http://www.nj.com/sussex-county/index.ssf/2012/10/man_paralyzed_in_accidental_nj_theme_park_shooting_this_should_have_never_happened.html#incart_river_default

 

I'd be willing to bet that this means the end of the venerable old Wild West City theme attraction, or at least the end of GUNS there.

Is there another side to this story? I know how NJ.com leans when it comes to firearms but if reality is anything close to how the story reads then.. wow. I've never heard of Wild West City but it sounds like legitimate safety issues.

Wow, I remember going there as a kid.

Wow, I remember going there as a kid.

x2, one of my favorites for sure.

I don't think there is another side to this story - using real guns in a wild west re-enactment is just plain wrong, as well as being a violation of just about every rule of firearm safety. Blank guns exist for a reason.

Back in the 70s and 80s we used the real deal, Including colt pythons and 1911s for stage work. Now for pyrotechnics need an ATF license.

I remember going there as a kid, too. I always thought they had used stage guns, made specific for acting and stuff. I didn't know they used real guns until this incident happened.

 

It almost sounds like the back story for a murder mystery show (swapping real ammo for blanks, causing a death). Just thinking about that, I'd probably say "oh, that could never happen. They don't use real guns in live performances."

Something not jiving here.

 

 

Michael Stabile, the owner of Wild West City in Byram.

 

Harris, a cowboy actor who was playing the role of frontier lawman Wyatt Earp, was shot in the forehead by a 17-year-old actor who loaded his .22-caliber handgun with live bullets instead of blanks during a dramatization at the theme park on July 7, 2006.

 

The shooter used bullets that had been left in a lockerroom by another cowboy actor who brought two boxes of ammunition to the park.

 

 

Conforti sentenced Stabile, on behalf of Western World Inc., to one year probation and ordered the company to pay a $7,500 fine for unlawful possession of a handgun without a carry permit. The company pleaded guilty to the third-degree charge in April.

 

So the owner of a property, plead guilty to having a gun on his property (a non crime), For a shooting, where he did not supply the ammo, load the gun or pull the trigger?

 

No I'm not saying he's squeaking clean, obviously better supervision/safety checks should have been implemented. But at least make the sentence somewhat related to the act.

I don't think there is another side to this story - using real guns in a wild west re-enactment is just plain wrong, as well as being a violation of just about every rule of firearm safety. Blank guns exist for a reason.

 

Blank guns are awful and generally are never/can never be authentic. I do WWII re-enacting. We use live rifles, handguns, machine guns, tanks, artillery etc all LIVE. Our accidents are usually people getting heat stroke or tripping and falling. 2 years ago there was an accident involving a full auto STG-44. The guy fell and hit his mouth on it and knocked 2 teeth out. Blank gun wouldnt have solved that...

 

Oh no, a machine gun shooting blanks!

 

I hate NJ.com

 

Though admittedly that kid was pretty f--king stupid to use live ammo in the gun.