Rule number one

[Andrew]

This guy broke it, and he will pay for it for the rest of his life.

http://www.ignatius-piazza-front-sight. ... art-bleed/

[J Miller]

I'm thinking about how I want to respond to this type of incident. But for the life of me I cannot put in to words how I feel about pointing any gun loaded or otherwise at someone you do not want to kill. In this case, based on what I read, I'm with the prosecutor.

Joe

[Sixgun]

That was sickening, in fact, so sickening that I will
have this on my mind as I get ready for bed. The dude made a major blunder, and if the story is true, as he tells it, he should be prosecuted.

Even when I was a kid of 12, I knew the power of a gun and where to point the muzzle when I pulled the trigger, even knowing it was empty. What the heck was he doing, pointing a gun at his wife and pulling the trigger while it was aimed at her. If the girl was my daughter, the jerk would not have to worry about a trial. ---------Sixgun

[mescalero1]

Cooper said it:
" Never point the thing at anything you do not intend to destroy. "

[Old Ironsights]

Ninja wannabee fool.

You don't "practice" clearing a building with a real firearm unless the building &/or enviorns have been pre-cleared. Period.

At least he manned-up to take his lumps... and will have to live with knowing he was an utter moron.

[2ndovc]

Every time I was around my Grandfather and a gun(s) he would say " There's no such thing as an unloaded gun" Every time.


As awful as that story is.. No excuse for pointing a weapon at someone and pulling the trigger.

What a waste.

[kimwcook]

The basic rules of firearms are there for a reason and should never be disregarded, not for a moment.

I can't imagine what he's feeling right now. But, he should pay for the mistake he made.

[Old Ironsights]

There are no unloaded guns in my house.

The guns in the safe magically become loaded the instant the door is opened.

There are no unloaded guns in my house.

[TedH]

Very tragic event that was entirely preventable with the slightest bit of common sense.

[MikeS.]

I've taught my 3 girls and my wife; "A gun is ALWAYS loaded. NEVER point it at something you don't intend to destroy." The first time I took them shooting we shot cans of soda. I told them what you saw that soda can do by exploding and fizzing all over the place is the same thing that happens to a person when they are shot. We know that is not exactly true but it sure makes a point.

The jerk husband deserves to be prosecuted.

[AJMD429]

I was lucky.

When I was about six years old, I killed my own pet cat with an 'unloaded' gun; it actually HAD just fired, and was a single shot, and the bullet had hit, and made a hole in, a can 50 feet away. It was a 'caseless' ammo design, and I presume as I stood up and turned, some remnant powder ignited, but the muzzle was within a foot of the cat's face as it walked by, and I let it sniff the barrel end. I learned the hard way that guns which were 'definitely unloaded' can kill.

Two times (out of hundreds of thousands) in my life when pointing in a safe direction and dropping a hammer to de-cock an action, I've had a firearm discharge. I learned that it isn't just careless kids who can think a gun is empty when it isn't.

So, here is a teaching strategy I incorporate now into sessions with newbies, and did with my kids when younger. I have shown them the basics, let them shoot some, and hearing protectors are off, for I am again reviewing the gun's loading/unloading. With a little slight-of-hand, I manage to chamber a round unseen by them, and I then point the gun downrange at the backstop (this is not at a public range, mind you - it is an environment where the only people within a mile are myself and one or two 'students'), and say something about how it's better to store a gun with the hammer down, and it is safe to dry-fire guns "as long as..." and wait for them to say "...it is empty, and pointed in a safe direction." After that, I nod, and say "It's empty now, right...?" to which almost always they reflexively state "yes." Needless to say, the resultant "boom" wakes up any drifters, and makes my point about assuming a gun is 'unloaded.' We discuss the point then at some length, including not taking someone's word for a gun being unloaded, even if they are an 'expert' and how double checking rather than assuming is the rule.

I just can't imagine the horror that man felt as he realized he'd just destroyed essentially his whole world, as embodied in that beautiful young wife of his. Nor the horror she must have felt. There are not very many things which would make me not want to touch a gun ever again, but I think that would be one, unless perhaps I used one just one more time to take the easy way out myself.

[BigSky56]

Unless theres something we dont know, like a murder plot, theres nothing the court can do to this young man that he and family wont do, fact is he will fall apart mentally and physically and in the end probably take his own life. I teach anyone that will listen never point a firearm at someone unless you intend to take their life. Use a finger gun for practice if others are involved. danny

[piller]

I have been lucky, the one accidental discharge I had was pointing into the dirt about a foot in front of me. That guy should have been taught better. What a way to end one life and mess up another.

[Griff]

Tragic... just simply tragic. And, while I agree with most of what all of you have said, I have used and would again, use guns in training situations that involve just the sort of drills he was doing. But, am I alone in feeling more offended by the use of the story in marketing the writer's safety/training classes than I am about the prosecutors filing of charges?

[El Chivo]

man that's one instant you want to take back...

[mklwhite]

What an idiot.

[Pete44ru]

There, but for the grace of God, go I.

My heart, and prayers, go out to him and his family - as all their lives are forever changed.

.

[ShakyJake]

+1 Griff, that was also one of the first things that crossed my mind.
TaKe CaRe
Ted

[Str8man]

I was lucky.

When I was about six years old, I killed my own pet cat with an 'unloaded' gun; .

Man!
I was in my 30's and accidentally killed my cat.
I have a backyard range and my animals are pretty used to gunfire.
I had a 50 caliber Remington Rolling block that I had shot hundreds of times without incident.
I pulled the hammer back, Dropped the breech block and put a cartridge in. The gun was pointing downrange and towards the ground. I didn't see the cat walking up and as I snapped the breech block back up the hammer followed it down and set the round off.
It scared the hell out of me and then I spotted my cat who I really cared about.
I was just sick as he was dead. It was a freak and yes it was just a cat but all I could think of was what if it had been a person or a kid.
It was a painful lesson. Even when I thought I was being safe I still had an accidental discharge and something died.
That was the one and only time out of hundreds of shots that that rifle did that.
I still feel bad about it.
I couldn't live with myself if I killed someone accidentally.
I don't think I could deal with it and would likely just turn the gun on myself.
IDK.
She was a beautiful young woman he'll have to live with that the rest of his life.
I don't think I could.
(live with myself that is)

[AJMD429]

Unless theres something we dont know, like a murder plot, theres nothing the court can do to this young man that he and family wont do, fact is he will fall apart mentally and physically and in the end probably take his own life. I teach anyone that will listen never point a firearm at someone unless you intend to take their life. Use a finger gun for practice if others are involved. danny

I have a difficult time even looking down the muzzle of a revolver with the cylinder out!

I find I CANNOT point a firearm at any non-assailant human, period, even if it is unloaded, or even with the bolt or cylinder out.

If I had to train I'd have to use paintball guns or some totally non-firearm, and even when I played with paintball guns at a range set up just for them, it took quite a while to get used to pointing one at a person.

On the other hand, the ONE time in my life I needed to point a live gun at a person who was in the process of attempting to harm a family member, I felt no different about it that if I were aiming a swatter at a fly. Context means everything, I guess.

I do find that the "laser sights" of various sorts are helpful for handing someone at a range, gun empty, and just having them hold the gun a bit and realize all the places the muzzle points.

Guns are scary, nasty, deadly things, which is why some people are so frightened of them and those of us who own them. On the other hand, so are cars, trucks, chemicals, drugs, etc.

In the old days it was expected that a grownup would be responsible with such things...

[Gun Smith]

Having been in the business, I always assumed a customer would bring his gun into the shop loaded. I was right SEVERAL times. I't's even hard for me to watch a cop show on TV when the good/bad guys point a gun at anyone. No matter what penalty he pays, from hard time to probation, he will live with it forever.

[kimwcook]

Doc, I understand what you're saying, but I've never considered a firearm a scary, nasty thing. Deadly, you betcha.

I've trained many an hour with cleared AR's and handguns. You've just got to make sure there's no ammo around and the guns are cleared and tagged as such with ribbon or some other device. If you take a break, you clear them again and re-tag. Used a lot of sim guns too. Never say never, but with due diligence it's not been a problem where I've trained.

I've also pointed a loaded firearm at many a person while working. Training is why I haven't had a ND/AD. Finger is indexed unless I need to fire.

[jjames]

I can attest to Front Sights emphasis on safe dry fire practicing. No ammo in the room, checking and double checking magazines and chambers, no distractions, and having a specified target that is put up for practice and taken down after practice are key. They stressed it on a daily basis during my 4 day practical rifle. As I recall when we did our simulation room clearing we used our hand. Of course just the basic rule of not pointing any gun at something you are not willing to destroy as preached by my father when I got my first BB gun and in every gun safety course, booklet, firearms manual, etc would have sufficed. I can't think of an instance where prosecution for manslaughter isn't appropriate. In the case of kids the person that allowed access should be on the hook. Very sad. Many lives beyond the two impacted family, friends etc. I really wish gun safety was a required school activity. I contribute yearly to the CRPA program for firearm safety. I insisted both my daughters go through hunter safety, even though I knew there was little chance of them following in their dad's footsteps, just so they understand when a situation involving a firearm is dangerous.

[DixieBoy]

Man, this is just awful. I remember my Dad teaching us kids when we were just little about the four cardinal rules. And I remember him looking at me and telling me "There are men who spend their whole lives wishing they could put a bullet back into a gun after they've made a terrible mistake. Don't be one of them. " Nuff said. - DixieBoy

[Ysabel Kid]

Every time I was around my Grandfather and a gun(s) he would say " There's no such thing as an unloaded gun" Every time.

+1

I had this practically beaten into my head from as long back as I can remember, and have done the same for my children. I learned very early that you never point a gun at something you don't want to kill or destroy. Guns were never to be pointed at another person except in self defense. I practice muzzle control with the kids with their toy guns.

What a waste of two lives...