After drunkenly discharging a handgun during a livestream, Twitch streamer and esports player Carl Reimer has now been banned from the streaming service and dismissed from the esports company SoaR. As the video below clearly shows, Reimer was breaking several of the cardinal rules of gun safety, including treating every firearm as if it’s loaded and not mixing alcohol and firearms.

There’s a good reason those are the rules, and bad things happen when you break them.

Guns are not toys. Always assume they’re loaded even if you “swear [you] just emptied the mag” and never pull the trigger unless you’re aiming at a target. pic.twitter.com/5s3fi2OZ3j

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) March 5, 2020

As a result of Reimer’s drunken stupidity, he’s now lost access to his career as a streamer, and could be potentially facing firearms charges in Colorado, where he lives.

Reimer released a video on Thursday apologizing for his actions, and worrying about what his future holds.

Don’t do what I did. Ever. Literally everything was going perfectly in life and one mistake ruined everything I’ve been doing for year. I cannot put into words how sorry I am and how dangerous what I did last night was. pic.twitter.com/O781ecXxJN

— Carl Riemer (@SoaRCarl_) March 5, 2020

I’m glad no one was hurt by Reimer’s mistake, and I’m sure he truly feels remorseful about what happened. Presumably he’d still feel the same way even if his idiocy and recklessness hadn’t been streamed live for all the world to see, but I think it’s fair to say he has a little extra incentive to own up to his behavior.

Reimer’s actions should be shown in every basic pistol course in the country as an example of what not to do and how not to behave around a firearm.  Firearms instructor Karen Hunter was incensed after watching the clip of Reimer’s drunken discharge.

This guy is very dangerous! Anyone is with his mentality. It’s not a toy and he’s treating it as such. Know you’re target foreground and background, don’t muzzle anything you don’t wish to kill, TREAT THE GUN AS IF ITS ALWAYS LOADED! YOU HAVE TO RESPECT THE FIREARM!

— Karen Hunter (@klhunter42) March 5, 2020

In subsequent tweets, Hunter outlined all of the ways that Reimer screwed up.

Also this guy has zero idea of how a gun works No trigger finger discipline. He emptied the chamber and because he has that round he’s assuming it’s empty. He never unloaded the mag, so he just chambered a new round and pulled the trigger on what he thought was empty but… nope

— Karen Hunter (@klhunter42) March 5, 2020

I enjoy a drink as much as anyone else, but I can’t help but think that a big part of Reimer’s trouble came from mixing alcohol and his gun. You want to get drunk and silly on your livestream? Great, but leave your gun out of it. Want to go to the range and shoot? Fantastic, but save your drinking for after you’re done.

This isn’t a difficult concept to grasp, but apparently it was beyond Reimer’s comprehension. Now his career is on hold, at best, and he could be facing legal repercussions as well.

It’s a cautionary tale, and if anything good comes from Reimer’s buffoonery, it will be that a lot of folks received a compelling reminder of why you treat every gun as if it’s loaded, you don’t keep your finger on the trigger, and you don’t drink and handle firearms, and you don’t treat guns as if they’re toys in the first place.

I will say that beyond the obvious idiocy, one of the things that bothers me about Reimer’s story is that it’s going to get a lot more attention than the injustice being done to another gun owner, Roosevelt Twyne, who could frankly use all the attention he can get. A viral video of a drunk guy shooting his desk is simply more interesting to most people than a story of a guy who was arrested for transporting his firearm (even with a concealed carry license) and “illegal” ammunition that’s legal to own.

Yes, I’m doing my small part to make Reimer famous (or infamous), but I’m trying to mitigate that by spreading the news about Roosevelt Twyne’s case here as well. I hope that you’ll help generate interest in Roosevelt Twyne’s case by clicking the link above and sharing his story. Maybe a little good can come from Reimer’s bad decisions.