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Gun Goes Off at Checkpoint at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport
opposingviews.com ^ | 12 December, 2011 | Mark Berman

Posted on 12/13/2011 3:51:17 AM PST by marktwain

A scare at the busiest airport in the world, as a gun goes off at a security checkpoint at Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that TSA agents spotted a .22-caliber Magnum in a bag that was going through the x-ray machine on Sunday. It turns out the gun was loaded with small game pellet ammunition known as "snake" bullets.

An Atlanta police officer who responded to the scene was trying to unload the gun when it went off. No one was injured, but the officer wrote in his report:

“I was grazed by a pellet fragment on the left side of my face. However, there were no visible injuries.”

The man who owned the gun, 43-year-old Richard Popkin, said he didn't realize the gun was in his messenger bag.

Popkin was arrested and charged with carrying a weapon in an unauthorized place.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: Georgia
KEYWORDS: airport; banglist; ga; tsa
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To: R. Scott
And he shot himself in the face. Was he looking down the barrel to see if it was loaded?

He didn't want anyone else to get hurt.
21 posted on 12/13/2011 6:06:47 AM PST by UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide (REPEAL WASHINGTON! -- Islam Delenda Est! -- I Want Constantinople Back. -- Rumble thee forth.)
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To: SampleMan

“Guns don’t kill people. Cops kill people.” - Joe “The Hole” Cole


22 posted on 12/13/2011 6:12:17 AM PST by UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide (REPEAL WASHINGTON! -- Islam Delenda Est! -- I Want Constantinople Back. -- Rumble thee forth.)
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To: R. Scott

“The gun’s owner was telling Phillips how to clear the loaded .22 Magnum revolver when it was accidentally discharged, Phillips reported. “The weapon was pointed down towards the screening table.”


23 posted on 12/13/2011 6:19:10 AM PST by faucetman
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To: Recon Dad
I told her I would try and see her every visiting day for sure.

LOL! How many months did you sleep on the couch after that one? ;^)

24 posted on 12/13/2011 6:20:00 AM PST by 6ppc (It's torch and pitchfork time)
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To: marktwain

From the descriptions, this might be the gun. Be advised, you have to page down through many HOT military chicks before you get to the gun photo.

http://sadclan.forummotion.com/t269-pentagon-commisionput-female-soliders-in-combat


25 posted on 12/13/2011 6:35:18 AM PST by faucetman
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To: 6ppc

I was probably the one going to jail after running down the street after the car that dropped us off, yelling “stop I’ve got a gun”!
Well maybe not exactly yelling that, but all this was taking place in Chicago and you know the way they feel about guns.


26 posted on 12/13/2011 6:41:35 AM PST by Recon Dad (Autodidact in Gas & Petroleum)
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To: faucetman

Maybe one of these

http://www.tabancatufek.com/forum2/showthread.php?tid=1612


27 posted on 12/13/2011 7:02:58 AM PST by faucetman
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To: marktwain

Pulling the trigger is one way of unloading it.


28 posted on 12/13/2011 11:52:50 AM PST by Hacklehead (Lets stop bashing Republican candidates and get back to bashing OBAMA.)
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To: marktwain
These kind of inadvertent infractions should be investigated and punished with a small fine. If you carry firearms a good bit, and millions in the U.S. do, the occasional confluence of events that results in a lapse such as this is inevitable.

They will likely ruin this man's life because the police officer was not knowledgable enought to unload the derringer safely, or smart enough to ask the possible owner how to do it.

I agree for the most part. Personally, I think a more sane solution would be to allow Americans to carry firearms pretty much anywhere, including airplanes. There is no benefit in having an aircraft full of disarmed sheep.

29 posted on 12/13/2011 1:10:51 PM PST by zeugma (Those of us who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living.)
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To: 762X51
The cop asked for his license and proof of insurance. His insurance card was in the glove box as was his pistol. Knowing the cop might freak out and shoot him when he reached for his insurance card...

The better approach is to get your paperwork out of the glove compartment as soon as you pull over before the LEO sides up to your vehicle. You know the cop is going to ask for your insurance card and registration (unless you are an illegal Mexican in San Francisco), so why wait until the cop has his head in your window ready to over-react as soon as he sees your legal firearm.

30 posted on 12/13/2011 1:19:53 PM PST by Labyrinthos
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To: Recon Dad
It is not impossible to forget you have a gun when you carry it all the time...

A responsible firearm owner should always know when and where they are carrying a firearm and should most certainly know whether there is a round in the chamber. If a person can't recall something as simple as this, then perhaps they shouldn't be carrying a firearm in the first place. No excuses.

31 posted on 12/13/2011 1:26:24 PM PST by Labyrinthos
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To: marktwain
They will likely ruin this man's life because the police officer was not knowledgable enought to unload the derringer safely, or smart enough to ask the possible owner how to do it.

This will probably ruin this man's life because he wsn't responsible enough to remove the loaded firearm from his bag before going through security. A responsible firearm owner always knows where his firearms are and whether they are loaded. No excuses.

32 posted on 12/13/2011 1:34:06 PM PST by Labyrinthos
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To: marktwain
You never know when you might need some snake bullets while traveling.


33 posted on 12/13/2011 10:04:18 PM PST by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open ( <o> ---)
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To: faucetman

One heck of a ricochet. I can’t visualize it without a double bank.


34 posted on 12/14/2011 4:13:55 AM PST by R. Scott (Humanity i love you because when you're hard up you pawn your Intelligence to buy a drink)
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