Here is a sad news story.. but puzzling at the same time. I think the reporter was 'spinning' the story in order to give the kid the best possible rememberance. The guy is described as a former West Point Football player, but he never played in any game for the Point. And he points his .45 at his head to show his 2 friends that the gun was safe. Who in their right mind would ever point a gun at their head to prove it was safe? I wouldn't put the barrel of a gun to my head even if the weapon was completely disassembled.
Goes to show you that can never assume that kids [or people in general] will use good sense concerning guns. You have to spell the safety proceedures out for them over & over again... like never ever point the weapon at your head-- loaded or not. Range officers preach safety over & over... and yet every year there are still significant range accidents. The first few months of Open Carry may turn out to be a experience we won't forget... what with all the newbies getting their handgun license.. who will decide to open carry after only 4 hours & 50 rounds fired on a range as their only experience with a firearm.
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Goes to show you that can never assume that kids [or people in general] will use good sense concerning guns. You have to spell the safety proceedures out for them over & over again... like never ever point the weapon at your head-- loaded or not. Range officers preach safety over & over... and yet every year there are still significant range accidents. The first few months of Open Carry may turn out to be a experience we won't forget... what with all the newbies getting their handgun license.. who will decide to open carry after only 4 hours & 50 rounds fired on a range as their only experience with a firearm.
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Former West Point football player dies in accidental shooting at Connecticut home
Published September 15, 2012
FoxNews.com
Published September 15, 2012
FoxNews.com
A Connecticut community is mourning the accidental shooting death of a 22-year-old former West Point football player, whose life story, friends say, was extraordinary.
Marcus Dixon was once a homeless young teenager who made a "180-degree turn" when a family in Stamford, Conn., adopted him at age 17, the Connecticut Post reported. He went on to become the football captain at Stamford High School -- where he graduated from in 2009 -- before making it to West Point.
Dixon died shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday when he accidentally shot himself in the head with his .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol, according to local reports. Dixon was showing his gun to two friends at an apartment in Stamford at the time of the incident. He had removed the magazine from the pistol and, thinking it was empty, tried to show the gun was safe by pointing it toward his head and pulling the trigger, the newspaper reported. One round was hidden in the gun's chamber.
"I have him in mind when I talk to the kids and tell them that they can achieve what ever they want no matter where they come from," Stamford High School Head Coach Bryan Hocter told the newspaper. "He came from nothing and what he achieved in his life was remarkable."
Dixon used the name Marcus McInerney while at West Point, but did not play any games, according to the Connecticut Post. He reportedly opted out of the football program last year so that he could focus on academics.
Hocter told the newspaper that he last saw Dixon in July at the Stamford Government Center, where the young man was taking an exam to become a police officer.
"He was dressed really nicely, and spoke very well," Hocter told the newspaper. "I told him that I did not recognize him. He said, `Coach, I have grown up and come a long way."
"Marcus had a lot of rough spots in his life and did not have it easy growing up," former Stamford High School football coach Kevin Jones told The Stamford Advocate. "When he came to us there were a lot of things that we needed to address that had nothing to do with football, but we used football as a way to deal with them. The turnaround that kid made is probably the greatest I have ever seen in my 20 years of coaching."
Click for more from the Connecticut Post
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/09/1...at-connecticut/?test=latestnews#ixzz26ZdeeoE7
Marcus Dixon was once a homeless young teenager who made a "180-degree turn" when a family in Stamford, Conn., adopted him at age 17, the Connecticut Post reported. He went on to become the football captain at Stamford High School -- where he graduated from in 2009 -- before making it to West Point.
Dixon died shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday when he accidentally shot himself in the head with his .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol, according to local reports. Dixon was showing his gun to two friends at an apartment in Stamford at the time of the incident. He had removed the magazine from the pistol and, thinking it was empty, tried to show the gun was safe by pointing it toward his head and pulling the trigger, the newspaper reported. One round was hidden in the gun's chamber.
"I have him in mind when I talk to the kids and tell them that they can achieve what ever they want no matter where they come from," Stamford High School Head Coach Bryan Hocter told the newspaper. "He came from nothing and what he achieved in his life was remarkable."
Dixon used the name Marcus McInerney while at West Point, but did not play any games, according to the Connecticut Post. He reportedly opted out of the football program last year so that he could focus on academics.
Hocter told the newspaper that he last saw Dixon in July at the Stamford Government Center, where the young man was taking an exam to become a police officer.
"He was dressed really nicely, and spoke very well," Hocter told the newspaper. "I told him that I did not recognize him. He said, `Coach, I have grown up and come a long way."
"Marcus had a lot of rough spots in his life and did not have it easy growing up," former Stamford High School football coach Kevin Jones told The Stamford Advocate. "When he came to us there were a lot of things that we needed to address that had nothing to do with football, but we used football as a way to deal with them. The turnaround that kid made is probably the greatest I have ever seen in my 20 years of coaching."
Click for more from the Connecticut Post
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/09/1...at-connecticut/?test=latestnews#ixzz26ZdeeoE7
