# The stupid gun handling thread



## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

Another thread has inspired me to start this thread. Maybe it should become a sticky. Here is a place to bare your soul and tell us about your mistakes without fear of condemnation. I'll start.

I was about 16. I had a 30-30 lever action rifle. When going out to hunt I jacked a shell into the chamber. I neglected to lower the hammer afterwards. For some reason I triggered the rifle and it went off. No excuse. I was lucky, no one around, and the barrel was pointed in a safe direction (the ground). 

I can also name 2 other instances that I was closely associated with. The first was hunting with my sister. She was using a single shot 16 gauge with a hammer. For some reason she drew the hammer back. She asked me how to let it back down. I told her "don't move, I will show you" She didn't listen and as I walked towards her the gun went off. the shot landed somewhere between me and my dog. I reacted rather badly.......

The other time happened in Montana. A friend and I were hunting deer. A bunch of deer were running through a small thicket. We were in the open waiting for them to come out. They left the thicket and they were all does and fawns so we did not shoot. While walking back to the truck his gun discharged. He had taken the safety off while waiting for the deer to leave the thicket. I felt the muzzle blast on the back of my head.

I'm starting this thread to educate, not condemn so please be nice.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Neighbour lady of my folks was loading her* Winchester94 *in the kitchen many deer seasons ago. Racked a shell in the chamber and when she was lowering the hammer it sliped, round fired bullet went thru the ceiling and upstairs floor hit one of the kids shoes that was sleeping in the room above and went thru the roof. 

My sisters boy friend was going to hunt deer with My brother,dad and I. Sister talked my brother into letting the kid use his *Winchester 94*. we drove down to the woods where we got out of the car to head into the woods to the spots we were going to hunt. Dads Winchester Model 88 used a clip so he was ahead of us. I was useing a Remington 700 and had just finished stuffing shells in the mag, asked if my brother was ready as our blinds we on the same trail He had just finished loading his Winchester model 100 when BANG the *winchester 94 *fired hitting a tree about 10 feet to the right of my dad. Dam fool kid was lowering the hammer and it slipped. I think I remember Robb hitting him in the head with the butt of that model 70 and calling him every name in the book that even remotely resembled stupid.

Near our deer camp in the UPPER a young man killed his dad one opening day some time in the 1990's Same thing thumb slipped off the hammer of a *Winchester 94 *when lowerting it and the rifle was pointed at dad.

I've never heard of such a thing happing with a Marlin 336 always a *Winchester94.* I have 3 94's but I would never ever loan them.

 Al


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## tyusclan (Jan 1, 2005)

I was about 9 or 10, hunting with a single-shot .410. My uncle was in front of me, a little to the right, and my dad was further over to the right. There was a squirrel in the tree just ahead to my left, and I was going to cock my shotgun to shoot it. My hand slipped on the hammer before I got it fully cocked, and it went off. Thankfully, it was angled away from my uncle, but it still scared me, and got me a good scolding from both of them. I was a lot more careful cocking it from then on.


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## tallpines (Apr 9, 2003)

This experience was one I had when I worked in surgery.
12 year old was sitting in the floor with a shot gun.
His 10 year old sister stood over him.


The the gun discharged.

The blast blew out her whole lower belly.

Vagina was gone.
Clitoris was gone.
Urinary bladder was gone.

Intestines (and rectum) were perferated in numerous places from randon shot --- requiring the removal of a couple feet of it.

The main artery to her right leg was severed and she was bleeding out.
If she didn't die from blood loss, she might lose the leg.

Her veins were all deflated from blood loss and it was very difficult to get an IV started along with the multiple blood tranfusions.

The room was crowded with medical personel trying to save her life.
Her chances were slim....

She was concious and she was pleading "Please, don't let me die!"
My immediate duty was to hold her hand and reassure her.

Once the IV's were going she was put to sleep and taken to surgery.
I was scrubbed in and handed the sterile instruments to the 3 doctors.
Fortunately they were the BEST surgeons in the area.

After many hours and MANY prayers the surgery ended ---- for that day.
Her life had been saved to live another day.

Then the battle against infections was wrought.
Infection from the gapping wound.
Infections from the non-sterile shot gun pellets.
Infection from the intestinal fluid that had leaked out into her belly.

She lived but would need multiple follow up reconstruction surgeries to fashion some sort of pelvic area.

That was many years ago but I remember it like it was yesterday.
That look of fear on her face as she looked at me and said "Please, don't let me die!"

The doctors were very busy and couldn't hear her so they ask me "What did she say".

They were visably rattled when I repeated thos words "Please, don't let me die".


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

I have a habit of always putting on the SAFE button or lever whenever I load a gun. With most lever actions there is no SAFE, consequently I instinctively default to lowering the hammer to half cock.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

tallpines, that story gave me chills. Poor girl. I can't imagine how difficult it was for you and the surgery crew to put her back together.


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## houndlover (Feb 20, 2009)

My husband got up to check on a noise, and "somehow" came back to bed with a loaded .45 - probably half asleep? We may never know. It went off - rolled over on it? Don't know. Went through his knee without hitting bone. Killed our waterbed. And he had to spend a few days in the hospital with a big GSW sign on his door and the nurses treating him as if he were a gang banger. That was 30 years ago. That incident is reflected on how gun safety evolved into an obsession around our house.... Edited to add: this is someone who is extremely careful and grew up with guns - his dad was a gunsmith! Even the most careful of people make mistakes, and I see my boys sometimes act complacent with guns, possibly because they were raised with extreme gun safety and believe they do it all by rote? I don't know. Guns are never safe, even when they're on safe or the hammer is lowered.


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## Roadking (Oct 8, 2009)

10 years old, at hunting camp with my family. Been shooting the .22 proficiently, so dad gave me his .44 mag to practice with while the "boys" went hunting.
Revolver; cocked the hammer, sighted and fired. Woke up with a headache, blood coming out of my forehead, and unable to hear...way too big of a jump in the caliber apparently.
Number two. After varmit shooting, older friend asked me to put his gun in the safe. Assured me it was empty and safe. While carrying it, didn't notice it was cocked. Stumbled and BOOM! One still in the chamber...it was a .223...stucco did a good job stopping the projectile. 
Lessons learned...an unloaded gun is always loaded until I've checked it a few times...even then, it's still treated as loaded. A .44 Mag is more than 2 times powerful than a .22, ALL math aside.

Matt


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## tallpines (Apr 9, 2003)

Son moved to a new (small) town in a new state.
Hopped on his GoldWing and drove to the target range outside of town --- ALONE!

Bullet richocheted off something and ended up in his knee.

With blood running down his leg he hopped back on his bike and made a quick trip back to town to the local hospital ER.

Son is EXTRA TALL and a very BIG boy, so consider that visual when he announced that he had a BULLET in his leg.

No local identification --- all from out of town and out of state.

Much apprehension by staff in ER.

Law enforcement was called and they arrived in very short order!

It was quite embarrassing for son because HE was the newly hired Law Enforcement officer..........

NEVER go to a firing range ALONE!


(Cabin Fever --- Please don't tell him I posted this ~~~)


.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

When I was in High School my FFA chapter held a trap shoot every year and invited other chapters to compete. I was scoring a match and heard a shot that was out of order (I was also triggering the thrower) and sounded different. I looked up from my score sheet and saw a shooter drop his gun, start hopping around, and cursing a blue streak. The shooter at station one was fiddling with his gun (I think it was not familiar to him) and shot the shooter in position 4 in the knee. Ever seen moth-eaten fabric? That's what his jeans looked like where he took the load, at least until the blood started.


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## unregistered41671 (Dec 29, 2009)

Knew a guy in S FLA back in the 70's. He was shooting a .22 at some old aerosol cans that had been thrown in an outside brush fire. The fire was burned out and he was alone about 20 miles from town. He shot and hit the bottom rim of a can and the bullet circled the can and came back and hit him in the eyebrow. He said he could feel the bullet with his fingers and there was lots of blood. Drove himself to town with that eye closed and went to the hospital and got it removed and a stitch or two. No more can shooting for him.


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## meanwhile (Dec 13, 2007)

I was one of "those people" who claimed I would never touch a gun, my kids would never have guns, we wanted all guns banned, etc. Then, we moved to the country and a friend, horrified that I was out here "alone" in the woods with three kids gave me a "little gun". It was a 357 Magnum Snubnose. I started learning to shoot it.

My practice is to have the chamber wide open but the bullets in the gun. The theory is that if I need to shoot something, then I can close the chamber.

One night we heard something in the back yard. Being new to the country (Translation: stupid) I get the 357 Magnum, chamber open and go out on the back porch and turn on the light to "see what I could see". So - (stupid) there I am in my pj's in the full light of the porch, holding a gun out in front of me. 

A voice calls out "MRS. A MRS A DON'T SHOOT IT IS ME SCOTT P!!" 

It was a neighbor out **** hunting. I put the gun up but later he comes over to explain that the next time I "need" to pull a gun out, do not turn on the porch light. 

My other really bad stunt was early one morning, the dogs alerted near our main gate. No one is usually down there much less early in the morning. Wild pigs had been around and so, I get the 357 Magnum. (Yes, I know - not the right gun.)

Since it was early, I only had on my underpants and a TShirt. Since no one was supposed to be near the gate, I traipse down the driveway in my underpants and a Tshirt and a pair of muddy boots. I can see something moving near my gate and so I squat down on the ground and look to see what I can see. 

A voice calls out in an annoyed and disgusted voice "Good Morning M. How are you today?"

It was a property owner who has a right of way over my driveway area. He was in town and for reasons I will never know, had up and decided to cut some brush along the shared road section. He had never cut any brush before, had never even asked about helping along the driveway and it was before 8 in the morning.

I put the gun up and have not pulled it out like that again......at least not when I am only wearing underpants. The neighbor has never helped with the road again either.


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## oth47 (Jan 11, 2008)

I went in the hospital on Christmas day,back in the 50s.They brought in a teenage boy late that afternoon who'd been shot while showing his friends his new .22 he got for Christmas. It took most of the day to bring him out of the mountains in a horse drawn wagon and by the time they got to pavement and got a ride to the hospital it was too late to save him.He lived thru the night and died sometime early next morning.Made a big impression on me,I think I was 9 at the time.He was in the room with me.


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## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

I have never shot anyone but I did shoot at some ducks that were high and got yelled at by the hunters on the other side of the marsh because the pellets were raining down on them.

When I was young I went pheasant hunting with my dad. A hunter walked out of a cornfield with multiple pellet wounds in his face. Fortunantly none in the eyes. We comforted him for a few minutes until his partner,who had shot him, drove up with the car and drove him to the hospital. I learned my lesson. 

I am very thankful because I know that accidents can happen but so far not to me.


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## tyusclan (Jan 1, 2005)

This didn't happen to me, but to a friend of mine.

He had been quail hunting. When he got to his truck he unlocked the passenger side door, put his shotgun on the seat, and put his dog in the truck. He walked around to the driver's door to unlock it and get in. As he was trying to unlock the door, he dropped his keys. As he bent over to pick up the keys, BOOM!!!. 

The dog had hit the trigger with her paw just as he bent over, and the blast went over his back. Had he not dropped his keys, it would have probably killed him.


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## DaleK (Sep 23, 2004)

Kid I went to school with when we were about 14. He was shooting a pellet rifle at a paper target he had taped to a wheelbarrow tipped over on it's side. First shot came back and took out one of his eyes.


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## Usingmyrights (Jan 10, 2011)

When I used to work at a gun shop two hoodlums came in with a single shot .410 with a 30-06 shell stuck about a 1/2 down in the chamber. I'm surprised it went foward in the chamber, but it did. It also straightened out the case walls.


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

I had a Marlin 39A, lever action 22.. The front sight had been mounted a tad right of center, and I was considering scoping it. I knew is was loaded, but chamber was empty. I knew this. I sat the scope, in mounts, on top of the block and sighted through the window at a hog outside. I liked it. I was going to dry fire the rifle, but the scope would interfere with pulling the hammer back, so I worked the lever, squeezed the trigger, and shot a hole in my window. Thankfully I missed the hog.


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## Goat Servant (Oct 26, 2007)

Getting hit in the head after firing a German Luger cause I let go of it. Owner didnt warn me of the kick & I didnt know better.

Had a puppy who liked to play with chickens. Stinging him with a BB gun now & then made him drop it. 
The last time he did that I somehow got him in the heart.
A few weeks after that I spied me a pheasant. All excited for pheasant under glass I grabbed that gun & aimed.
"Plink"
His head went down in the tall grass.
"Plink"
It came back up.
This went on for about a half a dozen times; head up "plink" head down.
He finally flew off.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

I have been shot twice, once in the left hand by a city "friend". We were hunting and came to a fence, I went through first and then he handed me his shotgun, muzzle first, pointed right at my face, I pushed it out of my face just as it went off. The pellets went in the web of my thumb and palm, still got 2 in there. At least it was a .410. The second time I was deer hunting on our farm, I was hit in the left elbow, I went down like a ton of bricks. It was a high powered deer rifle bullet, fortuanately it was near its end of travel and it slid right down the funny bone, just under the skin. That thing sure burned, 2 years later I had to have surgery to remove proud flesh. I have a 5" scar about an inch wide. I always thought it was the neighbor kid, he was known as a bad shot....James


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## Silvercreek Farmer (Oct 13, 2005)

My grandfather shot himself through the thumb web as a boy with a 22 when he was lifting it back over a fence. As an adult, he discharged a revolver (probably a 38) indoors, over the head of my great grandfather, possibly thumbing the hammer. He also had a Rem model 11. (now mine) that discharged on my dad when he was trying to clear a jamb. My wife's great great great something shot his then girlfriend when he reach under seat of his buggy for something, she lived and went on to marry him!

Honestly, given the amount of recreational shooting we do, accidental discharges scare me more than bad guys. You can't be too careful!


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## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

A couple of college buddies took me duck hunting to teach me how it's done. It was my first time duck hunting although I had hunted Pheasant and grouse. We went out in a boat and set dekes near a point of rushes then pulled the boat into the rushes. The boat was concealed in the rushes and floating in about 2 feet of water. One of the guys was a football player, about 6' 6" and 280. He was shooting a "mans" gun, doubble barrell 10 guage. When a flock of ducks flew over he stood up and shot at them. The gun malfunctioned and both barrells went off at the same time. This blew his but right over the side of the boat and he went full length in the cold water. I certainly learned how it's done.


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## zant (Dec 1, 2005)

The guy next to me got so excited about what was about to go down-he shot me in the left leg from 2 ft away-went right through leaving nice hole-no permanent damage....

I was at a red light and checked(????)to make sure my .45 was loaded and when I let slide go it fired-obviously I had trigger on finger-Ford tranny lived but leaked a little.


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## Usingmyrights (Jan 10, 2011)

When I was a member of a gun range me and a buddy were downrange changing out our targets. We had had the range to ourselves. We had just turned around to walk back when someone started shooting. I ducked down and yelled to get the guys attention. He was about 15 lanes over and had just shown up. He didn't post a target and admitted to just showing up and putting a mag through the gun to "warm up". I should have ripped him a new one and got him thrown off the range, but since te shots were at the other end of the range and he seemed really apologetic I let it go.


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## Malamute (Sep 15, 2011)

Interesting thread. I'm going to rant a little.

It sounds like most of the "accidents" posted here weren't accidents, but negligent discharges. There really is a difference. Negligence isn't an accident, it's someone using poor judgement or just plain stupidity. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but it's true. Breaking the most basic safety rule, not pointing a gun at something you dont want to shoot is the first problem in most of the stories. Having a round in the chamber is another, in most instances, there wasn't a good reason to have a round chambered when people were shot.

I've had a couple surprises. Yes, negligent discharges. They came after dry firing, then loading the gun back up afterwards,.....then deciding to take a few more dry fires,....I never dry fired at anything that was alive (or expensive) though.

Regarding the Winchester 94 vs Marlin, there isnt any functional difference between them, they operate exactly the same. The hammer slipping is an operator issue, tho some Winchesters I've seen had hammer checkering or grooving that wasnt quite as sharp as it should be, though I've never had a problem with them. In most of the instances related here, there wasn't a good reason to have a round in the chamber at that time. I've handled and carried guns for 30 years or so, daily for the most part, and never chamber a round in a rifle unless I'm about to shoot, or in a shooting postion with nobody else around. That doesnt mean "I'm going hunting, I _*need*_ to chamber a round before I even step out the door,..." Balony, you dont need round in the chamber until you see a critter or are in a positon ready to shoot. I've chambered a round when I expect to see a critter in thick stuff, but pull it out when I'm not in "high stalking" mode. I never get in a vehicle with a chambered round, or like being around other people with a loaded chamber. There just isnt a good reason that I've ever heard of.

I'm no gun prude, most of my guns have been loaded (magazine loaded, chamber empty) as long as I've owned them, in the house, vehicle or wherever and I carry something daily for the most part, but see no reason to have a round chambered in a rifle (or shotgun, tho I rarely use them) unless I see something I plan to shoot.

No matter what, if you don't point a gun at someone or thing you dont want to shoot, you wont shoot someone or something you dont want to. Same goes for leaving a gun laying somewhere that could point at someone or thing you dont want to shoot (like on the seat of your vehicle).

No matter what, if you dont touch the trigger, you wont shoot someone or thing that you dont want to shoot. (trusting your dog not to shoot you is a weak reed, leaving him a loaded gun to try it with wasnt smart)

No matter what, if you dont leave a round chambered when you dont need to shoot right away, you wont shoot someone or thing you dont want to. Double guns or single barrel single shots are a different story, tho there was a reason that the "gentleman hunters" carried them around with the action broke open. You can't trip and shoot someone (or someones dog) with a gun thats open. Same for going through fences. Chambers should be clear, or action open or unloaded with a double or single shot. 

Pulling any gun towards you by the muzzle is also a very poor choice in any situation. It's a perfect way to shoot yourself.

I really enjoy my guns and they are a part of my daily life. It's _*really simple*_ to avoid negligent discharges though, or dire consequences if one happens.

Shotgun pellets raining down from bird hunting is pretty common. I'm surprised they said anything, it could just have easily been their shot raining down on you. Unless you were looking right at it when it came down and a pellet hit you in the eye, spent birdshot coming down isn't very dangerous. I've had plenty of it rain on me before. It's about like small hail.


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## Hollowdweller (Jul 13, 2011)

That I can remember it's never happened to me. A couple times I've had one go off too soon when I was aiming due to the trigger being too light but that I can remember I've never shot thru anything.

My dad shot into the ground in front of us one time with my Ruger Bearcat because he put his finger in the trigger before he got it up at the target.

My wife once shot into the air, which made me really nervous when she was shooting my M1 and thought she had shot the last round. ( I was taught never to click a firearm and to always point the muzzle into the bank or ground but I guess she hadn't)

Best story was a co worker was taking a concealed carry class and the instructor thought the gun was empty and pulled the trigger and shot thru the floor of the building he was doing the class in. They checked the floors below and nobody was killed.:shrug:

I've read about a number of people killed or injured at gunshows when they clicked supposedly empty firearms. I always check and if I'm wanting to get a sight picture at a gunshow I hold the muzzle to the ceiling.

A number of times I've seen people pick up guns at gunshows and the muzzle be pointing right at somebody. I know that I shouldn't worry but I always get out of the way and think it's poor etiquette.

http://www.defensivecarry.com/forum...gun-goes-off-puyallup-gun-show-yesterday.html

http://www.defensivecarry.com/forum...71-negligent-discharge-illinois-gun-show.html

http://www.defensivecarry.com/forum...ns-michigan-accidental-discharge-firearm.html

http://www.defensivecarry.com/forum...-negligent-discharge-pittsburgh-gun-show.html



> I can't believe I forgot to tell everyone this. I went to a gun show here in Birmingham, AL Saturday, and while I was standing near the front, I (and everyone else) heard BANG! About 20 people went running outside while the three cops at the front door (30 feet away) just sat there looking. I knew it was a gunshot, but couldn't really see anything, as I don't like being a "rubbernecker". When I left about two hours later, I found a single piece of .380 nickel brass lying on the ground. As I picked it up, a couple of guys that worked there came up and said, "Oh, you found the shell. We couldn't find it." Sure enough, some woman was unloading her CCW to enter, and squeezed one off. No one was hit. I thought it was crazy that no one found the brass. It was right there. Anyway, I also found it crazy that the cops just stood there for a minute or two before going out to see what was going on.


http://glocktalk.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-1343009.html

http://floridaconcealedcarry.com/Forum/showthread.php?6254-Negligent-Discharge-at-Mesa-Gun-Show


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## tyusclan (Jan 1, 2005)

Malamute said:


> Interesting thread. I'm going to rant a little.
> 
> It sounds like most of the "accidents" posted here weren't accidents, but negligent discharges. There really is a difference. Negligence isn't an accident, it's someone using poor judgement or just plain stupidity.


Not to pick nits or split hairs, but the title of the thread was 'The *stupid* gun handling thread'.

In my case it was completely my fault for not taking the time to be sure the hammer was locked in the cocked position. I was careless and let it slip.

I just scanned back through all the posts, and didn't see the word 'accident' in any of them.


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## LWMSAVON (Oct 8, 2002)

One of my twin brothers was cleaning a shotgun and failed to check if the chamber was empty (stupid move) I think he may have been around 15 or so. The other twin and I were down on the floor playing Cowboy and Indians with a marble and the little plastic figures (flipping the marble back and forth to see how many we could kill of the each others). The gun went off above my brother's head, we both hit the floor. The bullet whizzed over my brother's head and into the china cabinet in our parent's kitchen. The bullet went through the front, through tupperware, and out the back and into the wall. They threatened me if I told (am 6 years younger than the twins). They tried to plug the hole sand destroy the evidence of the tupperware Mom had stored in the bottom part of the cabinet without her finding out and beating his hide with a hickory. Dad found out about pretty quick (noticed it) but it took Mom a few months before she noticed the plugged spot on the cabinet. Dad lectured him about checking the chamber but I don't remember him punishing him. That china cabinet now sits in my dining room and I have told my children the story of how their uncle shot a whole in it and how their other uncle barely survived it.


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## Malamute (Sep 15, 2011)

tyusclan said:


> Not to pick nits or split hairs, but the title of the thread was 'The *stupid* gun handling thread'.
> 
> In my case it was completely my fault for not taking the time to be sure the hammer was locked in the cocked position. I was careless and let it slip.
> 
> I just scanned back through all the posts, and didn't see the word 'accident' in any of them.



Yes, I agree with you. I wanted to reiterate the point in case anyone read this, and hadnt made all the connections about why things happened the way they did. It's one thing to say it was stupid, another to realize why, not simply because there were tragic, or potentially tragic consequences. Some people simply think guns are too dangerous because of all the bad things that happen, without realizing why or how they happened, even among supossedly experienced, smart folks.


In your case with the shotgun, I'm surprised that it fired from slipping the hammer, most shotguns have either a half cock safety (unless the half cock notch was broken), or a rebounding safety, either of which should catch a hammer falling if the trigger isnt pulled at the time. Even if everything was working properly, odd things happen, and point to the fact that mechanical things fail, or simply dont always work as we expect, all the more reason not to to "horse around" or do careless things "just because the safety is on" (not saying that was the case with you, just making that point). We all need to be very concious of where the muzzle is pointing at all times. I simply dont trust mechanical safeties as a life and death safeguard, one reason I dont leave a round chambered in rifles when it really isn't needed. Safeties fail at times, or your dog can move the safety and shoot you (all the more reason to buy them more treats, so they have no grudge against you).

Another great tragedy maker is unloaded guns. Some folks handle guns carelessly "because it's unloaded", though we know not all guns assumed to be are in fact unloaded. Even when we personally check them, its no reason to handle them in a way that could lead to tragedy.

One modern practice that seems odd to me is dry firing a gun to "prove empty". I realize its taught in the military, but it makes absolutely no sense to me, especially considering all the stories we hear about people firing a gun in the sand barrel/bullet trap they supposedly just unloaded. Manually checking and feeling is more reliable. Its a bad habit with a bullet trap, and an even worse habit without one, as the fireams instructor story showed. It seems many don't make the connection with removing the magazine _before_ emptying the chamber, then are surpised when there was a loud noise after they just "cleared" their gun, or just miss the step about removing the round in the chamber after dropping the magazine, and looking to see if its clear. Going through the motions of clearing a chamber isnt enough to be positive.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

When this thread started I sure didn't have a thing to put in here, and thought how could I ever? ....but now sadly I do... 

Just last weekend was at the new place. Me and the wife in the kitchen standing together.

I dropped something and bent down to pick it up. I had my 45 in my shoulder holster. The snap on the hammer strap had come undone and I didn't know it... The gun slipped out and landed with a big thud on the hammer with me looking down the barrel.... Yes, I had a round chambered, and the hammer was down.. 

However, Thank god John Browning knew how to design a gun. If that would have been my 22 High Standard, I probably would have been shot... 

Needless to say, my wife was kinda freaked.


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## Hollowdweller (Jul 13, 2011)

> Police say the incident occurred in the first block of Miller Lane in Tyrone Township at 12:15 p.m. Friday.
> 
> Police say a firearm fell from the hip of 55-year-old Landisburg woman to the floor and discharged a .45 caliber round into her arm.


http://cumberlink.com/news/local/cr...cle_66fac1a4-28f4-11e2-8201-0019bb2963f4.html



> After receiving several calls reporting seven to eight shots, police in Sparks, Nev., dispatched police units as well as fire and medical crews only to find out one shot was fired by accident.
> 
> Witnesses inside the theater told officers the gun fell from the manâs pocket as he was adjusting himself in the seat, and it fired when it dropped to the floor, striking him in the buttocks.


http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...-movie-theater-shooting-self-in-buttocks?lite



> CHEYENNE -- A 17-year-old Cheyenne teen was cited Monday after she dropped her purse, causing the gun she was carrying in it to go off in a local coffee shop.
> 
> After the round fired, the girl said, âI think my purse went off!â
> 
> ...


http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2011/12/28/news/19local_12-28-11.txt

She bought a gun for protection, but an Albuquerque woman said it nearly killed her when the weapon accidentally fired a shot into her thigh and lodged into her liver where it remains to this day. 



> Judy Price says the Taurus PT Millennium gun has a big glitch.
> 
> Now, she wants to spread her story to warn others and get the gun off the market.
> 
> She said the gun shot her when she accidentally dropped it, and she knows of five other similar instances.


http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S2408781.shtml




> An employee renovating a building for a women and children&#65533;s shelter in Prescott Valley was killed Wednesday when a co-worker apparently dropped a handgun, which fired off a round, officials said.
> 
> Edward Mitchell, 49, died when the bullet struck his head, said Brandon Bonney, a spokesman for the Prescott Valley Police Department.
> 
> Police are interviewing the man who told police he dropped the gun. They found him walking away from the scene and detained him, according to a release from the Prescott Valley Police.


Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/artic...-kills-man-prescott-valley.html#ixzz2EO61rQD8



> Carrollton Police officers responded to a call that a customer fired a gun in McDonald's restaurant Thursday.
> 
> Carroll County Central Dispatch received a call at 12:45 p.m. that a woman had fired a gun at the restaurant. Officers who responded to the scene determined that a female customer had reached into her purse for something, and the handgun had fallen to the floor. The gun fired when it hit the floor, and a bullet struck the side of a leather chair. Police found the .22- caliber revolver on the floor when they arrived and unloaded the weapon. The customer, who was from Ohio, had a valid permit to carry a concealed weapon, a release said.


http://madisoncourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=178&SubSectionID=961&ArticleID=72766


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

You don't need to tell me about all of those.. I know.. and I know better than what happened to me... Thankfully though, the 1911 was actually designed to be carried with a round chambered and the hammer down.

I had a friend that took one loaded, hammer down, and started hitting the hammer on a 2x4 (pointed away from him of course) to prove that a properly functioning 1911 will not discharge in that state.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

I always get upset when people are looking at a gun and sight it with the barrel pointed toward a person or at possible head level or lower. Why can't they aim at the ceiling???? 

Even the clerks at Gander Mountain dry fire the guns. I asked one recently why they do that when it's not considered safe. His reply, "oh it's okay, the chamber was empty".


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

Mine was empty too.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

vicker said:


> Mine was empty too.


Heard that from a lot of people when I was a kid. Too many times. Thank God none that I knew ever had serious repercussions.


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## KIT.S (Oct 8, 2008)

My husband was in the front room, reloading rifle shells - don't remember the caliber but probably 30.06. He loaded one into the rifle to test it, and had apparently not seated the bullet into the casing far enough, because it went off. Went through the floor about 6 feet away. Our daughter was playing in the next room on the other side of the wall. 
Oh, and when pouring molten lead into molds on my BRAND NEW KITCHEN COUNTER he missed and melted the counter with lead. 
Kit


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## Malamute (Sep 15, 2011)

Hmm, wouldnt happen from the bullet not being seated deep enough.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

KIT.S said:


> My husband was in the front room, reloading rifle shells - don't remember the caliber but probably 30.06. He loaded one into the rifle to test it, and had apparently not seated the bullet into the casing far enough, because it went off. Went through the floor about 6 feet away. Our daughter was playing in the next room on the other side of the wall.
> Oh, and when pouring molten lead into molds on my BRAND NEW KITCHEN COUNTER he missed and melted the counter with lead.
> Kit


It doesn't take just a bad load to do something like that. A firing pin can be stuck in the forward position. When you drop the bolt and a pin is forward, it will fire. There are guns out there that have a free floating pin that are known to stick forward. I've got one of those guns, and for that reason I never chamber a round in it when I'm inside..


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

Malamute said:


> Hmm, wouldnt happen from the bullet not being seated deep enough.


Nope, but it could if the primer were not seated properly.


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## BlueCollarBelle (Oct 26, 2011)

My grandfather shot himself in the left ring finger with an "unloaded" .22 pistol. His wedding band saved his finger but the bullet shattered, mangling his middle, ring, and pinky fingers. Detailed surgery saved his fingers but he couldn't make a fist anymore, the ring finger wouldn't bend down all the way. Scared us all to death, my granny, parents, and two sisters were in the house and I was in the very next room (through the wall he discharged toward). 

PePa was already slipping a little bit at that time and Daddy and Granny managed to talk him into storing his guns at our house from then on. Dad left them the revolver that Granny was most familiar with so she could defend the house but we never mentioned to PePa that it stayed behind. 

He passed two years ago from complications of Alzheimers. Brought up the incident about two weeks before he died when he was talkin to Dad. He said he really should have checked more carefully, the gun hadn't been fired since 1986 and it really didn't surprise him that he had forgotten it was loaded!


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## justin_time (Dec 2, 2012)

Ok, In the interest of helping others to becareful I will confess....Though in my defence these were decades back, I was both careless, and stupid...not what I am now. I have learned much...

Its 85? I am coming back from 2 weeks in the bush at a remote gas plant. I usually took a hand gun along to sneak away and do target shooting after work but on this trip I never had a chance to even fire a shot so I am driving back to Edmonton for my week off and I have the gun in my glove box ( a raven p25). I am just east of the city on a gravel road, and decide to empty a mag just for the hell of it. I pull over set up a pop can and, start to shoot at it, I catch the sight of another car coming down the road toward me. Thinking I have fired the mag full I hurry back and jump in the car setting the pistol on the passenger seat (with one round in the chamber as I misscounted). I start the car and shift into first letting out the clutch, and the jerk sent the pistol sliding barrel first toward a glass bottle of coke (500ml) on the seat. Just as the oncoming car is almost beside me, that striker fired POS hits the coke bottle and discharges. Well you should have seen the look on the other drivers face as the whole car filled with coke foam. I was soaked, the car dripping in sticky pop, my ears ringing.......(lesson, dont hurry, check the chamber,use striker fired guns as a throw down only)

Another time (1986)I I had been drinking and got the bright idea the take apart a Ruger security 6 and give it a good cleaning. Cleaning was a good idea,,,the drinking not so much. I had a lot of trouble getting the trigger group to go back in..hours of trouble, as the wobbly pops had effected my co-ordination.
I found myself wondering if I had broken anything getting it back together. I decided to fire it to make sure it would work, but where to fire it at 2am in the middle of a city? My roommate had come home a hour or so before, so I asked him to drive me down to the river valley as I didnt think it wise for me to try driving....For some reason he said sure. Anyway, as I touched of a hot 357 round at 2am, and was both deafened, and blinded by the muzzle flash... I reconsidered the wisdom of what I had done...The cops we passed going back home were sure in a hurry...(lesson, guns and beer=stupid)

(1988)I just got a 9mm uzi, semi only, (though open bolt if you know what I mean:heh I think the paratrouper model as it had the detachable wooden buttstock. I am running some hardball threw it at the range, when a guy I know gives me some of his 9mm reloads to try.
Now he knows what he is doing so I trust them to be safe.... I load up a 30 round mag, cock the bolt and let it rip, the grin is wiped of my face, and replaced by powder burns, and brass caseing in my forehead and hair. The SOB had either cast his own or reloaded with some odd ball heel based 9mm (dont remember which it was) this caused the round to detonate fully out of the chamber when fired in a fixed fireing pin firearm....(lesson..know your ammo, only shoot your own reloads)

3 of us headed out to a gravel pit to do a little shooting maybe 60 long guns between us. Hours pass, lots of fun, ready to go home, so every one checks their guns and unloads. When I get back home I place them in one of the racks (racks go from floor to ceiling) months later I am cleaning and there is a single shot 12 gauge at the very top. I can just reach it, and in dusting it cock the hammer. Well, I am much smarter now than in my younger days, and I know to check the chamber before droping the hammer, but that, requires getting a chair, and taking it down, and really why go to that trouble
when every gun was checked before they were brought home....Just as I reached up to flick the trigger I am thinking this isnt very smart....and it wasnt.

Sadly I have more....but that is enough, trust nothing, check, and double check always.
There is human error, human stupidity, mechanical design failure,mechanical failure, system failure, amunition failure/defect...no end of what can go wrong...


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## haley1 (Aug 15, 2012)

zant said:


> The guy next to me got so excited about what was about to go down-he shot me in the left leg from 2 ft away-went right through leaving nice hole-no permanent damage....
> 
> I was at a red light and checked(????)to make sure my .45 was loaded and when I let slide go it fired-obviously I had trigger on finger-Ford tranny lived but leaked a little.


Where's the rest of the story? What was about to go down? Birds about to flushed out? About to rob a store? :buds:


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## zant (Dec 1, 2005)

haley1 said:


> Where's the rest of the story? What was about to go down? Birds about to flushed out? About to rob a store? :buds:


We were about to rob a liquor store using quail hunting as a diversion


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## haley1 (Aug 15, 2012)

zant said:


> We were about to rob a liquor store using quail hunting as a diversion


Good one:bandwagon:


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## Hollowdweller (Jul 13, 2011)

Danaus29 said:


> I always get upset when people are looking at a gun and sight it with the barrel pointed toward a person or at possible head level or lower. Why can't they aim at the ceiling????
> 
> Even the clerks at Gander Mountain dry fire the guns. I asked one recently why they do that when it's not considered safe. His reply, "oh it's okay, the chamber was empty".


 
When I was a kid my dad and I hung out a lot at this gunshop owned by a pal of my grandads.

Anyway he had almost been shot in the head once by a customer clicking an "empty" gun.

I had always been taught never to click a gun.

So on his wall he had this sign that went something like 

*



Store Policy
$50 for each click and $25 for each click after

Click to expand...

*


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## zant (Dec 1, 2005)

If you really want some horror stories-talk to a gunsmith that LEO go to.....


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## justin_time (Dec 2, 2012)

I have been remembering so many more reading this thread.
Some I had completely forgoten about....
I was stoping by a friends place, must have been 84?, I am walking up to the door and see a garden hose running up the steps, I follow it in up the landing, down the hall, and to a bedroom where a water bed is being drained. no one saying much, people kind of grumpy, I comment on how there is a hole in the top....I find out my friend had been playing with a Jennings in 22 cal, cycling rounds through it, when as he said "it just fired". I do understand those striker fired ones go off so easy.

A friend stops by with a old 380 he just got, he had no ammo for it so I dug up a box, and we are going to step out back (its in the country) to test it. we are at the back door, and I seat the loaded mag, pull back on the slide and let it strip,and chamber a round, and ---- if that thing didnt fire as the round was seated, another striker fired pos. put a hole in my wall.

This isnt a accident as such just a dumb thing I heard about, done in a far away country, may not even be true...... Its somewhere back in 85,86......Someone who I forgotten the name of, decided it would be interesting to shoot a full auto 22, not having one, but never letting that stop him, he selected a semi to convert. Nothing wrong in that, so long as you select a good one, in this case he selected a AR7. Now the great thing about a AR7 is its weight, from memory only a couple pounds, with the bolt likely a third the weight of the whole thing....(thats a important feature)
So where to test it...this fellow drives out to the country in a station wagon, finds a spot, opens the back hatch. Now being cautious as a little unsure of how loud it will be,and not wanting to leave brass behind the thinking was firing out through the open back hatch would muffle the noise, and the inside of the vehicle would catch all the brass, and could be picked up later...I know, pretty smart thinking....
So imagine someone holding a full auto 22, knees in the drivers seat facing the open hatch left hand on the pasenger seat for support, so really only holding the rifle with one hand.
Things were going well right up to the point the trigger was pulled. Imagine the vibration from this massive jackhamer of a bolt, and the added operator induced motion, and colourful langauge as the hot brass bounced off the ceiling/window, and down his shirt......


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## Frenchy (Sep 28, 2005)

_went squirrel hunting as a kid (9) with my older brother (16) was about a mile from the house back in the woods he was carrying a old Marlin .22 and I had a old Savage break open single shot shotgun 12 ga. well as we was walking come to a clearing about 60-70 yards wide well a squirrel took off running at far edge across from us going from left to right my brother was on my left just a bit in front of me about 5 feet over and I hollered shoot him he said let him go to tree first we will get him well I was excited an didn't want him to get away so up'ed with that shotgun an BOOM ....... well wasn't paying attention an barrel was about head high an 5 feet from side of my brothers head ............needless to say I learn right then to be aware always where the end of that gun is pointing .......... took me several days to be able to set down he kicked my butt all the way to the house with almost each step ........ that was after he could get up an head stopped ringing ......._


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## justin_time (Dec 2, 2012)

Marlin....., My first rifle. It was spring of 83, I head down to Canadian tire and pick myself up a Marlin 22M. Never bought a gun before so I was eager to go shooting, but couldnt afford to belong to a range back then.No place to shoot it in the city....so I am sitting in the living room with my new toy, dry firing it,cycling ammo through it, thinking about giving it a trigger job when the phone rings, now this was back when phones were mounted to the wall,anyway I rush down the hall, into the kitchen to get it, I come back to the living room after, but my mind is on the call I took.I pick up my rifle thinking its unloaded, I aim it at the tv, and I am going to press the trigger paying attention to the weight, and breakage of the sear.
At the last second I piviot aim at the window down the hall, BANG, A 22 magnum makes a hell of a crack in the house, and the sound must have carried out side as I look through the shot out window I see a neibour accros the alley coming out of his house looking toward mine. 
I do the only thing I can think of, I head out the door, right towards him, pause in the alley, look around then go right up to him and say whats going on, What are you doing?... Nothing, I just heard a bang out here he says.
I start saying yes I heard something to but it was from your direction. Anyway, Long story short, made him unsure of what it was, or where from.I decided then I had to be much more carefull........

I put so much ammo through that rifle I actually wore out the extractor.


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