Posted as a PSA....Don't be like these guys.

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Man dies from gunshot wound at Halloween party

By Claire Galofaro | Police Beat Reporter - Bristol Herald Courier
Published: November 3, 2009
Updated: November 3, 2009
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BRISTOL, Tenn. –  A Halloween costume prop became a deadly weapon early Sunday when a man shot and killed himself at a Georgia Avenue house party. Police say they are initially calling the shooting an accident.

The loaded .40-caliber handgun was brought to the party by a different man, who was using it as an accessory to his military costume, according to Bristol Tennessee Police Lt. Debbie McCauley.

At some point, the party’s hosts learned it was a real gun and had him take the bullets out and put the weapon away.

Police still do not know when it was reloaded. The party was winding down just before 2 a.m., and there were about 20 people left in the house.

At 1:55 a.m., a hysterical woman called police and was only able to say that someone had been shot, according to the Police Department’s offense report.

Anthony L. Waits, 21, of Webb Court, Bristol, Tenn., was pronounced dead at the hospital later that morning.

Police remain vague about the details of the incident.

“There’s not a whole lot that we’re prepared to release right now,” McCauley said. “We’re still in the beginning phase, still interviewing witnesses, collecting evidence, waiting for the autopsy and lab results.”

It’s unclear exactly how many people witnessed the shooting, although McCauley said there were several. She said no one indicated that there were any arguments or outbursts prior to the shooting, and that alcohol was likely a contributing factor.

“I was just throwing a party,” said the host, 20-year-old Amber Arndt. She said she was in the kitchen when she heard a pop from an adjacent room. “I saw him on the ground,” she said. “Everyone was freaking out and crying and screaming. Nobody knew what to do.”

Arndt, a certified nursing assistant, described Waits as “playful and very sweet.” She invited him to her party because they’d started exchanging flirtatious text messages and she developed something of a crush on him. She said she kept him alive until authorities arrived.

“I haven’t been sleeping well,” she said. “Every time I close my eyes, I see it. I was so up close; to still sleep in this house is pretty unsettling. We’re moving – hopefully next week.”

McCauley said there could be charges, likely possession of a gun while intoxicated for the man who took a loaded gun to the party. His name has not been released.

But, she said, unless new information is uncovered there will not be charges for the death.

“Always remember, all guns are always loaded,” she said. “They should always be treated like they are, whether they’re loaded or not.”
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In before the Tennessee bashers...

He probably "unloaded" it by taking the bullets out of the magazine.

Whoops!  Forgot to clear the chamber.

/thread.

nothing could possibly go wrong with this plan.

ar-jedi