Accidentally or Negligent Disregard

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Sika

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Been sent this from FB and it’s ironic as good friend of mine did exactly the same last year with a sub 12 air rifle and ended up in hospital. But the doctor informed the police and was been classed as a Negligent Discharge. The unfortunate thing is he happened to be an FAC holder which put his ticket in jeopardy.

He was interviewed by an FEO and an investigation ran. He managed to get a gunsmith to check the gun as he was convinced the safety was on. The safety was faulty and a report presented to the police along with a letter.

Fortunately after months no further action was be taken but he was given a verbal warning and it was added to his records. I do wonder if it will come back to bite on renewal. I hope the guy in the picture makes a full recovery, but I wouldn’t be making light of it on FB.

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Sika said:
Been sent this from FB and it’s ironic as good friend of mine did exactly the same last year with a sub 12 air rifle and ended up in hospital. But the doctor informed the police and was been classed as a Negligent Discharge. The unfortunate thing is he happened to be an FAC holder which put his ticket in jeopardy.

He was interviewed by an FEO and an investigation ran. He managed to get a gunsmith to check the gun as he was convinced the safety was on. The safety was faulty and a report presented to the police along with a letter.

Fortunately after months no further action was be taken but he was given a verbal warning and it was added to his records. I do wonder if it will come back to bite on renewal. I hope the guy in the picture makes a full recovery, but I wouldn’t be making light of it on FB.

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Is the bloke from Norfolk 🤔
Some strange looking foot that. 😂😂
 
Sika said:
Been sent this from FB and it’s ironic as good friend of mine did exactly the same last year with a sub 12 air rifle and ended up in hospital. But the doctor informed the police and was been classed as a Negligent Discharge. The unfortunate thing is he happened to be an FAC holder which put his ticket in jeopardy.

He was interviewed by an FEO and an investigation ran. He managed to get a gunsmith to check the gun as he was convinced the safety was on. The safety was faulty and a report presented to the police along with a letter.

Fortunately after months no further action was be taken but he was given a verbal warning and it was added to his records. I do wonder if it will come back to bite on renewal. I hope the guy in the picture makes a full recovery, but I wouldn’t be making light of it on FB.

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Begs the question . Why was the loaded rifle not pointing at the target or in a safe direction. NEVER RELY ON A SAFTY CATCH OR TRIGGER . They are mechanical and can fail .
 
A friend did it . He often shot his boot ( no I don't know why ) but he would be wearing steel toe boots. One day he did it and it was army boots he had on . It passed through missing his toes.

His steel toe boots had the pellets under the leather .

He never did it again after that.

I have heard of others tripping and firing a shot . One ended up with another person's foot shot but it did no damage .

You can buy a leather patch for resting the barrel on you foot.

I can see the idea behind it but I would never use one or rest the muzzle on my foot.

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Riggs said:
Hmmm, whether the safety is on or not, my finger doesn’t go near the trigger until the rifle is pointing at the target.
Maybe these proficiency courses aren’t such a bad idea 😂
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I'm tempted to chalk up that experience up as his course now done - I can't imagine he'll make that mistake again. It looks like a bloody painfull lesson 😯
 
Sika said:
He managed to get a gunsmith to check the gun as he was convinced the safety was on.
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The basic safety rules are:
1) always assume a rifle is loaded
2) never point a rifle at anyone
3) know your target and what is beyond it
4) never put your finger on the trigger until you have decided to take a shot

Unless shown otherwise it would be a reasonable assumption 2) and 4) were not followed and this was therefore a Negligent Discharge.

Those being the basic rules, there are also others that are useful safety layers when target shooting: breech flags, only loading when about to shoot and unloading when shooting stops, plus use of the safety. As mentioned above the safety is an extra layer but cannot be replace basic safe handling.

Had the shooter loaded the rifle with it pointing at a safe target, then decided to pull the trigger with the safety on as a function check and it fired a pellet, that would be an Accidental Discharge due to mechanical failure, but then no one would have been hurt.

The shooter in this case seems responsible for his own injury. Mentioning this more as a discussion about best practice and not to have a go at the person in the picture who shot himself.
 
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Brings back memories of my dad in our gunshop 40 years ago, customer bought a break barrel air pistol is that was going off while cocking, 10 dry tests later it wasn't going off, 1st time with a pellet in it went off, unfortunately the old man had his finger near the muzzle when it did.

Cue 1 pellet down his finger about an inch and a half.

Barnet General Hospital nurse on reception....

Name - Bob
Details of injury - gunshot wound
Occupation - gunsmith

Cue hysterical laughter from said nurse.

It got weirder when the doctor came to remove it, don't worry, he says, I took the bullets out of Stephen Waldorf 😲😲
 
Wow, I think that's a pretty high score.
Treat your gun as if it is always loaded and could go off ❌️
Finger stays off the trigger until you are taking a shot ❌️
Don't point your gun at anything you are not willing to destroy ❌️


Bunyip said:
Is the bloke from Norfolk 🤔
Some strange looking foot that. 😂😂
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Hey, on behalf of the people of Norfolk I must protest and debunk - there is clearly no webbing between those toes.
 
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