It’s very difficult to share a news story that starts with, “a man shot himself at the NRA 500,” and give it the proper gravity. A guy died, you know? That’s not funny.

At the same time, it’s so thematically notable that it makes sports bloggers feel like Oscar f**king Wilde, so we’ve got to talk about it. Here’s what happened at the Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday night:

Fort Worth police have said a man who was camping in the infield died of a “self-inflicted injury” after getting into an argument with other campers. The incident happened late in the Sprint Cup race.

Police spokeswoman Cpl. Tracey Knight has said alcohol may have been a factor. Knight said several people witnessed the incident, but nobody was in danger.

Track spokesman Mike Zizzo say the death occurred “in or around a pickup truck” in part of the infield near the middle of the backstretch. (via AP)

I’ve read this a few times now, and aside from the obvious stuff (“guy shoots self at gun race”), the “in or around a pickup truck” part is hanging me up. My guess is that the track spokesman didn’t want somebody assuming the guy killed himself in a stock car or whatever, but at the risk of being assumptive and stereotypical, doesn’t EVERYTHING at a NASCAR race happen in or around a pickup truck? I say this as a proud, adoptive resident of Texas. “I bought some cotton candy in or around a pickup truck,” etc.

Predictably, not everyone believes a guy could shoot himself at an event sponsored by gun enthusiasts. Some folks are saying the story has been fabricated by the Elitist Liberal Media — Piers Morgan has already lost his shit about the NRA 500 a few times, and he pretty much does his show in a t-shirt reading “Elite Liberal Media” — so let’s jump over to YouTube and see what’s reasonable.

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A threat to our national security.

Gun control debates are at an all-time high. Some people think we should regulate guns to keep bullets from flying out of them and murdering people. Others think guns are our constitutional right, the last thing standing between us and Barack Obama sending drones shaped like British soldiers to our doors to forcibly remove our freedom. Others still wish social media didn’t exist so they wouldn’t have to hear what every person they have ever met thinks should be done about guns.

Back in September, the NRA-ILA — the National Rifle Association’s “lobbying arm,” the Institute for Legislative Action — published a fact sheet alerting gun owners to persons and organizations with an anti-gun stance. Now, this isn’t the most up-to-the-minute breaking news thing I’ve ever shared, but as a person who does not have a Google alert set up for PEOPLE WHO PUBLISH LISTS OF THEIR ENEMIES ON THE INTERNET, I was surprised at some of the names.

Here, I’ll let them explain what this is.

The following organizations have lent monetary, grassroots or some other type of direct support to anti-gun organizations. In many instances, these organizations lent their name in support of specific campaigns to pass anti-gun legislation such as the March 1995 HCI “Campaign to Protect Sane Gun Laws.” Many of these organizations were listed as “Campaign Partners,” for having pledged to fight any efforts to repeal the Brady Act and the Clinton “assault weapons” ban. All have officially endorsed anti-gun positions.

Included on the list: harmless-as-humanly-possible Doug Flutie, former NBA star Rick Fox, MLB journeyman common Mike Torrez, Vinny By God Testaverde and tennis great John McEnroe. The NRA felt it was important for you to know that DOUG FLUTIE thought gun-control was a possibility, so that you could stop loving him. Or whatever. I’m not sure what the actual purpose of the list is. It has BOYZ II MEN on it. Did somebody weigh the importance of their guns against how much they liked ‘On Bended Knee’?

You can check out the entire list here.