On October 20th, an 89-year-old woman was shot in the leg after a reported misfire in Frank’s Pizza in Flanders. The woman was rushed to the hospital and is currently in a stable condition; her identity has not been released.
According to the Star Ledger, 70-year-old William H. Schmieding was reportedly eating with friends when he started clearing his ammunition to clean his handgun, a Smith and Wesson model, when it went off in the middle of the pizzeria, seemingly not intentionally.
Schmieding had a concealed carry permit, but it was violated when he openly carried it in a public establishment. Since then, an investigation has been ongoing; however, Schmieding has been charged with second-degree aggravated assault, fourth-degree aggravated assault, third-degree prohibited carrying a firearm, and fourth-degree violation of safe carry requirements.
It is possible that Schmieding could have a connection to the woman, which would suggest a motive for shooting her; however, it has been highly suggested that this was simply an act of wrong place, wrong time, and that the gun should not have been out.
Common confusion was among the public as to Schmieding’s intentions to bring a gun into Franks’. West Morris student Lorelei Costello believes “that if you want to buy a gun, you should have to take a long survey so people can see how well you are mentally and if you should be able to be the owner of a firearm. I mean, he thought it was okay to bring a firearm to a Pizza place and also, why would you need a firearm at a Pizza place?”
12th grader Kavya Gupta was asked about the possible risks to public safety posed by allowing firearms in public. “I think that it shows why (guns) shouldn’t be permitted in public spaces because there was no need for that person to have a gun at a pizza place.”
Gun violence has been a national problem in the US for decades; however, citizens of New Jersey are lucky to have not been exposed to high numbers of gun violence, even having the 3rd lowest gun death rate in the US, according to CBS News. This is most due to New Jersey’s strong gun laws and to its big suburban population.
