Accidental death at range yesterday

Being the father of two girls, this is heartbreaking. One of the first things that we taught new shooters was to keep the muzzle pointed down range and your finger off the trigger until ready to fire.

Even with that, it always amazes me when I look at either our indoor our outdoor range and see the number of bullet holes that didn't end up in a target. :eek:
 
My heart cries for these folks. I've told this before, but it bears repeating. I have 20 hard men that shoot here. The majority are military men with in depth training. Some are State champions in different pistol and National champions in rifle. I have 3 covered areas, 2 at 25 yards and 1 at 100 yards. 2 of the 3 have bullet holes in them!!! .30 hole in 100 yard top and 9mm hole in 25 yard post. I have had 3 NDs in 50+ years of shooting. In the last 12 years shooting every day. I thank the shooting Gods that mine were pointed down range. If you have never had a round go off that was early or you just weren't ready to go off..You are a lucky shooter. OR don't shoot much. Please, watch the people around you and do not hold back for fear of hurting someone's feelings. Believe me, if you are careless here, you will think the sky fell on your head. God Bless this 14 year old Angel. The Angels in Heaven are singing tonight to welcome her home.
 
cowboy4evr said:
I hate going to public ranges . If you watch , sooner or later you will see the guy next to you or a booth down fiddling with his semi auto . Holding it crosswise in front of him , pointed at YOU . Be Alert to not only what you are doing , but the guy next to you .
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Happens at private ranges, too.
 
jack the toad said:
Yes, you can never be too careful. If the shooter was familiar with the safety rules, complacency can also kill. Very tragic and sad.
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I wonder how old the shooter was. Two of the big rules of gun safety broken there, well, maybe three. What a shame.

I Shot with my grandson a few times, and he had to recite the rules each time we shot. He was eight when we started, 13 now, and he still repeats them to me. Number one. The muzzle never covers anything you don't want to shoot. Number two. Finger off the trigger, until you are going to fire.
 
It's been almost 50 years, but I can still hear my old D.I. "Keep that muzzle pointed up, and down range at all times." Too many people play it fast & loose with range safety, even those who should know better. You get one mistake with a gun. Sadly, this young girl paid the price for that split second carelessness.
 
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Very sad ... prayers to this family and friends.
I had to remind a guy who had his 10 year old son sitting at the bench next to me at a local outdoor range to keep his eye on him. He started talking to the guy on the other side of his son. The kid finished shooting his 6 shots with his 22 cal.and turned to look for his dad who was on his right side most of the time "same side as me" and here came the muzzle right at me. I kinda let the guy know my thoughts and also explained to the kid that he should lay his gun down with the muzzle pointing down range when hes finished shooting. I think he was a little scared which in my opinion will stick with him...
 
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I was on the club's sub-committee to design and install new rifle shooting benches that wouldn't people to over shoot the backstop. When we had proto-types of the final 3 systems constructed, the top people on the Range Committee, came to test the results of our research. These three old (very, very old) men were some of the most unsafe gun people I have ever been around. The chairman swept the whole group of us with a loaded, and safety off, M-1 Grand. Then later in conversation pointed a loaded 30-30 at my brother's belly. After that project I got off any committee in the club, until we could retire these fellows. I was wondering who had been shooting the roof of the backstop to pieces, I think I found the culprits!

Safety is something that is important for every person, every time any gun out of the lock-up!

Ivan
 
Not to hijack or drift but some of the most careless gun handling I've recently seen was at local turkey shoots. The local school vo-ag dept. has them as fundraisers and to help support them, I went. They ran their shoot where 10 shooters took the line and fired at separate targets at the same time. Basically 10 loaded guns hot at the same time.
Our American Legion does it a little different in that we have 10 shooters per relay but only fire one shooter at a time. Since I typically run the firing line, I have only one shooter to watch for unsafe acts, which do happen but have yet to have a mishap. Typically, not being muzzle conscious is the main infraction.
 
Ivan the Butcher said:
These three old (very, very old) men were some of the most unsafe gun people I have ever been around. The chairman swept the whole group of us with a loaded, and safety off, M-1 Grand. Then later in conversation pointed a loaded 30-30 at my brother's belly. After that project I got off any committee in the club, until we could retire these fellows. I was wondering who had been shooting the roof of the backstop to pieces, I think I found the culprits!
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I know it's popular to criticize young folks, but the issues I see at our club (which aren't all that many) are overwhelmingly guys my age, pushing 60 and older. Well experienced and otherwise well disciplined and intelligent guys, but can suffer lapses in attention. We're not talking aged old fools, but ordinary guys who you might find on Net forums lecturing others how important safety is.
 
The day after Matthew hit here, 2 young boys, one 17 one 16 went hunting. The 17 year old was moving his shotgun from the back seat to the front seat. Broke rules 1, 2, and 3. 16 year old dead, 17 year old charged with involuntary manslaughter. Bad JUJU all around. These boys were friends for their entire lives. Families torn apart, children dead. Old people die, it's our history, young people die, it's our future.
 
Lee's Landing Billy said:
The day after Matthew hit here, 2 young boys, one 17 one 16 went hunting. The 17 year old was moving his shotgun from the back seat to the front seat. Broke rules 1, 2, and 3. 16 year old dead, 17 year old charged with involuntary manslaughter. Bad JUJU all around. These boys were friends for their entire lives. Families torn apart, children dead. Old people die, it's our history, young people die, it's our future.
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Oh man that's terrible. Prayers out to that family as well.

It so important to know safe firearm practices it can't be stressed enough. In the many years of shooting, hand loading, hunting the gun is more important than the people around me. It's the only way I could be safe with it. I lost friends thinking that way but never made a mistake so I feel great about that.

I don't believe in "Jinx's" or superstition. A gun owner needs to be aware of many angles. Learn it, Love it and make sure you treat every gun as though it is loaded, cocked and ready to fire.

Be safe everyone.
 
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