporting the details surrounding suicides and accidental deaths. That's to prevent imitators from getting ideas.
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