Exhibit A: Raging Gramps Shows Us All Why Guns Everywhere SUCKS

Reports are coming out of Chandler, Okla. that some thug parent busted out his gat at a children’s softball game and scared the bejeezus out of everyone because his granddaughter hadn’t been put in the game. A caller told Lincoln County 911 dispatch:

We’ve got a parent that just pulled a gun at a softball game! He’s leaving the Chandler softball field right now!

That impassioned call was phoned in immediately after the little league game ended, Tuesday, between rivals Davenport and Chandler, after 45-year-old Troy Gibbs (of the Davenport tribe) had already been fighting with his granddaughter’s softball coach, as well as other parents present at the event. Gibbs then went to his car (ah, that classic going to the car for the gun move, eh?) and returned to ball out the coach some more. When a parent stepped forward to cool out the situation, Gibbs whipped his gun out and shoved it in the parent’s face. In the process, he also pointed it at children in a nearby parking lot.

(Insert anti-gun argument, here: Yadda yadda yadda, walla-walla-bing-bang. You’ve heard it all before, and several times no doubt.)

And you should, certainly, as it pays to pause a moment and reflect in the wake of a fresh tragedy. A little critical thinking and “soul searching,” as they say, never hurts.

Not that Gibbs’ actions resulted in a tragedy, luckily, but his actions are how many tragedies come about – someone armed loses their temper.

Chandler Police Chief Matthew Mattheyer stated:

We have our few arguments, disagreements, here and there at these games that we respond to, but we’ve never had nothing of this magnitude.

President of Chandler Softball Association Kari Hulsey, said:

Davenport and Chandler have always had a little thing about rivals, but our girls after the game did the walk-through, clapped their hands, good game.

Hulsey continued:

I think the next morning is when it really hit that, you know, the things that could have happened.

Hulsey also said Gibbs nearly ran her over when he sped off out of the parking lot in a huff, trying to high-foot it out of there before the cops swarmed in and took him downtown to speak with Dan-o. You know, Dan-o – he’s the one who books ‘em.

But the case of 45-year-old Troy Gibbs pulling his gun over a child’s sporting event is more than just another moment to shake our collective heads at another we can mockingly refer to as “ammosexual”; it’s also a great example as to how guns are not the only wild card in the equation when it comes to gun violence and gun-related deaths. Often, it can be the people wielding the gun that play the biggest factor in gun deaths and gun violence. Some hothead has the right to pack heat and so does, constantly, all the time, everywhere… There are fools so gun nutty that they have their babies hanging on the towel wrack outside the shower door just in case all hell breaks loose while they’re on their second rinse and repeat. And the more of them out there like that, the more likely one of them is going to make a mistake in a heated moment, when emotions are high, and pull a gun like a blind and macho coward. What ever happened to putting your dukes up? For those into violence, it has to be more gratifying punching someone you’re angry at into to a wimpering pulp than it is to pull a trigger. Why not go that route? and everyone gets to live.

Granted, not all gun deaths are a result of people flying off the handle. Some are mistakes, and some can be a result of a faulty gun in some way, but nearly all gun deaths and all gun violence are caused by human error of some kind, whether that be an accident during cleaning, an accident when one thinks the gun isn’t loaded, or when doing something rash when one is worked up emotionally, be it suicide or murder, or both.

And let’s face it, everyone says or thinks at some point in their lives, if not on a daily basis, “People are crazy.”

They sure as hell are, and even if they’re not, they can become crazy, briefly, out of sadness, anger, impatience, even extreme joy. (Admittedly, though, one hardly ever hears of accidental shootings resulting out of sheer joy, but there was that racist woman who accidentally shot herself in the head last fall when she was waving her new gun around in a car out in Missouri and yelling, “We’re ready for Ferguson!” She seemed pretty happy about the idea of shooting some protestors out there in the name of Michael Brown, and she was darn happy about her shiny new bang-bang when her boyfriend rear-ended a car and she shot herself dead. So… there’s that.)

Luckily, Gibbs’ momentary emotional outburst involving a firearm didn’t result in someone’s death or critical injury. Sure, it’s nice that Gibbs later told police he was sorry now that he’s facing charges for disturbing the peace and pointing a firearm, but had he killed someone in a moment of rage (over something so little, too) sorry wouldn’t mean jack. As far as Mattheyer is concerned:

The damage has been done.

Hulsey stated:

This is not behavior that’s acceptable to any of us – Davenport, or Chandler, or any of the softball leagues in Lincoln County. This is far, far away from what we teach our girls.

It would be awfully tough to face them in a tournament if it was.

Gibbs has not offered comment on the situation, himself, but local police have stated that even more charges may be headed Gibbs’ direction in the near future.

And guess what, pulling his gun still didn’t get his granddaughter in the game that day.

Perhaps, considering the full nature of the gun problem, we should consider a new twist on an old, familiar standby:

You can keep your guns, when you’ve cultivated your cold, dead minds.

You can watch coverage of the incident, here.

H/T: koco.com | Featured image: via Flickr & hyattguns.com