Lesson learned, or stupidity at it's best.

Closest I came to an dishonorable discharge was during a bout of outdoor shooting. I had a snubbie Ruger loaded with 158 grain federal HPs (the bullets with the posts in them). Thought I had discharged every hand rattling round. I had the gun lowered toward the ground, several yards in front of my feet and was prepared to step forward to see the target when I casually fired off a last cartridge that "shouldn't have been there". Fortunately, that I only hit dirt. I am extremely careful around even "unloaded" firearms now.

A family friend with decades of firearm experience was showing his wife how to safely handle guns. I believe he was demonstrating the finer points of safety with a single action .22 Mag revolver when he discharged a round into the base of his kitchen oven. Think he sold the house with the hole still there.

Friend of mine with emergency rescue experience in New Jersey had loads of juicy cautionary tales. One had a father and son testing out their newly acquired .30 cal rifle (make and action unknown). Pop fired one round into a large mound of dirt....and BAM!, he is down on the ground with a wound to the leg. Turned out that the bullet went through the dirt, into one hole in a U shaped pipe, out out the other side. Unfortunately for the fellow, he was in the way. Fortunately, the bullet didn't come back aimed at his center of mass or head.

Jeff
 
14 years old, home alone, Dad's 9mm. I could field strip this gun, shot it numerous times. Dropped the magazine, pulled the slide back and let it go. Unloaded now, right? 9mm hole in the living room wall, hole about the size of a quarter on the other side about an inch above the dresser mirror. Two foot long gash in the ceiling and another quarter sized hole in the opposite wall, piece of broken siding on the outside of the house, plaster dust everywhere. Turns out Dad had some friends reloads and one had a split neck and had stuck in the chamber. I learned a valuable lesson that still sticks 30 years later.
 
KevinW, it must be something about 92s. I had an ND with one, dropped the magazine, cleared the chamber (or so I thought), tried the trigger. And proceeded to send a 147gr Hydra Shok through my friend's wall.
The most dangerous gun is the unloaded one.
 
Kevinw,

Could you tell us little about the circumstances that led up to your ND? Were you dry firing, putting things away after a visit to the range, or...?
 
I was getting ready to go over to my girlfriends. I was not planning on carrying the M9 thatday and was putting it away. I don't know what went through my head. I guess nothing did =) I will post a picture of the bullet later. I now have worries about silvertips expanding the way they should.
 
I think I was about 14 or 15, me and my Dad had gone to the range that day and had a great time. He was sitting on the living room floor cleaning his guns when I came downstairs. I walked over and picked up one of the pistols, sat in a chair, racked the slide and pulled the trigger. BANG! :eek: I have never been so emberrassed and scared in my whole life. Fortunately I was pointing the gun at the floor and the round went into the carpet and slid along the floor under the carpet for a few inches where it came to rest. Why it didn't bounce back up and hit the TV is something that only God knows.

I never thought I would tell that story to anyone but it is a good lesson to learn for parents who might not think twice about letting their child grab up a gun and look at it. My Dad said he never thought I'd just go and do that but I of course had to prove him wrong.

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Until the antis put a sign in their front yard that says they don't own guns, they are riding on the shirt-tail of the safety that we provide by owning them.
 
This is a fantastic illustration of why, if one will follow even ONE of The Four Rules of Firearms Safety, no one will unnecessarily get hurt with a gun.

I was 15, mine was a .25 acp, and the only thing to suffer was a kitchen cabinet drawer. 5 minutes of judicious puttying (should have only taken about 2 minutes, but my hands were shaking), and the damage was hidden. The impact of that one mistake will affect my orientation towards firearms safety for the rest of my life.



[This message has been edited by Long Path (edited April 10, 2000).]
 
I've got a boo-boo too. I was 13 and went skeet shooting for the very first time. I pulverized the first clay pigeon and was so ecstatic that I wheeled around to look at everybody (dad, brother, friend) who was cheering me. Everybody hit the ground--I swung the barrel of that 12 gauge in everyone's faces. The empty was in the chamber, but still, I should have known better!!!!

Here's a really creepy one that I'll never forget. This is why some people should be allowed to own a squirt gun. I was over at a friend of a boyfriend's house and he had a Ruger Mark II sitting on the coffee table. The guy's four year old daughter wandered over to it and picked it up. I flew out of my chair with my jaw dropped wide open. The father casually said, "It's okay, it's not loaded." I was fizzing. That little girl doesn't know the difference between loaded and unloaded. All she knows is that daddy said it's okay to play with it.

And it's just so easy to blame the guns and not the stupid parents who leave them within easy reach.
 
3. Keep your finger OFF THE TRIGGER untill your ready to fire.
Now you know the full valid reason behind each rule... #3 is a habit you need to develope. Doesnt matter the number... Just DOnt Touch the trigger untill your pointing at a valid target needing a good shooting.
 
1) Follow the safety rules
2) Learn from your mistakes
3) Don't make the same mistake twice

Fortunately my ND was with a .22 cal pellet gun. Unfortunately, I was walking along with my finger on the trigger (yeah, I know...)and shot myself in the foot. Pain is a pretty good teacher.

I also had a BB gun in my lap and was watching TV. I had it loaded for whatever reason, and it began to fall from my lap. I grabbed for it and somehow pulled the trigger and shot the damn TV. I tried to play it cool with my parents (hoping that they wouldn't notice), but the divot in Johnny Carson's head that night tripped me up. We still have that TV and without fail that divot is right in the middle of ANY talk show host's head. Go figure.

------------------
Anarchism: The radical notion that I am the sole authority when it comes to deciding what's best for me.
 
Read this. You won't feel so bad.

Destroyer Fires Shell in Port by Accident
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) - A destroyer from Russia's Pacific Fleet accidentally fired a shell in port on Monday, hitting an anti-submarine ship, a spokesman for the Pacific Fleet said.

Nobody was injured in the incident which happened in the Golden Horn Harbour in the center of Vladivostok but the superstructure of the anti-submarine ship, the Admiral Vinogradov, was damaged.
The accident happened when routine weapons testing on the destroyer went wrong, the spokesman said.
``Today, between 10 and 11 a.m. (2200 and 2300 GMT on Sunday) on the destroyer Burnyi during a planned check of weapons and machinery there was an unsanctioned shot of a dummy shell because of a violation of security procedures,'' he added.
Accidents have become more frequent in Russia's once mighty Pacific Fleet,which as well as most other units of the Russian armed forces, is owed trillions of roubles (millions of dollars) by the state.
Both ships involved in the incident were preparing for an official visit to South Korea on April 19, the fleet's press office said.
 
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