Seven of 77 guns found by TSA agents over the past two weeks.

Seven of 77 guns found by TSA agents over the past two weeks.

A relatively light week in GunFAIL, which is great news. Unfortunately, it wasn't completely quiet out there, and it never will be. Which is sort of the point. But we can hold out hope, anyway.

Among the events of special note, two Marines accidentally shot and killed themselves this week, which is more than a little unexpected, not to mention sad and avoidable. Trained in the use of firearms though they may be, in one case the training did not prevent one young Marine from twirling a loaded pistol on his finger, which discharged straight through his left eye, killing him five days later. Also among the unexpected accident victims: one armed security guard and one gun collector. Surely all folks who would have been presumed able to handle their guns safely. But it doesn't always work out as expected, does it? I'd really hate to find that out in, say, an elementary school classroom. Though some school districts seem bound and determined to take their chances, even as their insurance carriers insist that they not, at least not on their dime.

Perhaps somewhat less reliable, but still striving, would be the two gun owners who caused accidents while practicing with their weapons. More practice will be necessary, it seems. More common among the accidents, of course, are the people who had their guns out for no particular reason, either playing with them or showing them off. Five incidents this week involved people explicitly reported as having been doing just that. That's not counting the people reported as merely "handling" their weapons, as opposed to loading, unloading, or cleaning them. Which reminds me: I found zero gun cleaning accidents this week! A major milestone! Congratulations, everyone! (Though I guess it's possible that you just left your guns dirty.)

Two father/son fights resulted in GunFAIL this week. There were two stray bullet shootings, and one "home invasion," in which a fellow accidentally shot through a neighbor's apartment wall in the middle of the night. Three gun owners dropped and discharged their weapons this week, though this is often something that gun enthusiasts insist does not happen with modern semiautomatic weapons. But that's what they're telling the police when they arrive, so take that for what it's worth. And then there was the concealed carry ninja who, angered by being called out by neighborhood residents for speeding through their streets, jumped out of his car, went to draw the gun out of his waistband, and shot himself in the groin.

Finally, our last recurring category: the kids of GunFAIL. Victims this week were ages 22 months, 8, 9 and 13. All were shot by other children, mostly by siblings or other family members.

Below the fold, you'll find this week's compilation.