Posted on 12/18/2001 9:07:24 AM PST by spunkets
Edited on 09/03/2002 4:49:48 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
STANLEY, Wis. -- The bullet, aimed at what looked like a white-tailed deer, struck its target with chilling precision. But as hunter Mike Berseth and his two buddies crossed a ravine and approached the lifeless figure, the thrill of the kill turned to shock and horror.
Lying on a gravel road was not a deer, but Berseth's 47-year-old neighbor, Debbie Prasnicki, who had been walking her two dogs near wooded Otter Lake on that chilly Saturday afternoon. She was wearing a white stocking cap when Berseth's bullet pierced her temple.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
These criminally irresponsible acts should be sanctioned as manslaughter, or negligent murder, else there is no motivation for the irresponsible nitwit to stop shooting at phantoms. All of the cases in this story, except the guy dropping his gun and shooting his toes off, are cases of shooting w/o knowing the identity of the target. One father here got the death penalty, 'cause he failed to instill in his 14 y/o kid the idea of responsibility.
In a case in VT, a few years back, some guy shot a lady who was gardening in her own fenced yard. The yard was on the outskits of town. The nitwit told the cops he thought the bow of her apron was a deer's tail! The guy got off and was set free. This kind of wreckless action is being used by the grabbers to paint all gun owners and hunters as negligent nitwits. It shouldn't matter whether it's orange or not, if it's not a positive ID, then don't pull the trigger. Mr. Berseth is moving away. When he leaves he should at least leave the proceeds from the sale of his house and belongings to the kids, whose mother he shot.
When you fired a bullet, you own it. If someone gets hurt or killed by it, then you bear the responsibility.
Manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide should be the charges.
It should be that way, but for some reason the prosecutors don't press it. They treat it like it's expected and just an unfortunate occurance that goes along with hunting.
How many people died in traffic crashes in Wisconsin during the hunting season.
You sound like a gun control advocate to me. Ban guns and no one will die during hunting season. Great idea.
You do gooders make me sick when you concentrate on only one segment of social irresponsibility.
Crap happens and people die. What's your solution for every irresponsible manner in which people die at the hands of others? Get a life. You've got too much time on your hands.
My husband and I own a ranch in California's San Bernardino Mountains. We see game there all the time. More often though, we see trespassers, of the two legged variety. If we were to obtain a valid hunting license, and on our own property, shoot at something just because we saw movement, there would be a 90% probability that we would hit a human target, becase that is the ratio of humans to animals that we see.
Last year, my husband was at the Ranch, in the orchard, when we heard a loud gunfire. It was from so near that my husband actually felt the blast. Someone had blasted past our locked gate and no trespassing signs to hunt in our orchard. He was shooting at birds, and didn't even realize that my husband was only a few feet away (nor did my husband realize the hunter was only a few feet away).
Any time we take responsibility for a lethal weapon (a car, a gun, anything that can maim or kill) we should be held responsible for how we use it. Hunters like the one in the story, and like the one in our orchard give all of us second amendment rights people a bad name.
Charges should be made against the killer. Otherwise, the careless are allowed to kill with impunity.
If people drive like these people shoot, they should be charged with the same crimes. ie. manslaughter, or negligent homicide. These aren't accidents, they're displays of irresponsible behavior. If car your goes out of control, because you're driving irresponsibly, then you should be hit with criminal sanctions. Drinking has nothing to do with it. It's the driver!
Why ?
He should have at least gotten a criminally negligent homicide charge.
There was one here in NYS a while back - Father accidentally shot his son, friend went for help, father killed himself after they departed. What a nightmare -
IDENTIFY IDENTIFY IDENTIFY and then give thought to the trajectory before you squeeze the trigger
Know your target and what is beyond. Be absolutely sure you have identified your target beyond any doubt. Equally important, be aware of the area beyond your target. This means observing your prospective area of fire before you shoot. Never fire in a direction in which there are people or any other potential for mishap. Think first. Shoot second.
One group showed up while no one was home at the neighbors and killed a deer standing 12ft from their house. The bullets(2) when right through their house and left blood splattered on the outside wall. The creeps cleaned the deer right where they shot it and left the guts right there in a pile.
While I can understand the occasional accident where a gun dog steps on a trigger, or the hunter falls or gets a branch inside the trigger guard, I cannot understand or sympathise with anyone who shoots another in a case of "mistaken identity". Identifying ones target and beyond is so fundamental that no exceptions should ever be made.
In other words, if Bubba doesn't know exactly what he's shooting at, he shouldn't be pulling the trigger. If he decides to shoot anyway and ends up killing someone, he should be convicted of negligent homicide every single time, automatically.
My .02
Unfortunately for your argument, the gun banners aren’t after banning cars, they're after your firearms.
Irresponsible and INEXCUSABLE actions such as these just give the Libs more ammo and energy in their anti-constitutional fervor.
UpstateNYRouser, I hope you get that Prozac refill soon :-)
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