By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A 66-year-old vendor at a gun show was arrested on Saturday when he fired a rifle inside the crowded venue.
He said he must have bumped the trigger, but nobody was struck and nobody was hurt, according to police.
Police were called about 10:30 a.m. to the pavilion at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds on North National Avenue and found the round had skipped off concrete, gone through another vendor’s gun cases and landed in a large book, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
Officer Linda Bailey said it was a 308 Savage model 99.
Daniel B. MacGugan, 66, from Olympia, said after he purchased the weapon from someone who had brought it in, he removed the strap to look at the bore, and that’s when it happened, Bailey said.
Bailey said all firearms brought inside the building are checked by security and “strapped” with a zip tie to show they are unloaded and safe.
This gun was secured with a tie until MacGugan removed it, according to Bailey.
A police report didn’t indicate the person who sold the weapon, she said.
MacGugan was issued a criminal citation for reckless endangerment, a gross misdemeanor, she said.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Is this what they mean by “responsible” gun owners? The man was a vendor, should he not practice safe gun fiddling? Of course its the fault of the person who attached the zip tie right? Are they going to be held “responsible” for what could have been a horrible scene?
“This gun was secured with a tie until MacGugan removed it”.
“He said he must have bumped the trigger”.
So, where’s the part about him closing the action on a loaded round?
SMH. Wes needs to give him a loooong time-out.
Dan should take up basket weaving and leave the guns alone.
I have never gone into that show with a firearm without someone opening the action and looking in the chamber before putting the safety zip tie on. In the case of this rifle, it is a lever action with a magazine right under the action, so the security guy at the door should have been able to see if any rounds were in there. Something does not quite add up. It didn’t just go off, someone loaded it.
I remember a few years ago someone went outside and test fired a pistol. Both men were permanently ejected. It is too bad idiots end up at gun shows in spite of the precautions.
“Bailey said all firearms brought inside the building are checked by security and ‘strapped’ with a zip tie to show they are unloaded and safe.”
Well, not ALL of them, apparently. How’d this one get through? Thank goodness nobody was hurt.
Nobody was arrested … Dan is very shaken but he was not arrested. I know because it happened 5ft. from myself.
Idiot