2 charged with accidentally shooting woman with machine gun

The Montana Daily Inter Lake [Kalispell, MT] ^ | Monday June 30, 2003 | staff report

[archy]

2 charged with accidentally shooting woman with machine gun

Two Polson-area boys are charged with felonies after they accidentally shot a woman with a machine gun Tuesday.

Lake County Undersheriff Mike Sargent said the boys, ages 13 and 16, were target practicing on Bisson Lane, south of Polson, when a shot went astray and struck a woman in the leg. She was in a field with her husband on a tractor, he said.

"They were out there, throwing rounds down," Sargent said.

The woman was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital where she underwent surgery and is recovering, Sargent said.

Deputies Cory Anderson and Mike Carlson responded. They confiscated the .233-caliber Ruger mini-14. One of the boys' fathers has a permit to own the machine gun, but the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms was notified because of the type of gun used in the accident, Sargent said.

The boys won't be identified because of their ages. At the end of the week, they were charged with felony criminal endangerment.

[archy]

If I had *led* or begun the headline of a news story with a number back in my own newspaper days, I believe my editor would have shot me with a machinegun.

[archy]

Montana oops ping!

[Joe Brower]

Either this reporter has their head up their typical arse in terming a Mini-14 an MG, or they are really referring to an AC-556.

[SoDak]

That's exactly what I was thinking.

[Blood of Tyrants]

It's always fun until somebody gets shot.

[tdadams]

Gun control advocates are licking their chops.

[Centurion2000]

It's always fun until somebody gets shot.

And then it gets even funnier.

[Pearls Before Swine]

Since when is a Ruger mini-14 a machine gun?

[Squantos]

All presstitutes have their heads up their ass with regards to properly describing any firearm ........

Stay Safe Joe !

[boxerblues]

thats my question, may look nasty but its still only a .223

[from occupied ga]

Either this reporter has their head up their typical arse in terming a Mini-14

You left out the possibility of deliberate disinformation. This seems likely now that the media drumroll has started to make the semiauto ban permanent, and anything that makes the soccor moms hyperventilate about guns goes along with the media's agenda.

[spodefly]

What are the chances that this Mini-14 is actually fully automatic (and therefore a "machine gun")?

[Conspiracy Guy]

When I built and flew one of these little 2 seat amphibs was it an F14? Both carry two people and have wings!

[Joe Brower]

True, true. Heck, I'm surprised they didn't just pull their usual fast one and just use the dreaded "AK 47" label. That always good for whipping the ignorant sucker-moms into an unthinking frenzy with bloody visions of Rambo movies.

[Joe Brower]

Check this out: AC-556

Don't tell the ninja-goons at the ATF, but I can get my Mini-14 to empty a 30-round mag in about two seconds, from the shoulder, by simply using a variation of the tried-and-true "belt-loop" trick. Always good for effect, allowing for an adequate backstop.

[archy]

What are the chances that this Mini-14 is actually fully automatic (and therefore a "machine gun")?

If it's a Ruger AC-556, the chances are very good, particularly if the *juveniles not identified due to their tender ages* are sons of a local cop or former cop. But I'm aware of at least one Title II dealer in Montana, and I'd be much more inclined to bet that a Montana sheriff's department and newspaper would get it right than their corresponding counterparts in New York or Los Angeles.

The full-auto Ruger AC-556 version of the Mini-14 goes for around $6000 from one NFA dealer in Maine I'm aware of, pricey, but not as steep as a more collectable early Thompson.

-archy-/-

[montomike]

Pretty little thang...ain't it

[zook]

Well, my God! The woman had a machine gun!!!!

[Company Man]

I observe that in 15 comments, not a single expression of empathy toward the innocent victim of this shootin' safari has been expressed. Lotsa talk about how cool the guns are though.