Fatal accident at California range

Every Club I've ever been to has had stead fast rules that the actions had to be open while moving around at the club if not cased & that no shell was to be chambered (action open or not) until at said station & ready to call for the shot. No reasoning can ever make this guy sleep at night knowing he killed his buddy out of pure negligence & disregard for safety for everone who was there & where he originally loaded the shotgun.
Slightly off topic but, I "once" hunted with a "friend" who got into the back of my Blazer with a loaded shotgun behind my head & proceeded to rack his pump empty of the remaining shells he had in it. Thats a sound you'll remember for the rest of your life. After the SHTF & my other two buddies calm me down, we went home. Never hunted with those three again. Someone maybe a relation or best friend, but if you can't trust them with a firearm I won't set a foot in the bush or the range with them around...:mad:
 
I'll probably have a sh*itstorm inbound for this but I have seen the same thing as mentioned earlier in several posts...the trap guys seem too cavalier about muzzle direction and proving empty.

We had an informal match at a little club on the island years ago. After firing one round the shooter turned and swept me with a closed action. When I moved sideways he said "dont worry...it isn't loaded." He had no idea what was in the magazine...he didn't look, he just figured he fired a round so it must be empty.

The shooter in the parking lot in this story would also have sworn his shotgun was empty.
 
I'm sure you all know this, but there is no such thing as an empty gun and anyone who behaves differently is foolish. The guys at our range are generally really good about safety. What worries me are the little habits that creep in and how people get used to operating with things that are a little wrong like the doubles trap at our range.
One thing I haven't heard discussed is the fact that we are all getting a little older. I know that I have become less able to concentrate as I have aged. I'm more distractible now, forget things more easily, make more mistakes and when I get tired I can get truly stupid. So, during the past 10 years or so I have limited myself more and more, especially when working with equipment of any kind. I'm less inclined to push things because my error factor goes up. Upshot is that I can see how a 70 year old man might forget to unload his shotgun . (D*mn I don't want to say that, but I can see it as getting more possible, in spite of the best of intentions.) Bottom line is to control muzzle direction as I am sure you guys know and to be self-aware and work within one's limitations. sincerely, fred
 
Quite a post Fred, your honest, self-assessment is very respectfully noted.

Interestingly, to the contrary, we have a regular shooter at our Club who is in his late 80's. He moves pretty slow these days (the aches and pains sometimes really show) but his mind is as sharp and witty as they come. He can still swing a gun with the best of them and in my casual observations, is also as safe as they come.
 
DANCESWITHEMPTIES said:
Every Club I've ever been to has had stead fast rules that the actions had to be open while moving around at the club if not cased & that no shell was to be chambered (action open or not) until at said station & ready to call for the shot. No reasoning can ever make this guy sleep at night knowing he killed his buddy out of pure negligence & disregard for safety for everone who was there & where he originally loaded the shotgun.
Slightly off topic but, I "once" hunted with a "friend" who got into the back of my Blazer with a loaded shotgun behind my head & proceeded to rack his pump empty of the remaining shells he had in it. Thats a sound you'll remember for the rest of your life. After the SHTF & my other two buddies calm me down, we went home. Never hunted with those three again. Someone maybe a relation or best friend, but if you can't trust them with a firearm I won't set a foot in the bush or the range with them around...:mad:
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Not shotgun related but a very good hunting buddy of mine still carries some metal in his shoulder from a very similar occurance. He was elk hunting over 30 years ago when one of his party got in the vehicle with a Savage lever action that had a loaded magazine. The dummy then proceded to rack out the shells. When the .308 went off it blew through the seat back and into my friends shoulder. For years small pieces of metal kept working their way out. If not for a small spike bull that he was turned to watch the shot would have been into his upper back.
 
I have enough respect for the dead to not say anything. That's because I have nothing good to say about their behavior. Glad I don't shoot with people with poor safety habits, let's try to remember these are guns we play with, eh?
 
If all else is forgotten, muzzle control would have saved this guy's life. Its a shame that it happened but for the most part I would say that being with a group of strangers, the range is still probably one of the safest places to be.
 
ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT:

A CLOSE GUN, IS A LOADED GUN!!!!!!!!!! :eek:


In the 70's, this was the rule, this should be the rule today. :runaway:
 
I agree. Untill you're looking at the chamber, it's loaded. I own snap caps so I can train people I take to the range without any ammo unlocked. If you have ammo out, the guns are "loaded". Sucks though, particularily because we've all seen close calls...
 
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