Gun safety, make it paramount.......

[Oldpath05]

Some young guys here just out target shooting like I was yesterday afternoon when a gun jammed and someone made the ultimate mistake, I know accidents happen but what a shame.
Man killed in shooting accident at gravel pit in Baldwin | WGME

 

[jaxs]

Such shame that a young life was lost when it could be easily avoided. What can we do? Plenty. Old timers as I suspect the majority is here at bynet can show youngsters what their dads might not have time for. I wager less than 10% of gun owners know how to dismantle,clean and reassemble their gun. If you show them how,they will be a better gun owner. If someone start's a thread where shooting/hunting stories can be exchanged,I have a few that might be enlighting and/or intertaining.

 

[CalG]

muzzle control

 

[Sigarms]

I really hate to say this, but no matter what tools we use, people have, and will, always continue to die due to mistakes.

The biggest shame here is it would seem that the people negligent here didn't pay the price. That said, those people will have to live with their mistake forever.

I was just reading yesterday that people now want car alarms in cars warning them that their child is still in the car. Apparently 2 children in Arizona recently died (in separate incidents) due to heat and being left in their car. I'm not certain how much simpler it is to understand that during the summer, if you have a small child in the car, there is a good chance they will die due to heat if left in a car unattended.

Please don't take my comment as cruel or crass, just a reality of human nature.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I think that gun "accidents" are so tragic, when most could be prevented with a little training and common sense. I suspect this one falls into that category.

I was raised in the country with a gun as my constant companion. My Dad taught me well; both as a gun user, and a bystander. It's been my observation that that often times the victim, had they been aware and gun knowledgeable, the accident might have been prevented. Even so, people do slip up. I actually was responsible for a friend getting a fragment in his butt because the bullet didn't completely penetrate the target, but splattered, a small chunk hitting my friend. My fault mostly.

I was almost deafened when hunting with several guys, some of whom I didn't know, when one guy behind me fired his shotgun very close to my ear. Guess I was lucky; if the guy was that ignorant, I could have lost my head. I violated one of my Dad's first rules; never let a guy with a gun get behind you.

I have also observed that country boys can be just as ignorant and careless as anyone else with a gun. I can't tell you how many times I have seen "unloaded" guns being waved around and pointed in the direction of others in an absent minded manner.

 

[k0ua]

Wow, that is sad. But you have to ask, why the victim was in front of the muzzle of a firearm that others were attempting to clear. And why the others that were attempting a firearms clearing operation allowed someone in front of the muzzle. It is hard for me to fathom this happening, based upon my training and experience. I have been witness to likely hundreds of firearm clearings, ranging from simple double feeds to actual bullets stuck in barrels from squib loads and other rounds attempting to be chambered. And it is always a tense time with everyone behind the line on "high alert" with a range officer and the competitor making the firearm safe before anyone does anything else. Everything stops until that firearm is made safe, and for darn sure no one walks in front of the muzzle and says "let me see if I can fix that". This incident was just ignorant and sad.

 

[bigtiller]

muzzle control

3 of my relatives were taking turns trap shooting while I ran the thrower from the bed of my jd gator. I turned around to see who was up next and found a 12 gauge pump pointed at me while a Lt.Colonel in the iowa national guard was loading it.

My shooting range closed that day to groups and I shoot by myself now and occasionally with one trusted friend at the dueling tree. The Lt.Colonel has never shot at my place since.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Need I remind everyone about Dick Cheyney? This can happen anywhere, unfortunately .

 

[k0ua]

Need I remind everyone about Dick Cheyney? This can happen anywhere, unfortunately .

It only happens when people are negligent.

 

[Rustyiron]

That was only a few miles from me. The boy was in the local VFD and his "guy's" were the responders to this scene. I did not know him but a good friend in the dept said he was a good guy, good enough to let him hunt coyote's among his cattle. The rifle was on the tailgate of the truck and he just walked........
No drugs or alcohol were involved, just a very sad accident.