In this case, it was lethal
Benally then demonstrated by putting his own 9mm Ruger, which he believed to be unloaded, to his head and firing it, Mitchell said.
There's dumb, there's USDA Grade A dumb, and then there's lethally stupid. This guy gets marks in all three columns.
If this doesn't win a Darwin award, then the Darwin awards aren't worth anything any more.
Hat Tip Say Uncle, who knows the best way to check a firearm's condition is to point it at a hippie first.