11:17
From cacti striking back to rogue medical equipment and Russian roulette on a different level, here are a few strange cases of firearms making the gene pool a little shallower. Cactus Calamity. First, get hold of a shotgun. They're powerful close-range firearms that are popular for military, law enforcement, and civilian use. Then, add a sawarro cactus to the equation. Found in the Sonoran Desert in the American Southwest, they can grow to over 50 feet or 15 meters in height and weigh in at an impressive 2 tons or 1,800 kg or even more. Combining the two is a recipe for disaster. In 1982, 27-year-old David Grundman and a friend of his decided to
drive out to the desert near Mount Pleasant, Arizona for some target practice. Their target of choice, the large sarro cacti that had doubted the region. Why they chose these instead of something more mundane like cans or bottles or paper targets at a dedicated shooting range is anyone's guess. Anyway, once there, Gruntman took his shotgun and began blasting away at several of the cacti. Now, it is important to note that the sawarro is a protected species and deliberately damaging one is a felony. However, it doesn't seem the cacti needed protection. After shooting several smaller plants, Gruntman turned his attention to a large 26- foot tall specimen. Taking aim at one of the arms, he opened fire. It must have been a good
shot since the several hundred-lb arm snapped off and fell to the ground. It must have also been a close-range shot since the arm fell directly on Gruntman. More than likely, he was killed instantly by the impact, though being impaled by several long spikes certainly didn't help. if he did somehow survive, he was too badly wounded to call out to his friend for help. And the remote area of the accident meant that getting help would be difficult, if not impossible. This wasn't the only time this has happened. As recently as 2012, another Arizona resident found himself on the wrong end of a sarro, though it's
unclear if he shot it or was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He survived, but he needed extensive medical treatment. Look, the lesson is simple. Don't shoot at something that weighs several hundred lbs so that it falls on your head. Wrong target selection. You know they say crime never pays. One wannabe thief had to learn this the hard way. In 1990 in Washington state, a man wanted to rob a local business. In doing so, he made a number of miscalculations. His target was H&J Leather and Firearms, which, if the name didn't make it clear, was a gun store. He walked by a marked police car parked near the front door and entered the building. It was normal business hours, so the shop was filled
with firearms and self-defense enthusiasts. Oh, and the police officer was in there, too, in uniform and drinking coffee before his shift started. He shouted that he was robbing the place and fired a few rounds to intimidate his victims using a 38 caliber pistol. The rounds went wide, hitting no one. The clerk and the officer returned fire with a 10mm semi-auto and a 9mm. Though some reports stated that the criminal used a small 22 target pistol and the clerk was wielding a 50 caliber Desert Eagle, which would make the whole thing even more ridiculous. Their shots didn't go wide. Several other customers drew their own weapons as well, but the fuselot of bullets meant they weren't needed. This
isn't the only case of a thief meeting their end by robbing a gun store. Possibly the dumbest target for a crime spree. There are numerous examples of poorly thoughtout robberies, including a 2013 case when a thief used a baseball bat instead of a gun, though he was held at gunpoint by the clerk and wasn't eliminated from the gene pool. MRI mayhem. An MRI machine is one of the most useful diagnostic tools used by modern medicine. There are several versions of the machine, but they work on the same basic principle. An electric current is passed through a metal coil creating a magnetic field which surrounds the patients body. Radio waves are then sent and received by a transmitter which is
picked up by a computer which turns this signal into an image that can be used to diagnose health problems. The magnetic field generated by an MRI machine is powerful, up to 300,000 times stronger than the Earth's magnetic field. Anything metal will be drawn to the magnet when the machine is in operation. So patients and technicians entering the room have to be carefully screened for any metal objects. Even the magnetic strip in a credit card can be attracted to it. Firearms are made of metal and you can probably see where this is going. In 2023, Leandro Matias Dinoise brought his mother to an MRI scan in Sa Paulo, Brazil. He failed to inform the technicians that he was carrying a
pistol. When the machine was fired up, it was ripped out of his waistband and flew towards the active machine and discharged. The bullet struck him in the abdomen and after several weeks, he succumbed to his injuries. The moral of this story is when an MRI tech says to remove all metal, they mean all metal. Telephone trauma. Many people keep their firearms nearby in case they're needed. While convenient, this can also lead to tragedy. In 1992, Ken Barger was sound asleep when his phone rang. Still drowsy and in the dark, his hands fumbled for the phone receiver. Unfortunately, he grabbed his nearby Smith and Wesson 38 special revolver. When he placed it next to his ear, the firearm discharged,
killing him instantly. This tragedy can be avoided by keeping firearms secure inside of a quick access safe that has to be deliberately opened when needed. Having a loaded firearm next to a telephone was an easily avoidable disaster waiting to happen. If this isn't a possibility, don't place your gun next to your phone. Russian roulette, but dumber somehow. Russian roulette is a dangerous game. The cylinders of a revolver are loaded with one round. The cylinder is then spun and the participants point it at their heads and squeeze the trigger. If the revolver has a typical six round
capacity, there's a 1 in6 chance of the round firing. In February of 2000, a Houston man decided to play Russian roulette and loaded his handgun. Already a stupid decision. To make matters worse, he didn't use a revolver, but a .45 semi-auto pistol. These weapons automatically chamber a round, so no matter how many cartridges are loaded into the magazine, the chamber will always be ready to fire. Needless to say, it didn't end well. This is unfortunately not the only time this sort of thing happened. And in 2016, a similar incident happened in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, when a teenager decided to play the game and shot his friend who didn't want anything to do with it. So, we can all agree that The Deer Hunter is a
brilliant piece of cinema, but recommend against recreating it in the strongest terms possible, especially with a semi-auto hang-ups. Guns can malfunction in a lot of ways, and some have karmic consequences. In an unconfirmed case, a thief broke into the house of a World War II veteran, stealing valuables, including his 1911 45 caliber pistol, as well as some ammunition. The ammo was also World War II vintage, and that's an important detail. The thief then went to a nearby convenience store and held up the cashier with his new weapon. The cashier emptied the register, and the thief then
left the store. But then he changed his mind, perhaps not wanting any witnesses. He turned and fired at the clerk and the normally reliable 1911 made a dull click. The older ammunition was experiencing a hangfire. With a hanger, the round doesn't fire right away. Usually an issue with the primer or the propellant. Confused, the thief looked down the barrel of the malfunctioning firearm. Small aside here, the second universal rule of firearm safety is to never point the muzzle at anything you're unwilling to shoot. Anyway, a hang doesn't mean the gun won't fire. It just means that there may be a few seconds delay. The.45 round is a heavy and hard-hitting round, and at a few
inches of range, there was little left of the thief's skull. To wrap up the story, police responded and the pistol was eventually returned to its owner. These are just a few of the strangest or most bizarre firearm deaths. If you know any others, sound off in the comments down below. We'd love to hear them.
