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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Pen-Gun Accident Kills Budding Rap Singer
2005-12-06
ST. PARIS, Ohio - Steven Zorn had put the pen gun to his head and clicked before, thinking it was jammed and would not work. But on the third try, the tiny, silver pistol went off as the 22-year-old budding rap singer was drinking to celebrate an impending record deal. He died later at the hospital. The shooting Nov. 18 at Zorn's home in this rural village of 2,000, about 50 miles northeast of Dayton. Family, friends and law enforcement officials believe it was accidental.

Family and friends said Zorn drove himself to succeed in the music world. He loved hip hop and wrote songs described as being filled with raw emotion. He taught himself to play the keyboard and record tracts using inexpensive software on his home computer. "He could make a song out of anything," said friend Shane Hanes, with Zorn the night of the shooting.
Wonder what kind of song he's going to compose about being dead?
Posted by:Fred

#16  No Grammy, just a Darwin.
Posted by: DMFD   2005-12-06 20:30  

#15  It could have been suicide, and if so that's sad. But that said, suicide or murder would have been better for his future image and record sales.
Posted by: 2b   2005-12-06 18:05  

#14  Sorry, but that's suicide. Just as anyone cleaning a gun that shoots themselves is suicide.

Not quite, silentbrick. My brother was cleaning my dad's old P-38 he brought back from Germany, and shot himself. He was trying to remove a corroded cartrige from the firing chamber. Vise broke, gun went off, and he spent three months in the hospital. Sometimes you do everything right and bad things still happen. That said, this was just plain stupidity.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2005-12-06 18:02  

#13  Sorry, but that's suicide. Just as anyone cleaning a gun that shoots themselves is suicide.

Not quite, silentbrick. My brother was cleaning my dad's old P-38 he brought back from Germany, and shot himself. He was trying to remove a corroded cartrige from the firing chamber. Vise broke, gun went off, and he spent three months in the hospital. Sometimes you do everything right and bad things still happen. That said, this was just plain stupidity.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2005-12-06 18:02  

#12  When I think rap, I think of rap's breeding ground... St. Paris, Ohio.
What did he rap about, milking cows?
Posted by: tu3031   2005-12-06 13:54  

#11  The article I read cites his mother as wanting pen guns banned. Not that I think these things are all that practical or useful, but I love how these matters always turn to "blame the tool, not the idiot wielding it".
Posted by: Dar   2005-12-06 13:49  

#10  The pen is mightier then the sword.

sorry, couldn't resist.

Posted by: DepotGuy   2005-12-06 13:36  

#9  Too bad he's dead, but that doesn't mean his career as a democratic voter has to end.
Posted by: JFM   2005-12-06 12:38  

#8  Too bad he's dead, but that doesn't mean his career has to be. Didn't stop 2-Pac.
Posted by: BH   2005-12-06 10:19  

#7  I can't believe this story made it to Rantburg. I knew this kid and grew up with his father. Here is the irony; he had been through a hunter safety course. Out of respect to the family I will not make any degrading comments on him or his lifestyle, but the picture might be spot on. Rivrdogs statement pretty much says it all. It's been proven too many times that alcohol, firearms and a game of pretend ends up with real life deadly consequences. I'll use my pen to sign my checks and my guns to protect me and mine, but the business end of both will be pointed at something other than me.
Posted by: kilowattkid   2005-12-06 09:20  

#6  Listen to enough of that hip-hop crap, ALL of us would be contemplating suicide.
Posted by: Besoeker   2005-12-06 08:52  

#5  Stupid is as stupid does.My neighbor's PO whent to sit down in court and shot herself in the ass.(LOL)
Posted by: raptor   2005-12-06 08:03  

#4  Poor guy. At least his family could have had the decency to pretend he was murdered.
Posted by: 2b   2005-12-06 06:06  

#3  Reminds me that while in the army I heard of a colonel whose wife had shot him in the asscheek while she was cleaning a gun. It is funnier when you think that after leaving hospital part of his job as colonel was to judge and sentence those who had not respected safety rules with guns. Like "Thou shall not point a gun anyone, carry it out of the range or clean it before it has been inspected and certified empty"
Posted by: JFM   2005-12-06 03:36  

#2  That's Russian Roulette with the Odds eliminated: one barrel, one loaded cylinder. Even a totally haywire gun (and the penguns are actually reliable) will usually shoot under those odds.
Posted by: Rivrdog   2005-12-06 02:27  

#1  Sorry, but that's suicide. Just as anyone cleaning a gun that shoots themselves is suicide. If you follow proper gun safety rules, this won't happen to you, so if it does, then obviously you wanted to die.
Posted by: Silentbrick   2005-12-06 00:48  

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