I feel so stupid...and lucky.

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I knew a fellow that nearly died doing the same thing with a knife. He was playing with a butterfly knife and lost his grip - he caught it & pulled it towards him, stabbing himself in the abdomen. Not the brightest thing to do, but we all have our "special" moments.

Funny thing, his name was Chris, too...
 
Reading these, especially Plastic SIG's account, reminds me that the first rule of firearms safety is NOT:

"treat all guns as if they were loaded"

but simply

"all guns are always loaded." Although I've never had an AD, I admit that I am much more careful these days about (1) checking every gun every time no exceptions and (2) being aware of where a bullet would go even if I were wrong about #1. If it leaves my direct control, I check it (again). Reading this thread sure brings that point home...good encouragement to make sure that the "will have" defers itself...hopefully indefinitely...
 
No Negligent Discharges but major embarrasment.

Bought a 20 ga. Browning A5, Smith cut to 18 1/2" bbl. The MI carbine of Riot guns. Few days later headed to the range. Buckshot- worked fine. Slugs, worked fine. Light upland loads - not so vigorous, but every one went off. Fired the last round. Pulled trigger - clunk on empty chamber. Looked at magazine, no more rounds. Packed up. On way home picked up more ammo at gun and tackle. Took in the cute little 20 for the owner to oooh and aaah over. Came in the door, muzzle up, racked the bolt to show nothing in chamber. An empty shotshell came flying out the chamber and my jaw dropped to belt level as it skittered over the floor.
 
For me, 37 years shooting, including lots of hunting and some action pistol shooting. No AD, yet. I think that I owe my dad, and first shooting instructor big time. They really were deadly serious on the safety subject. (One of my dad's best friends lost a son (17 years old) who shot himself while cleaning a gun.) One day my dad caught one of my brothers (12 years old) pointing an unloaded gun at another brother. It had just been disassembled for cleaning, and there was no ammo around, but that was it for the unfortunate brother. After my dad was finished using the strap, he informed the offender (and the rest of us) that from that day until he was 18 years old that brother would never be allowed to touch another gun. And my dad didn't back down, even if all of the rest of us were hunting or plinking in a campground or at the range. That really made a very big impression on the rest of the 10 of us children.

I did have an "accidental" animal shooting though. I fired my '06 at a standing antelope which was the only animal in my scope. When I came upon my downed animal (which dropped in it's tacks) I was totally shocked to see not one but two antelope laying dead. Apparently, another animal had been running in from the side, and from the time I fired, ran into the bullet path, catching the bullet just in front of the eyes. I was in a real state of anguish and apologised to the landowner and even called the State Ranger in charge of game to report myself. He was kind enough to ask if I had a second tag, and I did (boy I wish I had thought of that before all that apologising) so all ended well.

Been shot more times than I would like to remember while Pheasant hunting, and shot at once by a deer hunter too.

The key is like Lombardi said: practice the basics (of shooter saftey in this case) over and over and over....... and insist that everyone around you do the same!!!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by houndawg:
If the Have Hads and the Will Haves are the only two clubs here, then I'm in the Will Haves. Been about 10 years now. Knock on wood.

They say the same thing about pilots and gear up landings. [/quote]

And the other one ... There are OLD pilots and BOLD pilots, but there are no OLD, BOLD pilots. That may also apply to shooters, huh?

AndyB
 
I am a "will have". I will admit to finding an extra part in the barrel of my friend's disassembled Star Firestar. Funny, from that angle it looks like a primer------
OH S::T !!!!
I had not properly unloaded before a cleaning.
Otherwise, my friend and I were at the range with his custom 1911 with an ultra-light trigger. He had an AD into the ceiling.
Scared the "you know what" out of us. We are safe to the point of being obsessive now.

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"I learned a thing or two from Charlie,don't you know. You better stay away from Copperhead Road" Steve Earle
 
I count two:

I dropped a 44mag derringer out of the top shelf of my safe. It was not on the half-cock notch nor was the cross bolt engaged. The firing pin was just resting on the primer!!! To make matters worse, I had just taken it out of my front pocket. Blew a hole through a Stanley steel door. Needless to say, it woke up my wife. Oh, the ringing quits after a couple days but the ribbing doesn't.

The second was with a T/C Contender. Was going to shoot and the target flew off(grouse). Went to let the hammer down and the "Internal Safety" was not engaged. Bang. Yes, a .410 shell is loud when not expecting it. To de-cock a T/C, you open the action. See, look, on page two in the instructions it says so. :)

Just another one of the had's.

Rick

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I prefer armed combat to unarmed combat. It's easier on the knuckles.
 
I have yet to experience an accident of any kind in ten years of gun ownership.

Am I the only one frightened by some of these posts? The only reason I do not hunt is because of hunting accidents (I would love to go hunting). They seem to be so common. Every year I read about some morons doing incredibly foolish things while hunting.

Do I also need to worry about my neighbors? I am a big proponent of gun ownership, but if my neighbor is going to do something stupid that may send a bullet through my window and harm a member of my family, I don't want him to own firearms.

Am I over-reacting? Are the liberals correct when they ask for safety training for new firearms owners? I personally feel that people should receive some form of instruction in firearms safety, including gory pictures of bullet wounds (even heads blown up). Should this be required by the government? I am grateful that this topic is being discussed. Safety should be the paramount issue in the use of firearms. This should serve as an important reminder to all concerned.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by houndawg:
They say the same thing about pilots and gear up landings. [/quote]

Off topic, but when I was stationed at Naval Air Station Oceana (Virginia), one of the many duties we had were "Wheels Watch". We stood the watch in a small shack at the end of the runway to visually confirm the pilot had dropped their gear.
Just a bit of trivia for y'all.


[This message has been edited by Ezeckial (edited May 05, 2000).]
 
To all,

I appreciate the company. It appears that even the ones that "will have" have been present during or made aware of a ND. It's gonna happen. Count yourself lucky if you get to learn the lesson without having to do it yourself. :)

Agent Orange,

You are overreacting. My personal view is that the govt has absolutely NO business regulating gun ownership. I value a completely uninfringed 2nd ammendment enough that I am willing to assume the risk being a "gun victim" in order to keep our rights.

As a police officer I take that risk every single time I put on the uniform. Odds are that if I get shot or shot at it won't be by accident. I still say that the Right To Keep And Bear Arms should be absolute and uninfringed.

Based on your post above, would you also recommend taking cars away from people who have traffic accidents? You are more likely to be killed driving a car than you are hunting or by a ND by your neighbor. How common is road rage these days? Are you going to quit driving? I'd be willing to bet that there are more drivers doing "stupid things" than there are hunters.

If you want freedom and rights, they don't come free. You have to accept the price of your freedom. Personally, I'd die for my rights and would question as to whether someone who wouldn't actually deserves their rights.

Get gun control out of your mind, broh. Just my .02.

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For Sale: SIG P220 - see handgun classified forum.

***************************
Georgia TFL'ers get together:
May 20, 2000-From 3pm to 6pm
http://www.wolfcreek-gun.com
***************************

R6...aka...Chris

[This message has been edited by Rainbow Six (edited May 05, 2000).]
 
R-6, AO:

I don't think this is an easy question. I have been shooting for 35 years. A few years back I started taking formal training, and I spend two full weeks minimum each year in name-brand training programs.

Knowing how much I've learned and hearing all the scare-stories, I will have to admit that I frequently think "I wish every firearms owner got some basic training." And, when you get to CCW holders, the wish is even stronger.

I recognize that there are real time and money issues here. I also recognize that firearms ownership is a constitutionally-protected right, unlike operating a car, plane, or boat or prescribing drugs or selling real estate.

If there were no grabbers, I would actually say: yeah, everyone's gotta get trained to some minimum standard, and maybe even that they need to be periodically re-trained. But the fact is that the grabbers are at our throats and it is very difficult to take even what I think many in the RKBA community would otherwise see as reasonable steps when the grabbers will take it and wrap it around your neck until you (we all) suffocate.

It is not a good situation, IMO.
 
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