Man Shoots Himself, Wife, In Church While Boasting About Carrying Gun Everywhere

A Tennessee man shot himself and his wife Thursday, when he was advocating the right to carry guns, during a discussion on recent church shootings.

The incident took place in First United Methodist Church in Tellico Plains, Tennessee, at 1 p.m. local time (2 p.m. EST) when the elder members were talking about the alarming number of church shootings in the recent times, during a Thanksgiving luncheon.

That is when a man in his 80s pulled out a 380 caliber Ruger handgun and boasted about how the firearm never leaves his side, according to local media outlet Knox News.

"I carry my handgun everywhere," the man said, as reported by Tellico Plains Police Chief Russ Parks, who is investigating the incident.

The man then proceeded to proudly show his gun to the gathered churchgoers after removing the magazine and clearing the chamber of the weapon. After the crowd had a good look at it, the man put the magazine back in, loaded a round in the chamber, before returning the gun to its holster.

Forgetting that he had just re-chambered the gun, when a man walked up to him requesting to see the firearm, he took it out of the holster and said, “With this loaded indicator, I can tell that it’s not loaded.”

After pointing out the exact opposite of what was true, the man confidently pulled the trigger.

The fired bullet pierced the man’s palm, which was facing upward, went through the left side of his wife’s stomach and exited out the right. At the time the gun was fired, it was lying facing sideways on a table inside the church.

The wounded elderly couple was flown out to the University of Tennessee Medical Center with injuries that, the police confirmed, were not life-threatening. The identities of the man, who accidentally shot the weapon, and his wife were not revealed. Since the nature of the shooting was accidental, charges will not be pressed against him.

Schools in the area were placed on a temporary lockdown over fears of an active shooter, shortly after the man fired his gun, according to New York Daily News.

The incident comes days after a gunman opened fire at the Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church in Texas on Nov. 5, killing 26 churchgoers, in what has been described as one of the worst mass killings in modern American history.

President Donald Trump, who was in Japan, as part of his 12-day Asia tour at the time, mentioned at a scheduled joint conference he did not think the lack of gun control should be blamed for the Texas church shooting.

“Americans will do what we do best: we pull together and join hands and lock arms and through the tears and sadness we stand strong,” Trump said, adding that “I think mental health is the problem here. This isn't a guns situation.”