The 43-year-old man, whose name has not been released, was taking selfies with his girlfriend, while holding the loaded gun, on Sunday in Skagit County. His girlfriend told police that they had been taking selfies with the gun throughout the day, with her boyfriend periodically loading and unloading it.
His death is currently being investigated as an accident, and tragically, these accidents aren’t uncommon. AlterNet reports that since 2014, over 50 people have met a similar fate while taking selfies with weapons.
Accidental shooting suicides are not limited to adults taking selfies. In 2015, at least 265 children or teens under the age of 18 picked up a firearm and shot themselves or someone else, according to Everytown USA, a gun control advocacy group that tracks gun violence.
The alarming rate of these preventable fatalities would decline if gun ownership required safety training, similar to automobile driving tests. Treating guns with the same care as vehicles is logical. Guns kill just as many people in the US as do cars.
