Gun control, a controversial topic already, has just become even more complicated. That’s because there’s a factor none of us considered until very recently: It’s not guns that kill people, it’s dogs with guns that kill people. But, you know, they probably wouldn’t have if we had gun control or people at least kept their guns securely locked away where an animal that eats its own poop on a regular basis couldn’t get to them. Because if dogs can operate a gun, America, we’ve got a serious problem.
The Washington Post reports that at least six humans have been shot by a canine in the past year. And that’s just an estimate because some people probably didn’t report their dog-related gunshot injuries. And while the gunshots are rarely fatal (the last death occurred in 2008, but again, there might be some unreported fatalities), the whole thing where dogs can even get near enough to guns to trigger them? That’s a problem.
Of course, many of the accidents happen in Florida:
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The dog who shot his owner in the leg with a .380 pistol while riding in his truck in 2013
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The dog who jumped onto a bed and knocked another .380 pistol on the ground in 2010, shooting its “extremely intoxicated” owner in the hand
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The three-month-old shepherd mix puppy who shot a man in the wrist with a revolver in 2004 while the man was trying to shoot the puppy and its siblings “because he couldn’t find them a home.”
While the subject may appear to be funny at first, it really is a major issue, and a reminder that any animal (and that includes small, adorable children) is capable of triggering a firearm. And then there’s the matter of dogs being on the other side of gun violence:
When people, dogs and guns mix, the dogs are usually at the receiving end of the gunfire. Police shootings of dogs, sometimes under questionable circumstances, seem to happen with disturbing frequency. Some police departments have found that dog shootings can be drastically cut simply giving their officers the right training on how to deal with canines.
Cats, surprisingly are not shooting people at a rate anywhere near as alarming. The last reported incident, according to The Post, dates back to 2005. But that could be because cats are just better at finishing the job and leaving no evidence.
No real idea if dogs are killing people at the same clip as Obamacare, but since no one’s got any real statistics on that, either, I’m just going to assume that it’s true.