Note to self: Do not use butane tanks for target practice

[COL Jagdog]

Interesting news from McAllen, Texas. Seems a young man,
17-yr old Israel Torres was in his backyard with his girlfriend, his brother and father -- drinking was going on. One of the group produced a .380 cal pistol and apparently a few rounds were fired in the backyard. Torres offered to his girlfriend to shoot the pistol, she declined. Torres, according to news reports, took the clip out of the pistol and then proceeded to fire a single round at a nearby butane storage tank. The round hit the tank and ricocheted, hitting young Torres in the head and killing him.

Here's what I want to know:

1. Since when did they start making bullet-proof butane tanks??
2. Am I missing something or have the ammo companies forgotten to put a warning on ammo boxes "Do not shoot this ammo at butane tanks or serious injury or death could occur"
3. Did the alcoholic liquor product involved have a warning label "Do not drink this product and then attempt to shoot butane tanks with a .380 cal pistol - you might miss or otherwise hurt yourself"??

Here's what I learned from this:

1. Girlfriends are smart (don't tell my wife I said that)

2. Closely read all ammo boxes and alcoholic liquor containers for warnings of specific consequences that might occur (i.e. never trust your common sense to figure it out)

3. Darwin was right (natural selection weeds out the weak)

4. Drinking alcoholic beverages really does improve your aim
when shooting at butane tanks.

 

[amazingflapjack]

Still kinda frosted up, eh Col. ?

 

[ditrina]

I suppose that's ONE way to try to light your cigar after a BBQ..

 

[old bear]

Well, between your and cajunbass's posts that proves that shooting at butane tanks is more dangerous than shooting +P ammo.

 

[Coldshooter]

Who will have primary responsibility in the lawsuit, the firearms mfg, the ammunition mfg, the alchoholic beverage industry or the fuel gas industry? I would call this one of the most fool things I have heard except one of my high school pals decided to bag a new Caddy windshield on a car carrier in the early 70s hit the angle steel on the carrier and the slug came back hit him over the left eye. Still can't hold a job 40 years later.

 

[mjr]

The survivors should sue the ammo manufacturer as the cartridge was clearly defective. No reasonable person could expect a proper .380 to penetrate his skull, especially after bouncing off a butane tank.

 

[Rule3]

If it was a Ruger LCP, that warning information would be clearly inscribed on the barrel!

 

[rags]

I suppose that's ONE way to try to light your cigar after a BBQ..

I light my smokes by shooting aimlessly, sidways, with the end near the forcing cone. I put my beer down first...DUH!

 

[dirty gary]

"...drinking was going on..." When I read that line, I knew this story would end badly.

 

[HalfStack]

Stupid is stupid does.

 

[427mach1]

I read that story today while at work. I work with a guy named Torres and recall that he had family in TX. I sent him an e-mail with the link and asked if "they was any kin to him". He replied that he didn't think they were related but would not admit to it even if they were. Then he added that his father had a step-brother named Israel (but the step-brother would be much older). For a second there, I thought I might have stuck my foot in my mouth!

 

[DeathGrip]

I light my smokes by shooting aimlessly, sidways, with the end near the forcing cone. I put my beer down first...DUH!

A well articulated tutorial indeed.

 

[paplinker]

Remember the days when your father was the voice of reason.

Now for fathers day he has one son. I wonder if it was the fathers gun?

 

[chud333]

Note to self: Never carry .380 in a defense situation. Especially if enemy
has a large BBQ grill.

Chuck

 

[COL Jagdog]

I guess that I am just amazed at some of the stupid things that people do, notwithstanding I have experienced quite a lot in the realm of the human experience. Perhaps it is the fact that having spent much time training to do things with lots of inherent risk, I always looked for ways to reduce the risk quotient. Simple things, like don't drink the evening before making parachute jumps or scuba diving. Keep your eyes on the road. Always clear, double clear, then check again to make sure that your weapon is in fact, unloaded. Simple stuff.
Perhaps it is also that I spent a lot of time teaching/mentoring young men and women in uniform to do things the right way, and to know what "right" looks like.

It is a sultry late June evening in coastal Louisiana -- and my time to reflect on and process the events of the day. I have a friend who calls this time of day in the summer "the lavender hour" for the color of the sky during the last 45 minutes of evening light. And the time of day I ponder the random events of life.

 

[rimfired]

He took the "CLIP" out? OMG That was the error of his ways. Drinking and "CLIPS" don't mix!!!

 

[COL Jagdog]

If it was a Ruger LCP, that warning information would be clearly inscribed on the barrel!

That would explain the small logo stamped on the side of my Kimber: small butane container with a slash thru it

 

[ditrina]

That would explain the small logo stamped on the side of my Kimber: small butane container with a slash thru it

Hmmmm I would have thought it would have been a small butane container connected to a burner with a Crawfish Pot on it!!

 

[oldafsp]

That really deserves this one:

 

[jkc]

I'm pretty sure that the ammo was defective, and think I can say that with some authority, as I have for decades now watched enough true-to-life depictions of handguns of various types and calibers fired at various inanimate objects on television and in motion pictures, and have learned that nearly any hand gun projectile impact ought to demolish, in a huge fireball accompanied by a mushroom cloud of smoke, any object containing flammable fuel of any sort. Most automobiles, for example, are reduced to burning rubble, 55 gallon drums of any liquid erupt violently, spewing napalm-like flames in a huge radius, and so forth. That this .380 failed to penetrate the canister and ignite its contents tells me that it was just not performing as might reasonably be expected...