Responsible gun safety is no accident

Missoulian.com ^ | Monday, June 9, 2003 | Editorial

[MissTargets]

This is the first incident of anyone being killed shooting trap, that I have heard of.

[MissTargets]

bang!

[Conspiracy Guy]

When I drink the guns are put away and the car keys are too.

[IGOTMINE]

Rule One--All guns are always loaded.

Rule Two--Keep your finger outside of the trigger guard until you're ready to fire.

Rule Three--Never point the muzzle at anything you're not willing to destroy.

Rule Four--Be sure of your backstop, and what lay beyond it.

It ain't that hard, folks, but people, especially drunks, managed to screw it up all the time.

[Conspiracy Guy]

I was a State Licensed Youth Hunter Safety Instructor in Kansas in the 70's when I was in USAF. Kids caught on a lot quicker than their dads. I have been the safety officer in every gun/hunting club I've ever been in. Safety is so simple that when I read something like this, I say, "Murder"..

[MissTargets]

I have seen many trap houses, that have been shot.
Keeping a gun pointing down range is so important.
Many trapshooters use release triggers, and those are usually the cause.

[Conspiracy Guy]

If you shoot the trap house, you are trying to ambush the trap. Bad form.

[MineralMan]

"Witnesses later testified that there'd been a bit of drinking going on; Hefty's blood-alcohol level registered 0.098 when he was tested two hours later - too high to legally drive a car.
"

Sheesh! What a maroon! And now a buddy is dead. I predict some new rules for that range.

Drinking while handling firearms is just a darn poor idea. That was one of the rules on my deer hunting trips with family and friends. Absolutely no drinking, except back at camp after sunset and after all the rifles were cleaned and stowed, and then only in moderation.

Dumb!

[AlaskaErik]

The No. 1 rule of firearm safety, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, is "Always Keep the Muzzle Pointed in a Safe Direction.

I don't know where they get their rules from, but the No. 1 rule has always been: All guns are always loaded. No. 2 is: Never let the muzzle cover anything that you are not willing to destroy. No. 3 is: Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target and you have decided to shoot. No. 4 is: Be sure of the target as well as the surroundings. Observe these four rules and you should never have a negligent discharge.

[boris]

Amazing.

I have a friend who used to teach firearms safety to the L.A. Sheriff's Dept.

One night he couldn't sleep and got up and "started fooling around" with his guns. He drilled a hole in the floor, one inch from his foot.

He tried to keep it quiet, but I found out about it. Next time I saw him, I clapped him on the shoulder and said, "So, Len, I hear you are going to be teaching another firearms safety lesson soon."

He was not amused.

--Boris

[Area51]

Um, Rule number 1.A.

No guns when Alcohol is consumed. PERIOD.

[MissTargets]

Jeff Cooper?

[AlaskaErik]

Jeff Cooper?

No, the dept I work for. I believe most Alaska agencies use it, or one very similar.

[jjm2111]

Drinking and firearms do not mix. I'll never understand people who go into the woods to "hunt" and get liquored up. Drink after you shoot.

[TC Rider]

I recall some kid taking out his Dad's front teeth with a hand thrower one time. (It was actually quite funny, the Dad was berating the kid, about 12, to put some backbone into his throws. The kid planted that clay pigeon right in his Dad's mouth. An accident of course.)

[MissTargets]

Twenty-four-year-old John Hefty of Whitefish jacked a shell into a borrowed 12-gauge shotgun, and the gun fired.

This person, might have not been too familar with shotguns.
That and mixing with alcohol proved deadly.

[MissTargets]

Drinking and firearms do not mix.

Fortunately, the majority know this.

[MissTargets]

Ouch!

[MarkL]

This is the first incident of anyone being killed shooting trap, that I have heard of.

There's an indoor shooting range in the Kansas City suburbs, and in the 30 or so years that I know of the place, there have been 2 shooting deaths there:

The was ruled an accidental shooting, but was sheer stupidity. A man wearing a shoulder holster decided to take off his sweater, but didn't remember the holster first. Somehow the gun worked its way loose, something caught the trigger, and it discharged, killing his sister, who was standing next to him.

The second was a suicide.

Mark

[husky ed]

When I worked for one P.D., I used to clean the shotguns. I cleaned them for 4 years on graveyard with no problems.

They finally moved me to days and the guy who took over on graveyard had to clean the shotguns.

One week later I came into work and found out that I had been transfered back to graveyard. It seems that the other guy while cleaning the shotguns had fired off a round into the ceiling.

I could never figure out this had happened, as the guns were always unloaded when I received them and unloaded when I put them away. Go figure.

I never did get off of graveyard.