There's wasn't any danger, my hand wasn't even on the trigger!

[Guest nicemac]

Arizona State Senator Under Fire for Allegedly Pointing Gun at Reporter - FoxNews.com

[DavidD]

Smart, very smart....

[Guest justluck]

Think she missed school the day they taught the basic rules of gun safety.

[Karnage]

Everyone knows politicians don't have any common sense.

[ls3_kid]

Guns are never loaded, why would they be?

[oldogy]

Taught gun safety by her father. What a fool!

oldogy

[Guest ArmaDeFuego]

What an idiot. Its people like that that give responsible gun owners a bad name. I can just see the libs now saying "See there's a gun nut going off waving her gun around at people, thats what they do....."

Keep your gun holstered in public unless you need it to defend yourself. If you wanna do show & tell go somewhere private..... And dont point it at anyone when you do it...

[Mike.357]

did anyone actually read the story?

A reporter ( not like they lie) claims she pointed it at someone, the Senator said the person sat right in front where she was pointing the laser. And if her finger was not on the trigger the gun was not going to go off anyway. I am not advising pointing a gun at something, but this really seems to be a non event, and I do not understand why it is even newsworthy to begin with.

[ls3_kid]

did anyone actually read the story?

A reporter ( not like they lie) claims she pointed it at someone, the Senator said the person sat right in front where she was pointing the laser. And if her finger was not on the trigger the gun was not going to go off anyway. I am not advising pointing a gun at something, but this really seems to be a non event, and I do not understand why it is even newsworthy to begin with.

When you are in the public eye you can't do anything that will be considered "controversial".

[UncleJak]

A good friend of mine once told me, "a loaded gun never shot anyone, it's the unloaded ones that do". He is right, and I'm sure the same rule applies to fingers and triggers and such....

These mistakes make it hard on all of us....

[Mike.357]

When you are in the public eye you can't do anything that will be considered "controversial".

oh BS.

I picture it like this. Senator is asked about her piece, she subtly pulls it out and demonstrates the laser, at no time with finger on the trigger. Some other journalist sits right where she was pointing. The gun was not waved around, and when the other journalist sat in front of her laser she put it away.

The woman did nothing wrong. Some bedwetting libtard journalist is trying to make a big deal out of nothing.

[ls3_kid]

oh BS.

I picture it like this. Senator is asked about her piece, she subtly pulls it out and demonstrates the laser, at no time with finger on the trigger. Some other journalist sits right where she was pointing. The gun was not waved around, and when the other journalist sat in front of her laser she put it away.

The woman did nothing wrong. Some bedwetting libtard journalist is trying to make a big deal out of nothing.

I'm not sure how my statement was "BS" due to the fact that a story was made out of nothing because it can be considered controversial. Either way I don't pull out my gun in front of people I don't know (except for when I'm in a place that is acceptable) unless I plan on using it for defense. Which thank God I've never had to do.

At the end of the day it doesn't matter what happened.

[Guest RobThatsMe]

My own personal thoughts on this is that she should never have taken her weapon from her purse to display it to reporters during an interview.

How stupid is that!!

The reporters played her, and she having a weapon, not to mention being a politician, should have realized this!

If they wanted to see it, then she should have held another interview at a range, and properly demonstrated her weapon in a "safe" environment.

She possibly broke several basic rules here, and perhaps could be charged for brandishing a weapon.

I really appreciate her for supporting gun rights... but really... one Ted Nugent is enough. :-)

I'm just saying.. my 2 cents..

[wjh2657]

Guns are not toysthat we bring to "show and tell." Weapon should never have been outof her purse while she was in a public assembly (Legislature) area. Really badpractices and bad judgment in place here. It was not a "non event" justbecause she was a Republican. Bad practices are bad practices, period. If thegun wasn't loaded, she didn't need it in her purse. If it was loaded this was adangerous practice to have it out and handling it in public.

[FUJIMO]

After reading the way Mike .357 described the scenario I can TOTALLY see the reporter making every attempt to throw themselves right in front of the laser (and of course the gun it's attached to) . Maybe even try and stare into it for some potential vision loss.

[Guest bkelm18]

For those saying this is a non-event, do you pull your weapon and show it off anytime someone asks? Even if you're in public surrounded by people? My question is why her firearm even left its holster. A firearm is a last resort tool to save your life by possibly taking someone else's. It is not a "show and tell" novelty.

[Guest nicemac]

For those saying this is a non-event, do you pull your weapon and show it off anytime someone asks? Even if you're in public surrounded by people? My question is why her firearm even left its holster. A firearm is a last resort tool to save your life by possibly taking someone else's. It is not a "show and tell" novelty.

Perfectly stated.

[Jonnin]

Gun safety is a 2 way street. I dont think anyone would say it was the gun owner's fault if I go down to the range and zip past the targets on my bike, getting shot in the process. The gun owner has the bulk of the responsibility, to not point the gun unsafely, but people around need to be paying attention and not move in front of the gun either. If they do that, they are the one at fault for not paying attention and for not following common sense safety practices and general self preservation techniques. I totally expect that the one who sat in the line of sight did so on purpose to create a story, many reporters have no ethics and will do things like this. Even if it went slightly wrong, I appreciate her pulling it out --- the public needs to see upstanding people who carry guns and lead by example. I think she was trying to support gun rights (that is the part I appreciate) but went about it the wrong way.

[FUJIMO]

Way too little information given to make a clear judgement IMO.

And knowing how reporters can twist what they want I doubt the truth will ever be found.

[Guest Aces&8s]

Guns are not toysthat we bring to "show and tell." Weapon should never have been outof her purse while she was in a public assembly (Legislature) area. Really badpractices and bad judgment in place here. It was not a "non event" justbecause she was a Republican. Bad practices are bad practices, period. If thegun wasn't loaded, she didn't need it in her purse. If it was loaded this was adangerous practice to have it out and handling it in public.

^ This. And responsible gun owners need to be ready and willing to address poor decisions made by our own, rather than play the "blame game" if we want to maintain our credibility. Personal responsibility -- owning up to our actions, for right or wrong -- should be a hallmark of firearm ownership. Knowing and understanding the rules of firearm safety and always following them, not only for our own benefit, but for the edification of others. These are the attributes that separate us from those who would take away our right to protect ourselves and our loved ones, and when we carry, these things should be foremost in our thoughts.

edit: I can haz grammar...

Edited July 13, 2011 by gtv

[DavidD]

Here's why I think it was wrong:

YOU SHOULD NEVER PLAY WITH A LOADED GUN

She was showing off her laser, that is playing in my opinion. No doubt the reporter began to salivate and jumped on the chance to make this into a story, but she opened the door.

[daddyo]

did anyone actually read the story?

A reporter ( not like they lie) claims she pointed it at someone, the Senator said the person sat right in front where she was pointing the laser. And if her finger was not on the trigger the gun was not going to go off anyway. I am not advising pointing a gun at something, but this really seems to be a non event, and I do not understand why it is even newsworthy to begin with.

It's newsworthy because she's a Republican.

The article doesn't say why she pulled her weapon out, but if it was simply to show someone her laser, then I think it was dumb, especially with a reporter around.

Edited July 13, 2011 by DaddyO

[Guest nicemac]

He said:

"An Arizona Republic story about Anthem Republican Lori Klein's carrying of a gun in her purse while at the Legislature said she showed off its laser sighting by pointing it at a reporter interviewing her in the Senate lounge."

She said:

"According to Klein, the gun has no safety but there was no danger because she didn't have her hand on the trigger.

In an email to the Capitol Times reported by the Republic, Klein denied pointing the gun at the reporter and said he sat himself down in front of it."

First, she shouldn't have been "showing it off." Period.

Second, as both politicians and reporters both lie, the truth may never be known.

But the bottom line is if she never pulled it out, she would not be in the news–or possibly involved in an ethics inquiry.

It is kind of like the Titans that always seem to be "in the wrong place at the wrong time." If they weren't at a strip club at 4AM with drugs and/or a gun, they wouldn't have gotten arrested…

[Guest ArmaDeFuego]

did anyone actually read the story?

A reporter ( not like they lie) claims she pointed it at someone, the Senator said the person sat right in front where she was pointing the laser. And if her finger was not on the trigger the gun was not going to go off anyway. I am not advising pointing a gun at something, but this really seems to be a non event, and I do not understand why it is even newsworthy to begin with.

I read it, which is why I said keep it holstered in public unless you need to use it for self defense. If its holstered there's no way anyone could even "walk in front of it."

[eapking]

Here's why I think it was wrong:

YOU SHOULD NEVER PLAY WITH A LOADED GUN

She was showing off her laser, that is playing in my opinion. No doubt the reporter began to salivate and jumped on the chance to make this into a story, but she opened the door.

Exactly.