BANG! BANG! BANG!

Excerpted from a local newspaper:
MAN SHOOTS OWN THIGH AFTER MAKING THREATS

A 22-year-old man was arrested Wednesday evening on weapons charge after he accidentally shot himself in the thigh.... Further investigation revealed he arrived at his mother’s house and began waving a .22 caliber gun around while threatening to shoot anyone who called police. He shot himself in the right thigh after he placed the gun in his waistband.

Ankara, Turkey – 1991 or 1992
TWO SOLDIERS GUN EACH OTHER DOWN AT GENERAL STAFF HEADQUARTERS

Two soldiers on guard duty at the main entrance of General Staff Headquarters gunned each other down for reasons that are as yet unclear, the Anatolia news agency reported Sunday. The soldiers started arguing for an unknown reason…. Later they fired at each other. One has been hospitalized in the intensive care unit of the hospital. His condition is reported as critical. The other died at the scene.

There is nothing funny about guns when they are used in inappropriate ways. But when I read the first article in the paper this morning, I immediately remembered the second, and I dug the old copy of it out of my files. I laughed as I reread it, because I had a little drama playing out in my mind of two guards shooting at each other while skulking around from behind their little guard shacks. This undoubtedly was not exactly what happened but my mind didn't let that stop it from churning out an imaginary story.

I probably shouldn’t have laughed, but except for the serious results of the latter shooting, both scenarios played out in my mind like something I might see in a very funny movie.

But to mitigate my unease at finding anything funny in a shooting, I tell myself that while my reaction may have not been appropriate for someone else’s misfortune I truly am happy to find something to laugh at to start my day.