Posted on 11/17/2009 8:42:42 AM PST by smokingfrog
AUXVASSE - Bernie Breer, 67, died when his friend accidentally shot him after deer hunting off Route B in Callaway County.
Breer was one of three hunters accidentally shot during the opening weekend of dear season. Breer's friend accidentally shot him while taking his gun off his shoulder.
"The firearm discharged and hit the victim in the stomach area," Missouri Department of Conservation officer Tom Stother said.
Officials reported hunters in Adair and Macon Counties were accidentally shot while deer hunting during the weekend.
Last year, a total of five people were accidentally shot during all of deer season. None were fatal.
"Unfortunately, if you do handle guns long enough, sooner or later you're gonna have one go off when you don't intend it to," Dave Shefe, an employee at Columbia's Powder Horn Guns and Sporting, said.
Still, Shefe said the accidents during the weekend should not scare hunters away from the sport. He said they do not reflect a growing trend in hunting accidents.
"It's all about basic gun handling and gun safety," Shefe said.
Stother said hunters are required to take gun safety classes before getting their hunting permit.
"Muzzle control is by far the best safety tip that we can provide to hunters," Stother said.
(Excerpt) Read more at komu.com ...
Not sure what kind of gun he had, but I was taught, if you are carrying a bolt action rifle, have the bolt open. Pros/cons?
One could argue there were two deaths. A man drowned in his truck trying to cross a flood swollen creek around here. He and two other men were deer hunting on family land.
LOL...I love witty sarcasm/humor!
Uh...with his finger on the trigger? With the muzzle pointed at his friend? Why?
I have never seen a better set of gunhandling rules. His four rules are concise and complete, and are best understood as a mindset than as a checklist.
Is there always a “safety” to (dis)trust?
Simplest rule in all of firearms safety:
NEVER POINT THE MUZZLE AT ANYTHING YOU’RE NOT WILLING TO KILL
That advice is rock solid!
http://www.remington.com/safety/safety_center/safety_modification_program/
That flaw led to an accidental discharge in just such a rifle, in my hands, as I toggled the safety to off prior to unloading...no finger anywhere near the trigger. It was pointed at the ground near my father’s feet.
Thus I repeat the rule: NEVER POINT THE MUZZLE AT ANYTHING YOU’RE NOT WILLING TO KILL.
LOL!
Granted, people in grass houses shouldn’t throw scones.
Exactly. I'm sure even Jeff Cooper would have agreed that the first step toward having an AD is to believe that you're incapable of having one.
On most all modern guns yes . Yet the "safety" can be in different configurations.
“The first rule of thumb...ALWAYS handle a firearm as if it were
loaded and ALWAYS point in a safe direction.”
Amen
Amen
AND
Amen
Having nearly blown a .22 cal hole in my brother’s foot (back when
I was young...but was smart enough to know better).
I’m in Mid-Missouri and heard about this sad event.
It reminds me of my sister-in-law who is conservative but fairly
“anti-gun” because a friend of her father accidentally shot/killed
himself with some careless gun-handling during a hunting trip.
If by safety, you mean the myriad internal devices or trigger complications which are designed to disable the internal lockwork unless the trigger has been deliberately squeezed ... well yes, most pistols have such devices.
Still ... anyone who is "trusting the safety" is most likely violating one of the previous four rules. I believe that "don't trust the 'safety'" is one of the reasons for Rule 2, rather than a distinct fifth rule.
IMHO. YMMV.
Folks make too much of the Cheney thing. You forget that in Texas lawyers are considered varmints, there is no closed season and no bag limit.
Fortunately the round hit the ground away from the coke girls. They would have been very annoyed otherwize.
I was taken to task and did not sin again.
I'm over 40, been around guns all my life, and I've never accidentally discharged a firearm.
I disagree that accidents MUST happen.
Of course, you MEANT "No magazine in the rifle...", right? ;-)
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