It’s a story we’ve all heard a dozen times if we’ve heard it once.
“I found the gun in the park. When I picked it up, it just went off.”
And some poor schmuck gets hit with a bullet. If they’re lucky, they survive, as is the case in this story.
Jalen Fayne, 18, appeared in court in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on April 15, 2021, to face a single charge of injury by negligent handling of a dangerous weapon in the shooting of his friend on November 10, 2020.
After being shot in the thigh, an unidentified 18-year-old was treated at Froedtert Kenosha Hospital, at which time one of the staff called police.
According to the injured 18-year-old, Jalen Fayne found a handgun near a tree between baseball bleachers at Red Arrow Park and a nearby church. They went to Fayne’s house, where Fayne showed the handgun to his friends and “it just went off.”
Jalen Fayne and his grandmother took the injured friend to the hospital, but not before Fayne hid the gun back in the park where he allegedly found it.
Police searched the park and, sure enough, located a 9mm handgun inside a Crown Royal whiskey bag.
Why Mr. Fayne chose to compound one stupid act – shooting his friend – with another stupid act – hiding the loaded handing back in the park where he found it – is unknown.
What to Do If You Find a Gun
If you find a gun in a park or anywhere else, odds are it wasn’t put there by its legal owner, so here are three simple steps to take should you find yourself in the same position as young Jalen Fayne.
- Do not pick up the gun. Leave it right where you found it.
- Call the police and tell them what you found.
- Stay there until police show up to seize the gun so nobody else picks it up and does something stupid with it.
Bonus Step 4: Go home knowing you did the right thing.
This is not rocket science.
If someone tossed away a loaded handgun it’s probably because he or she did something really stupid with it first. You don’t want to take the fall for that moron, so leave the gun alone, call the cops and stay there until they show up.
The person you save from a nasty bullet wound to the thigh might be your best friend.
Hi Christopher, Unfortunately the allure of a fascinating item such as a firearm, when found or discovered by untrained people, or worse, children, can be almost irresistible.
As you are aware, education, not TV training, but sound education is the only cure. There was a time when many schools had firearm ranges in their basements. Surely, instead of our governments wasting millions demonizing qualified responsible firearms owners,some of those funds should be allocated to educating youth on firearms issues and safety, in the schools as part of the curriculum.
Of course this goes against their agenda, so I wouldn’t hold my breath, but if they were as serious about firearms safety as they claim, such education would greatly enhance firearms safety throughout this country, and it would dispel the allure. sadly, and unfortunately, playing politics is far more important to them than anything else.