South Carolina Gun Shop Owner Makes A Stupid Gun Safety Mistake
BY Herschel Smith
3 years ago
A South Carolina gun store owner faces an involuntary manslaughter charge after police said he shot one of his employees in the face in an attempted prank.
Jon Whitley, who owns Coastal Firearms in the Wando area, was arrested Monday nearly a month after the death of Stefan Mrgan.
Authorities found Mrgan inside the store’s lobby with a gunshot wound to his lower face on Nov. 2, news outlets reported.
A police affidavit states that Whitley placed a replica Glock BB gun among real firearms in the store with the intent of pranking Mrgan. Instead, Whitley mistakenly picked up and fired a real gun at Mrgan, according to an incident report.
Whitley is a retired major in the South Carolina National Guard and former reserve deputy for the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office, The Post and Courier reported.
Mrgan, 36, was a former member of the Army Special Forces, according to the newspaper.
Court records show Whitley was granted a $15,000 personal recognizance bond by a judge Monday.
So in addition to the other rules of gun safety, for the idiots among us, we can add “Do not play pranks with guns.”
Actually, I think that’s covered under the first four.
On December 1, 2021 at 10:56 pm, Clayton Singleton said:
Yet another example of po-po who are idiots about guns. Shocked, I tell you.
On December 2, 2021 at 12:02 am, Miles said:
May just be me, but I see a problem or three with the store owner’s narrative.
A loaded gun (although not mentioned, that has to be a Glock) that just happens to be in the display case that just happens to be in such proximity to the BB gun that the guy mistakenly grabs it, instead of the BB gun?
That depends on believing that a lot of coincidences and unusual circumstances just happened.
I’m sorry, that’s so thin I can see through it.
On December 2, 2021 at 1:07 am, Ohio Guy said:
I believe @Miles is correct. Something is way off in this story. Methinks it goes beyond “prank”.
On December 2, 2021 at 1:55 am, Archer said:
And he’s one of the “Only Ones” who are so much better trained and responsible to handle guns than we unwashed masses. That’s why it’s happened to him only once.
Not like the rest of us. My gosh, how many times I’ve made mistakes with “pranks” like that! My memory must be going bad, too, because I can’t recall any! [/sarcasm]
In all seriousness, they’re both former military, so if the victim had seen the gun pointing at him and responded by knocking the other guy’s teeth in, I’d call that 100% justified, and much more lenient than he deserves. I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in that, either.
On December 2, 2021 at 2:07 am, Georgiaboy61 said:
@ Ohio Guy
Re: “I believe @Miles is correct. Something is way off in this story. Methinks it goes beyond “prank”.
I don’t know the details of this specific case enough to comment anything like authoritatively, but merely wish to note that the deep-state and the black bag boys have (very) long record of using false-flag acts of terror and misdirection, including incidents with firearms.
Q: Are they that evil, to take an innocent man’s life to make a point? A: Yes, beyond doubt… they’ve been there, done that – both overseas in places like Syria and the Ukraine, and here in the Big PX, as dot.mil terms the U.S.
Sometimes, some goober slips up and provides them with an “in” so that they don’t have to play any dirty tricks; they just coat-tail onto whatever is happening…. but other times, they engineer the crap out of things. Depends on the situation.
On December 2, 2021 at 2:22 am, Jimmy the Saint said:
To be fair, the look on his face when he fired the wrong gun was pretty priceless.
On December 2, 2021 at 9:04 am, June J said:
“Involuntary Manslaughter”? I think not. Negligent Homicide is more like it.
Did the gun store owner routinely have loaded firearms in his displays?
How is pointing even a BB gun at another person’s face considered anything but deliberate attempt to cause serious bodily harm?
On December 2, 2021 at 12:58 pm, ExpatNJ said:
On December 2, 2021 at 9:04 am, June J said:
“How is pointing even a BB gun at another person’s face considered anything but deliberate attempt to cause serious bodily harm?”
The ‘Prosecutor’ in the Kyle Rittenhouse Kenosha WI case apparently did not think that, when he pointed a (alleged) empty rifle at the jury. He should know the law, right?
On December 2, 2021 at 2:30 pm, Steady Steve said:
I agree, very suspect. Perhaps this “former reserve deputy” was selling guns off the books to LEOs and his help caught on.
On December 2, 2021 at 8:57 pm, Brad said:
We are an 07 FFL. A manufacturer. And we visit more gun shops than you can count. I think Miles hit the nail on the head. Not one bit of this is logical.