Man Uses Gun For Backscratcher, Shoots Himself

Jorge Espinal was drinking beer and playing poker around 3 a.m. on a Sunday morning in his house, when he got up from the table and walked into another room. His poker buddies probably thought, "Oh, well. He has to go to the bathroom or to get something to drink."

But while he as in the other room, he got this terrible itch on his back. He looked around for something that would quench this horrible sensation. The first thing he saw was a revolver. So, Jorge picked up the revolver and started scratching his back. Probably not the best back scratching device in the room, but it was doing the trick. '

There was a couple of problems with his scratching device of choice. First, the gun safety was not on and secondly, the pistol was loaded. As he scratched his back, by accident, pulled on the trigger. He shot himself in the back.

His buddies said that he came and told them that he shot himself. They did not believe him until the saw the blood running down his back.

Jorge would play with a gun, we play with sins every day. Sometimes we seem safe but eventually, we will be shot by the power of falling into temptation. As the Psalmist writes, "My wounds grow foul and fester Because of my folly. I am bent over and greatly bowed down; I go mourning all day long. For my loins are filled with burning, And there is no soundness in my flesh. I am benumbed and badly crushed; I groan because of the agitation of my heart" (Psalm 38:5-8).

Kimberly Durnan, "Man Uses Gun for Backscratcher, Shoots Himself," Dallas Morning News, May 13, 2008.