Man kills self in front of children at Bellevue gun-safety class

[proud2BlibKansan]

BELLEVUE, Wash. - A 50-year-old man shot and killed himself during a gun-safety class at a Bellevue gun range.

Brian J. Parry is believed to have shot himself in the head with a pistol Sunday during a class at West Coat Armory, a gun range and dealer with outlets in Bellevue and Issaquah.

Bellevue police spokeswoman Carla Iafrate confirmed that police are investigating the shooting but refused to release details. She said the investigation into Parry’s death is ongoing.

The King County Medical Examiner’s Office earlier this week ruled Parry’s death a suicide. He died of a contact gunshot wound to the head.

more . . . http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Man-kills-self-in-front-of-children-at-Bellevue-gun-safety-class-198073701.html

[BlueJazz]

1. Welcome home honey...did you learn anything at school today.??

Aggggghhh.... Poor kids.

[rdharma]

2. Rental gun?

I almost puked after reading that.

[krispos42]

4. Range gun.

If you want to shoot a gun but don't own one, you can rent one for the duration of your visit.

[krispos42]

3. In front of children. Classy.

At home in the tub would be a lot better. Best yet, call the suicide hotline and get some help.

[arely staircase]

10. this is a much better story than i have come to, unfortunately, expect

crazed gunman + room full of children usually = a bunch of dead kids.

sorry for this guy's family and the trauma the kids endured but this could have been so much worse. at least years of therapy means your alive.

[backscatter712]

5. Looks like they got an effective demonstration. n/t

[arely staircase]

11. best one since this guy

[CoffeeCat]

6. Why were children at a gun safety class???

I don't get why children would need to be at a gun-safety class.

[TheMightyFavog]

8. Hunter Safety class, perhaps?

I took one when I was in middle school. Hell, it was practically a rite of passage for boys (and more than a few girls) in Rural Wisconsin. Most of us took the classes in either 6th or 7th grade. Where I came from if a boy DIDN't take hunter safety, he was seen as "odd."

We had firearms safety drilled in to us in those classes. However, all the guns they brought to our classes were always unloaded, save for our one range day.

EDIT: After reading, TFA, it seems that it was a handgun class, not Hunter safety.

[Gravitycollapse]

13. If we are going to have guns. The least we can do is teach people how to handle them...

As safely as possible. Especially children.

[arely staircase]

23. perhaps

tighter restrictions over who teaches those classes are in order?

[Gravitycollapse]

24. The object of these classes is to teach gun safety.

Not to deconstruct the potential neurosis of those seeking to be trained.

I can't blame any of this on the instructor.

[arely staircase]

27. i am sure there is some sort of screaning process already and it failed

i suggest it be revisited, that ia all.

[Gravitycollapse]

29. I can assure you there is absolutely no screening process for the students.

The instructors are trained specifically on how to instruct and receive certification and then usually apply to teach the courses.

The students do nothing more than sign up and show up.

[arely staircase]

30. that is shame eo

[backscatter712]

31. In red areas, it's pretty common.

Kids are getting started off with BB-guns at very young ages. I'm talking eight or nine. They'll move up to a .22 at twelve, or even less.

Not that I agree with it, but I've seen it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

35. My kids took gun safety in Boy Scouts

But no one ever shot themselves at the class.

[ismnotwasm]

7. Reminds me of a song by Filter--Hey Man Nice Shot

Poor kids. Jesus

[arely staircase]

12. ever seen that video?

and no, i don't mean filter.

[ismnotwasm]

16. The suicide?

Oh yes. I didn't look for it because this was in front of children, that was in front of adults

[ChisolmTrailDem]

19. I saw it and I never want to see something like that again. eom.

[ismnotwasm]

20. It was horrible

One of those moments you watch and know can never be taken back. When Filter came out with that song, it was just a few years after my step-daughter's birth mothers suicide-by gun, so it's always had a special resonance with me.

[arely staircase]

21. yes that one

i had no idea that is what that song was about until about four or five years ago. got into one of those internet wormholes where you realize you have spent a couple of hours of your life reading about something you just stumbled across. and then there i was confronted with the video. i thought very hard about not watching it; i went ahead and did so because i was afraid of it; and so i faced my fears. kinda wish i hadn't because you can't unsee things.

[ismnotwasm]

22. Exactly

I haven't seen it in years and I still remember details, his handing out those sheets of paper to his co-workers, the desperation in his eyes.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

25. Exactly my story. You can't unsee things, indeed. eom.

[backscatter712]

32. I know which video you're talking about.

Yeah, that's pretty fucked up.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

14. Here, let me get that for you...

And the gun insanity rolls on.

[ismnotwasm]

17. Thanks

That song always gives me the chills especially with the back story

[arely staircase]

9. that, friends, is ironic eom

[Historic NY]

15. Use at your own risk......obviously its about making money....

and not screening or in the least interviewing prospectives.

[Zoeisright]

18. But but but ...

I thought RESPONSIBLE gun owners NEVER had ANY problems with guns!

[Recursion]

26. Is there any indication he was a gun owner?

Gun owners generally don't take entry-level gun classes

[jberryhill]

28. Sounds like he did it safely

No one else was hurt, so kudos to handing out guns for safety training.

[backscatter712]

33. Hey, man, what's a little PTSD among friends?

I'm sure the kids will only need a few years of therapy before they bounce back!

[jberryhill]

34. You know...

While of course everyone's mileage may vary, but it does not automatically follow that because a child witnesses something traumatic that he or she is in for years of therapy.

Relative to the adults, the children are more likely to "bounce back".

The point, however, is that as far as the goal of "gun safety" is concerned, the class appears to have been an unqualified success.

[proud2BlibKansan]

36. Yep, it won't affect the kids at all

[jberryhill]

38. Well, it was a "gun safety" class, not a group therapy session

[proud2BlibKansan]

40. Kids bounce back from divorce (sometimes), or death of a grandparent or even car wrecks

But some of the most traumatized kids I've worked with are those who have witnessed incidents like this. One kid I know ended up in a psych ward after someone was murdered in his house when he wasn't even there. The trauma his parents were experiencing had an impact on the entire family.

So yes I expect these children to be severely traumatized.

[Coyotl]

37. I hope they get a refund.

"Participants paid $75 for three hours of instruction meant to teach students how to load and use pistols and revolvers."

[jberryhill]

39. Why, they sure learned how to do those things, no?