Posted on 11/17/2009 8:42:42 AM PST by smokingfrog
AUXVASSE - Bernie Breer, 67, died when his friend accidentally shot him after deer hunting off Route B in Callaway County.
Breer was one of three hunters accidentally shot during the opening weekend of dear season. Breer's friend accidentally shot him while taking his gun off his shoulder.
"The firearm discharged and hit the victim in the stomach area," Missouri Department of Conservation officer Tom Stother said.
Officials reported hunters in Adair and Macon Counties were accidentally shot while deer hunting during the weekend.
Last year, a total of five people were accidentally shot during all of deer season. None were fatal.
"Unfortunately, if you do handle guns long enough, sooner or later you're gonna have one go off when you don't intend it to," Dave Shefe, an employee at Columbia's Powder Horn Guns and Sporting, said.
Still, Shefe said the accidents during the weekend should not scare hunters away from the sport. He said they do not reflect a growing trend in hunting accidents.
"It's all about basic gun handling and gun safety," Shefe said.
Stother said hunters are required to take gun safety classes before getting their hunting permit.
"Muzzle control is by far the best safety tip that we can provide to hunters," Stother said.
(Excerpt) Read more at komu.com ...
Many years ago I was deer hunting in Yellowwood State Forest. I’d found what I thought was a nice “tree stand,” a tree cut about six feet off the ground by DNR that I could stand on, while leaning on the trunk behind me. After a while, through the brush behind me, I heard somebody almost literally fall out of a tree, crunch through the brush, and take a leak. I then heard them clamber up the tree, followed by the unmistakeable sound of a beer can being opened. I could not see him, and assumed he could not see me. So I as quietly as I could, I unloaded my shotgun, got down from the tree and crept away through the woods to find a better spot.
That guy wasn’t going to see any deer, much less shoot them, but he damn well could have shot me. The woods are full of deer...and idiots.
Assume an AD will happen. Take steps to prevent it. And make sure that nobody gets hurt if it does.
No sense in being knee-jerk about it. The sherriff sounds like one of the good guys.
If you check back in a couple of months, the shooter probably will have married the widow!
No clip in the gun, he probably has checked it.
I handed it back to him without resetting the safety lock. I not only got the biggest a**-chewing in my life, but it was months and months before my Dad would ever let me handle a firearm again. This friend evidently didn't have the good fortune of learning such a lesson early in life.
I had an AD once in VN. With an M79!
You can’t drop them loaded on the top deck of a track!
Those lessons have stuck with me my entire life, through college (4 years on the rifle team), 8+ years in the Army, etc.
Thanks, I'll keep that in mind next time I'm tossing my grenade launcher into the track.... ;-)
You try to console the widow, and....you know....sometimes things just happen.
Er... what did you destroy?
Very sad. May his family find comfort and peace.
NONSENSE. Poppycock. Bilge. I have been shooting guns since I was 6; I'm now middle-aged, carry a revolver concealed EVERY DAY, and I have NEVER, NO NEVER had an accidental discharge.
My teenage kids have been shooting since they were 4, my son has been hunting many, many times, and as far as I know, not a single AD. Just follow the rules: keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction, keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire, and you won't have a problem.
You watch: the media will try to spin this into gun-control advocacy.
“Bull$hit. I have been handling guns since I was 8 years old. I have NEVER had an AD.”
It happened to me. My semi-auto Beretta 12 gauge jammed. I cleared the shell out of the chamber and when I let go of the chamber lever it snap close and discharged at the same time.
I had the gun pointed in the air and resting on my thigh. It felt like I got kicked by a donkey, and scared the hell out of me. I was 13 and hunting with my cousin who was 16.
Never let the barrel of your gun point at anyone no matter what.
Great axioms by the man who invented the 10-mm Auto cartridge. Soon to be a new addition to Lord Vader’s arsenal.
That rule should be carved in stone!
5. NEVER trust the “safety”!
You mean like the guy sharpening his knife and it slipped out of his hand? 17 times?
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