Luke Burbank: This is why I don’t carry a gun – Man in theater accidentally shoots self in buttocks

Luke’s concerned he might be too much of a butter fingers to keep a weapon on his person. (AP)

Police say a man carrying a firearm during a screening of “The Bourne Legacy” in a Nevada movie theater shot himself in the buttocks accidentally. Luke says this is precisely why, even considering all the recent violence, he would never carry a gun.

“There is a chance I might find myself in a situation where someone is coming in as an aggressor, and they are carrying a weapon, and they want to do me harm,” says Luke. The chances of that though, he feels are far less than him causing himself injury with the weapon.

“That actually seems like a fairly likely scenario,” he says.

Frantic moviegoers in the Nevada theater quickly called 911 after hearing the gunfire on Tuesday. The first 911 calls reportedly said there were seven or eight shots. Police later confirmed it was only the one, but considering the recent mass theater shooting in Colorado, Luke finds the moviegoers alarm pretty understandable.

“I guess this is what it comes down to,” says Luke. “Everybody is allowed to carry a gun, and we’re all worried about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Authorities say the 56-year-old man had a permit to carry a concealed weapon. He told officers the gun fell from his pocket as he was adjusting himself in the seat and that it discharged when it dropped to the floor.

“I’m just still surprised that we have these guns accidentally going off as frequently as they do,” says Dave Ross, wondering why there isn’t a more childproof or buttocks-proof method to keep this from happening. Non-buttocks proof firearms being yet another reason Luke might want to stay away.

The man’s injuries in the Nevada incident were not life-threatening and no others were hurt. The man even reportedly apologized to the scared audience before making a quick exit from the theater.

A Ross and Burbank listener familiar with the Nevada town says carrying weapons in the area is common.

“I’m surprised the other patrons didn’t respond to his apology with “No problem, man. You should get a better holster,” listener Tim in Federal Way writes.

By JAMIE GRISWOLD, MyNorthwest.com Editor
The Associated Press contributed to this report.