AP Photo/Ted S. Warren

This story is a few days old, but I just saw it.

Well, I didn’t just see it. I saw it a short time ago, then spent the next 20 minutes cringing at what happened.

You see, from time to time, I feel obligated to share stories of gun owners being stupid. We need to call these people out, to bring attention to the things they do to make sure people don’t replicate their stupidity. Even if someone isn’t a lawful gun owner, some of their antics are also carried out by those who don’t know any better.

This one, though, holds a special place. After all, these antics resulted in the man being shot in a…special place.

Police say 46-year-old Mark Anthony Jones was walking on a pathway near the Girl Scout cabin when a gun in his waistband began slipping. Jones reached to adjust the 9mm, but it accidently fired.

Police report the bullet entered just above his penis and exited through his scrotum.

Adding insult to injury is the fact that Jones didn’t have a permit, which means he now faces prosecution.

Is it wrong I’m now hearing the teacher and mother from A Christmas Story, dressed as witches, chanting, “You’ll shoot your junk off!”

In truth, this shouldn’t be a laughing matter. What happened was completely avoidable, and I don’t mean anything regarding the debate over appendix carry.

No, the jackwagon should have had a holster. Instead, he gets to create sympathy cringes as guys imagine that kind of pain and to make headlines as far away as Sacramento, where they have an interesting tidbit.

Jones was carrying the Hi Point 9mm pistol in his waistband without a holster, police wrote. He reached down to adjust the gun, which had slipped, when it fired.

While Hi Point isn’t responsible for what happened, there’s something about the stereotypical Hi Point owner that makes this unsurprising.

For one thing, it’s unsurprising that a handgun that can do double duty as an anchor for the United States Navy “slipped.”

For another, it’s Hi Point. The firearms themselves are fine for what they are. They’re inexpensive pistols designed to serve a demographic that’s just not going to spend money on a Glock or Smith & Wesson for whatever reason, often because they don’t have it. I’m fine with that.

But far too many people want to be “gun people” and pick up a Hi Point, then tote it around like they’re some big deal. They act like having that firearm on their person makes them special, but they fail to bother to learn anything about the responsibilities or requirements for carrying a gun. If we’re lucky, they do have a permit, something Jones lacks.

The permit is just one part, though.

There’s a certain level of attitude toward guns that those of us who carry should display, that means gun owners should use holsters, for example, because they’re safer. It means understanding when to draw and when to fire, as well as when not to fire.

More importantly, they’re far less likely to accidentally shoot themselves in the junk. That’s not to say it can’t happen, only that it’s far less likely to do so.

Hat tip: Tamara Keel at View From The Porch