Accident at Gun Show; Five Injured in Three States on Same Day

Five people were injured on Saturday by accidental shootings at gun shows in Indiana, North Carolina, and Ohio.

In Indianapolis, Ind., 54-year-old Emory L. Cozee was injured when he inadvertently shot himself while leaving a gun show while loading his .45-caliber semi-automatic. Cozee was leaving the fairgrounds at the time because loaded personal weapons aren't allowed inside the show. He was hospitalized for treatment. No charges will be filed for the shooting as police identified it as an accident.

The Raleigh, N.C. incident took place at the Dixie Gun and Knife Show where 36-year-old Gary Lynn Wilson brought a loaded 12-gauge shotgun which discharged as its owner unzipped it from the case which injured three people. A police investigation started to identify the true nature of the incident but it currently appears to have been an accident, according to CNN.

And in Ohio, a gun dealer in Medina was checking out a semi-automatic handgun he had bought Saturday when he accidentally pulled the trigger, injuring his friend, police said. The gun's magazine had been removed from the firearm, but one round remained in the chamber, police said, according to The Chicago Tribune.

Police Chief Pat Berarducci said it appears the bullet ricocheted off the floor and struck the friend in the arm and leg. The man was taken by helicopter to a hospital 30 miles north in Cleveland, Berarducci said.

The accidents occurred on the same day that thousands of gun advocates gathered peacefully at state capitals around the U.S. to rally against stricter firearm limits, according to Reuters.

The gun rallies held Saturday coincide with President Barack Obama's unveiling of a sweeping package of federal gun-control proposals in the wake of the onnecticut elementary school shooting that killed 20 first-graders and six educators last month.