Deer Season Opener Leaves One Dead

KMOU.com ^ | No. 17, 2009 | Ryan Martin

[TexasRepublic]

“A removable magazine is the safest way to unload a firearm, but I don’t often see people making that argument.”

I think a common mistake people make is removing the magazine, but not realizing a round may still be in the chamber.

[Osage Orange]

Ding, ding, ding, ding....we have a winner!!

[TexasRepublic]

“... I was taught, if you are carrying a bolt action rifle, have the bolt open. Pros/cons? “

Pro: Safer way to carry
Con: Slower to get off a shot. The deer may hear you close the bolt and run. That’s the price for safety.

[smokingfrog]

You mean like the DEA agent?

[Osage Orange]

Must happen..and do happen are big differences.....

I've seen even the most careful folks have accidents......

I've had one or two....that made me really think.

[Big_Harry]

I meant no clip in the rifle.

[sausageseller]

Since this story involved a long gun the the rule " Don't trust the safety" is completely understandable.

in fact many modern pistols and rifles do not have one.

Many long gun owners know this not to be the case. Go to any firearms shop and virtually all the long guns have a mechanical "safety".

With our current litigation crazed society there is not a manufacturer of long guns that does not equip any of their firearms without one.

[Shooter 2.5]

There may be a difference between the person who has “shot all their life” and the person who shoots thousands of rounds a year with differnt styles of firearms. I had an AD last week. I came up on the target and rested my finger on the trigger and apparently it was too much pressure. The gun fired and I still hit the target just a few inches from the “A” zone. Oops.

I had a match .22 that I was benchresting and closed the bolt with two fingers and a thumb. The little finger hit the three pound trigger and the rifle fired. Oops. I still hit the target since it was benched.

A friend handed me his K98 Mauser without telling me he had installed a two pound trigger. I rested the rifle against my shoulder, aimed the sights and rested my finger on the trigger. It went off. I didn’t hit the target but I was close. Oops.

I fire thousand of rounds a year with all different sorts of firearms. Some I’m familiar with and some I have never handled before.

I’m really happy people have never had an ND. I wish I could say the same.

[Shooter 2.5]

A removable magazine is the safest way to unload a firearm, but I don't often see people making that argument.

Because it's not. Dropping the magazine doesn't unload a firearm by that act alone.

1. Drop the mag.
2.Pull back the slide or bolt.
3.Look inside the chamber to see it's empty.
The firearm is now unloaded.

[smokingfrog]

I was probably not clear enough on that. I meant safer as opposed to unloading a rifle with an internal magazine, where you would operate the bolt to eject each round one-by-one. Obviously, removing the magazine would just be step #2 after putting the rifle on safe (step #1).

[Hot Tabasco]

"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

That is a true statement but it also results from over confidence and a lapse in the observance of basic firearm safety..........Been there, done that. I was lucky.........

As a lesson to all, I had two friends over to my house, one of whom was very knowledgeable about firearms value and was attempting to evaluate my rifles.

I brought out one handgun which still had the magazine in it, pulled the slide back to see if there was a round in the chamber, which of course there wasn't, then released the slide which of course then injected a round into the chamber. I then removed the magazine thinking it was unloaded.

Fortunately my other friend followed standard procedures when being handed a firearm and pulled the slide back to inspect the chamber. Well guess what? There was a round in it.......

I made a very bad mistake and fortunately nothing came of it but I learned a very, very valuable lesson that day.

[Shooter 2.5]

Not necessarily. Modern rifles have a hinged floor-plate as part of the internal magazine. Just flip the button and the floor-plate swings downward and dumps the cartridges.

[TYVets]

For several years the Missouri Department of Conservation investigated and published a report of hunting firearm injuries on a yearly basis. (perhaps they still do).

Two things stood out on those reports:

1. It is your friends, relatives or acquaintances that shoot you.

2. Almost all the injuries or deaths occurred at close range, 25 yards or less.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that gun handling accidents are the cause of these injuries or deaths.

[Rebelbase]

Last year a friend of mine blew his cousin’s finger off when they were messing with a muzzle loader they couldn’t get to fire. “Lewis, put your finger near end of the barrel and see if you feel any air coming out”....BANG!...Lewis now has four fingers on one hand.

[Rebelbase]

Son and I took the Hunter Safety class last year and watched an hour long video of hunting accident re-enactments.

[smokingfrog]

Are they like those gory accident films they used to show in driver’s ed?

[Scythian]

"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.

Totally and completely 100% wrong, if that were the case I would be for a total ban on hand guns, the guy that said this is an idiot and knows nothing of gun safety.

[Rebelbase]

Yep, same visual and message.

[WVNight]

If my eyes don’t deceive me the selector switch is in full auto. Even though there is no mag inserted.

[rlmorel]

Yeah. I think my comment was a little too all-encompassing. I admit it was a bit of a knee jerk...I guess a good analogy is to compare it to flying, and even the best and most thorough pilots can have mishaps.

I suppose I was thinking that accidental discharges are like This.