If the gun advocates behind this year’s inaugural Gun Appreciation Day had hoped to use the day’s festivities to build support for their anti-regulation platform, they are going to have to wait another year.

Emergency personnel had to be called to the scene of the Dixie Gun and Knife Show in Raleigh, North Carolina after a gun accidentally discharged and shot three people at the show’s safety check-in booth just after 1 pm. Both victims were transported to an area hospital, and the Raleigh Fire Department announced that the show would be closed for the rest of the day.

Gun Appreciation Day is the combined effort of dozens of far-right organizations who have been vocal opponents of gun control advocates’ efforts to reduce the number of dangerous weapons on our streets and prevent them from ending up in the hands of people with criminal backgrounds or a history of mental illness. In response to a renewed push for sensible reforms of gun laws after the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, groups like the National Rifle Association and the founders of Gun Appreciation Day have instead advocated for an increase in the number of guns in public places like elementary schools, arguing — falsely — that more guns will mean more protection for individuals.

But today’s unfortunate accident, which took place at a safety check in surrounded by hundreds of people who presumably have at least some training on how to properly handle a dangerous weapon, undermines that case. Earlier this week, an armed security officer at a Michigan charter school accidentally left his gun in a restroom that is regularly used by students as young as five years old.

A representative from Political Media, the group responsible for organizing Gun Appreciation Day, was not immediately available for comment.

A man in Utah was photographed at a JC Penney carrying around an unloaded version of the gun used in the Newtown tragedy to prove that guns aren’t as dangerous as they’re portrayed.

In addition to the unloaded rifle, a loaded Glock pistol was strapped to his hip when his picture was taken by shopper Cindy Yorgason on her cell phone camera. Speaking with the Salt Lake Tribune, the man — identified as 22-year old Joseph Kelley — said that he called the local police to let them know about his actions before he left his home and intended to display that weapons aren’t dangerous when handled by law-abiding citizens.

Kelley also said he was told that he was “well within his rights” and that bystanders’ reactions were positive.

“I felt no negative vibes from anyone,” Kelley said. “I think it went rather surprisingly well.”

Kelley added that he carries weapons to protect children and other people from “criminals, cartels, drug lords” and other “evil men.”

Kelley also holds a concealed-carry permit from the State of Utah and was formerly in the military. Utah has made the news several times lately in relation to their rather lax gun laws. A small town recently proposed every citizen owning a firearm, while a child at an elementary school in the state brought a handgun with him “for protection” in the days after the shooting at Sandy Hook. Utah currently has absolutely no waiting period in place for purchasing firearms.