March/April 2014

Loaded Chambers: A Brief History of Politicians Accidentally Shooting Things

Shoot happens when public servants unintentionally fire, drop, and forget their firearms.

Thomas Fuchs

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Last week, Colorado state Rep. Jared Wright, a Republican, left his handgun in a canvas bag in the state capitol—following a hearing on rolling back concealed carry laws. Wright, a former police officer, told the Denver Post he will stop carrying his revolver to committee meetings. He wasn’t the first public servant in recent memory to forget, shoot, drop, or otherwise unintentionally mishandle a firearm:

2014
Kentucky state Rep. Leslie Combs, a Democrat, accidentally fires a gun in her capitol office while attempting to empty it in front of another lawmaker.

 

2013
West Virginia Del. Kelli Sobonya drops her handgun in a meeting with Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. “I said, ‘Hey, Governor, you don’t have to worry; I have my permit,'” she tells the Charleston Daily Mail.

Dave Evans, an aide to Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones, leaves a loaded gun on top of a capitol bathroom toilet paper dispenser.

Texas state Rep. Drew Darby is arrested at an Austin airport after a loaded .380 Ruger is found in his carry-on bag.

2012
New Hampshire state Rep. Kyle Tasker explains that he dropped one of his two handguns on the floor of the capitol because he was “loopy” from just donating blood.

2011
More butterfingered Granite State Republicans: State Rep. George Lambert drops his holstered gun outside the statehouse. State Rep. Paul Mirski drops his firearm during a meeting and doesn’t get around to picking it up until the event adjourns.

 

2008
Oklahoma state Rep. Sally Kern is caught bringing a loaded handgun into the capitol in her purse. “As soon as my purse went through the scanner and the uh, gentleman there said, ‘Representative Kern,’ I went, ‘Aw, I forgot!,'” Kern tells a local news station. It’s the second time in two months.

2007
An aide to Democratic Virginia Sen. James Webb is arrested for carrying his boss’ loaded gun into a Senate office building.

2006
Virginia Del. Jack Reid fires his handgun in his office as he’s trying to remove the clip. The round strikes a bulletproof vest hanging on a door.

Vice President Dick Cheney hits a hunting companion in the face with birdshot while hunting quail in Texas.

2002
A pistol goes off as it’s being handed to Georgia Rep. Bob Barr at a reception. Explains the lobbyist who passed the gun, “We were handling it safely, except that it was loaded.”

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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