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 ...
“A removable magazine is the safest way to unload a firearm, but I don’t often see people making that argument.”
I think a common mistake people make is removing the magazine, but not realizing a round may still be in the chamber.
Ding, ding, ding, ding....we have a winner!!
“... I was taught, if you are carrying a bolt action rifle, have the bolt open. Pros/cons? “
Pro: Safer way to carry
Con: Slower to get off a shot. The deer may hear you close the bolt and run. That’s the price for safety.
I've seen even the most careful folks have accidents......
I've had one or two....that made me really think.
I meant no clip in the rifle.
in fact many modern pistols and rifles do not have one.
Many long gun owners know this not to be the case. Go to any firearms shop and virtually all the long guns have a mechanical "safety".
With our current litigation crazed society there is not a manufacturer of long guns that does not equip any of their firearms without one.
There may be a difference between the person who has “shot all their life” and the person who shoots thousands of rounds a year with differnt styles of firearms. I had an AD last week. I came up on the target and rested my finger on the trigger and apparently it was too much pressure. The gun fired and I still hit the target just a few inches from the “A” zone. Oops.
I had a match .22 that I was benchresting and closed the bolt with two fingers and a thumb. The little finger hit the three pound trigger and the rifle fired. Oops. I still hit the target since it was benched.
A friend handed me his K98 Mauser without telling me he had installed a two pound trigger. I rested the rifle against my shoulder, aimed the sights and rested my finger on the trigger. It went off. I didn’t hit the target but I was close. Oops.
I fire thousand of rounds a year with all different sorts of firearms. Some I’m familiar with and some I have never handled before.
I’m really happy people have never had an ND. I wish I could say the same.
Because it's not. Dropping the magazine doesn't unload a firearm by that act alone.
1. Drop the mag.
2.Pull back the slide or bolt.
3.Look inside the chamber to see it's empty.
The firearm is now unloaded.
That is a true statement but it also results from over confidence and a lapse in the observance of basic firearm safety..........Been there, done that. I was lucky.........
As a lesson to all, I had two friends over to my house, one of whom was very knowledgeable about firearms value and was attempting to evaluate my rifles.
I brought out one handgun which still had the magazine in it, pulled the slide back to see if there was a round in the chamber, which of course there wasn't, then released the slide which of course then injected a round into the chamber. I then removed the magazine thinking it was unloaded.
Fortunately my other friend followed standard procedures when being handed a firearm and pulled the slide back to inspect the chamber. Well guess what? There was a round in it.......
I made a very bad mistake and fortunately nothing came of it but I learned a very, very valuable lesson that day.
Two things stood out on those reports:
1. It is your friends, relatives or acquaintances that shoot you.
2. Almost all the injuries or deaths occurred at close range, 25 yards or less.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that gun handling accidents are the cause of these injuries or deaths.
Last year a friend of mine blew his cousin’s finger off when they were messing with a muzzle loader they couldn’t get to fire. “Lewis, put your finger near end of the barrel and see if you feel any air coming out”....BANG!...Lewis now has four fingers on one hand.
Son and I took the Hunter Safety class last year and watched an hour long video of hunting accident re-enactments.
Are they like those gory accident films they used to show in driver’s ed?
Yep, same visual and message.
If my eyes don’t deceive me the selector switch is in full auto. Even though there is no mag inserted.
I suppose I was thinking that accidental discharges are like This.
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