Man shoots himself in the head and dies while demonstrating gun safety

The man was showing his girlfriend that loaded guns are safe when he died

A man shoots a gun in the US, unrelated to the incident in the Michigan (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

A man in the US accidentally shot himself in the head and died on Monday as he was trying to persuade his girlfriend that guns are safe.

The unnamed 36-year-old from Independence Township, Michigan, was demonstrating how his three handguns are safe when they are not loaded by holding them to his head and pulling the trigger, Detroit Free Press reported.

But when the third gun went off, the man was struck in the head with a bullet. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities say three children not related to the man, aged 7,10, and 12, were in the home at the time of the shooting, but did not witness it.

The man’s girlfriend told police that he had been drinking most of the day before he died, and sheriff’s officials said alcohol appears to have been a factor in the incident, according to CBS Detroit.

An autopsy will be performed by the Oakland County Medical Examiner as an investigation into the man’s death continues.

A man in St Petersburg, Florida died in similar circumstances in January last year, when he too tried to show that guns are safe and shot himself in the head.