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Comment by pavel_lishin | Hacker News Reader

A gun has only one purpose: to kill. I'm disinclined to give people any kind of leeway when it comes to mistakes with firearms.

At least the damn thing didn't discharge mid-flight.

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Wow really? One purpose?

Did you ever hear of target practice? Or marksmanship? You do know it’s an Olympic event right? Do you feel the same about archery? Or darts? Clearly whoever made darts so sharp and pointy was making a statement that they exist only to puncture skin, right?

I stand by what I said.

Glad to have you confirm you are indeed clueless about guns and their uses.

Discharge during flight... You have the classic movie understanding of firearms. Firearms do not accidentally discharge without them being played with.

You know what, you're right - I did the classic passive voice thing. I should have written "At he didn't accidentally discharge the damn thing mid-flight."

I agree with that sentiment because not knowing where your firearm is, is a very bad thing. Because if you don't know where your firearm is you cannot be confident of its status if it is loaded or not. That being said, I still don't think the actions of Hong Kong were proportionate in this regard. That's a total opinion people are free to disagree on but if the goal is to reduce problems then having a honest mistake that was reported as soon as possible receive a high punishment does not encourage people to rectify their mistakes as soon as possible. It actively encourages the opposite to conceal the mistakes or to dispose of it on the plane before he left. The concealing of the mistakes will always result in worst outcomes for everyone.

How, exactly, do you imagine that would happen?

He did admit to realizing he had the gun when he reached in to his bag mid flight. We don't know the state of the gun, was it loaded, was it secured in a holster with a covered trigger, etc... But how this could happen is, if the gun is loaded and it's loose without a covered trigger, and you don't realize it's there then reaching in to your bag and moving things about searching could very well trigger an accidental discharge.

I'm not saying there should be no accountability for his mistake, because not being aware of where your firearms are is very serious thing especially if you're choosing to carry one. I just don't think this action by HK is in proportion to the crime. It would have been better to seize and return it and let the TSA issue a fine.

Killing is not always bad, murder is. (Common mistranslation of a commandment).

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