Vendor hurt by accidental shot at gun show

Deepa Bharath

A visitor to a gun show over the weekend accidentally shot a vendor

in a neighboring stall when the gun he was looking at misfired,

officials said Tuesday.

The vendor was not seriously hurt and was treated by paramedics on

scene, but he refused to be taken to the hospital, said Pam Highwart,

spokeswoman for the Orange County Fairgrounds.

“The bullet did not hit him directly,” she said. “It actually

bounced off another object, and then a piece of it grazed the

vendor.”

The incident happened at about 1:30 p.m. Sunday, she said.

This was the first time a person was hurt during a gun show at the

fairgrounds, Highwart said.

“We have five such gun shows every year,” she said. “And this is

the first [show] we’ve had this year.”

The fairgrounds has had these shows on a regular basis for the

last 12 years, Highwart added.

Crossroads of the West, the company that puts on 50 gun shows a

year on the West Coast including those at the fairgrounds, has “zero

tolerance” for loaded weapons in their shows, said Jeff Templeton, a

show manager with the Utah-based company.

“All the guns on display and on the tables need to be empty,” he

said.

The only guns that are allowed to be loaded in a show are antique

weapons, Templeton said.

“But even there, we allow only those antique guns which are locked

in display cases,” he said. “We don’t allow historic weapons or

antiques that are not locked in a display case to be loaded.”

The company also has a strict policy about visitors to their shows

entering with a loaded weapon, Templeton said.

“If someone wants to bring their weapon in to buy a part, they

need to remove the bullets at the entry point where we post security

personnel and a police officer who help them do that,” he said.

The guns being shown and those brought in are disabled with nylon

ties, Templeton said.

“But we’ve done these shows for the last 30 years,” he said. “Such

incidents have happened before, but they are extremely rare, and all

of them have been accidental.”

Sunday’s shooting was a freak accident, Templeton said.

“We are gun-right supporters, obviously,” he said. “But security

and public safety is one area where we never compromise. We do

everything we can to avoid the possibility of such accidents

happening.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.