Wherever There Are Guns, There Can Be Gun Accidents

As the gun guys like to chide, in their oversimplified way, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people."  I agree.  People with guns kill people.  And sometimes they unintentionally kill themselves and others.

It is a simpla truth that the pro-gun guys live in denial about.  When faced with reports of gun owners who unintentionally shoot themselves and others, pro-gun folks simply write it off, suggesting that those are rare examples and that those gun owners just didn’t understand the 4 Rules of Gun Safety and had not been trained properly.  (Personally, I prefer the 11 Rules of Gun Safety, but for some reason the gun guys never cite those). 

Certainly, these rules should be followed, and I highly advocate it.  But don’t be lulled into a false sense of security.  We all make mistakes.  And when you combine this with a weapon made to kill with a finger twitch, the consequences can be deadly.

Consider gun yahoos like the ones in this YouTube video, who act stupidly or don’t know their guns well.  Some simply underestimate the recoil of their weapon.  These people are lucky they aren’t dead.  It’s no laughing matter.

But even if you follow the rules of gun safety, it’s no guarantee against injury.  Here’s a video of a guy shooting a .50-caliber sniper rifle.  He fired a shot, but aimed straight at the target.  The round ricocheted directly back at him and smashed his ear protection.  By some luck, he was uninjured.  (of course, I would argue that there is absolutely no good reason for any citizen to own a .50-caliber rifle, but that’s beside the point).  When you fire such a powerful weapon against a flat metallic target at a direct angle, you’d think you’d have more distance between you and the target.

There are plenty of examples of shooting accidents at shooting ranges, too, where safety rules are supposed to be well-taught and strictly enforced.

But even very highly trained gun owners, who clearly know all about gun safety rules and have been in combat situations, still aren’t guaranteed to survive their gun fetish.

For instance, a 53-year old man who is described as a gun enthusiast, military veteran, and a master weapons instructor, had a number of pistols on his kitchen table and wash showing off his guns to friends, possibly intending to sell them.  He failed to realize that one of his guns was loaded, and fatally shot himself in the head.  You’d think a master weapons instructor might know better.

Here’s another recent case:  A soldier stationed at Fort Carson was cleaning his gun when it discharged unintentionally.  It hit him in the knee.  Sadly, it also hit an important artery there and he bled to death.  This soldier was a sergeant 1^st Class with the 10^th Special Forces Group.  You’d think one of our military’s most highly-trained soldiers would be more careful with his personal firearm.

These are just two examples I happened upon this week without even trying.  It's easy to find examples of well-trained gun owners who unintentionally kill or maim themselves with their guns.

To be semantic, these are unintentional injuries, not “accidents.”   The term “accident” suggests that it can’t be helped, like an act of nature.  But most of these accidental shootings are actually the result of stupid behavior, poor judgment, alcohol, or simply not being careful enough to follow those gun safety rules.  They are 100% preventable.

And I’m not even talking here about unintentional shootings by children who get their hands on their family’s gun.  We’ve chronicled hundreds of those so far this year over at the Kid Shootings blog, of children who get guns and harm themselves or others, or take them to school.  There is no shortage of irresponsible gun owners who leave their loaded an unlocked guns where children can access them, or who act irresponsibly with their guns around children.  That goes for children who have been trained in gun safety, too, such as this incident where a boy who lived at a gun range that his family tended, who had guns as an integral part of his family life, nonetheless unintentionally shot to death his older brother.  Every single one of these gun owners should know better, should accept responsibility for their bad choices, and should have their guns removed after an accident using their guns.  As my friends over at the MikeB302000 blog say, it should be a one-strike-and-your-out policy for guns.  

Wherever there are guns, there can be gun accidents.  Even the smartest people sometimes do dumb things or have accidents, even if they try to follow safety rules.  No amount of self-delusion will change this fact.  If you have a gun in the home, you have to accept the danger and hope you or your loved ones don't suffer a tragedy because of it.

Firearms Responsibility in the Home

A topic that has come up recently in comments here and at other sites is the "Four Rules" of gun safety, as well as general firearms responsibility, such as safe storage of firearms.

Here is a link to a pamphlet that is released by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which I think is very well put-together for this topic:

http://www.nssf.org/lit/FRITH.pdf

though they put more faith in the presence of children than I do (see below).

Also, from the Ceasefire Oregon website  (http://www.ceasefireoregon.org/coef/C3facts.html):

Protecting Your Family:

Other factors change, but there's one common denominator in every unintentional firearm injury: access to a loaded firearm. The most important thing parents, caregivers and gun owners can do to protect children is reduce their access to firearms and safely store all guns.

Here's what gun owners can do:

• If you have children in the home, any gun is a potential danger to them. Seriously consider the risks.  

• Store firearms unloaded, locked up and out of children's reach.

• Store ammunition in a separate, locked location.  

• Use quality gun locks, lock boxes or gun safes on every firearm. Gun locks, when correctly installed, prevent firearms from being discharged without the lock being removed.  

• Keep gun storage keys and lock combinations hidden in a separate location.  

• Take a course in using, maintaining and storing guns safely.  

Here's what all caregivers can do:

•  Talk to your children about the potential dangers of guns.  

•  Teach children never to touch or play with a gun.  

•  Teach children to tell an adult if they find a gun, or call 9-1-1 or the local emergency number if no adult is present.  

•  Check with neighbors, friends or relatives--or adults in any other homes where children visit--to ensure they follow safe storage practices if firearms are in the home.  See our ASK Program.

I might add, I grew up in a home with guns, and none of these rules were followed.

I don't recommend you have a firearm of any kind in your home if:

• you have children or teens in the home at any time
• you have anyone in the home, including yourself, who is depressed, undergoing traumatic events such as divorce, or has expressed suicidal feelings or actions in the recent past
• you are uncomfortable with or untrained in usage of your firearms (such as when a firearms-trained spouse dies or if you have become unable to wield them safely, such as by health problems like blindness, advanced Alzheimer's, or palsy).
• you have anyone in the home or visiting who is mentally ill in a way which causes erratic or violent behavior.
• you or anyone in the home has a history of violent behavior or arrests for violent behavior, including domestic violence

Now, I can predict some responses to these suggestions, particularly with my feelings about children and teens.  Some of you might be inclined to use the "Not my child!" excuse to counter my firm belief that even the most mature and responsible children and teens have moments of curiosity and impulsiveness, and that you can't control for their friends at all times, and that this puts those children at risk if there are guns in the home, even if they have been trained in safety and appropriate usage.  I know it from my own childhood, including a suicide of a teenage friend and a fatal shooting that I was involved in (as a witness from just a few feet away from the shooter and victim, both teens). 

Consider the following statistics:

• Among gun-owning parents who reported that their children had never handled their firearms at home, 22% of the children, questioned separately, said that they had (Baxley and Miller, p. 542).
• Of youths who committed suicide with firearms, 82% obtained the firearm from their home, usually a parent’s firearm (The National Violent Injury Statistics System, p. 2).
• When storage status was noted, about two-thirds of the firearms had been stored unlocked (The National Violent Injury Statistics System, p. 2).
• Among the remaining cases in which the firearms had been locked, the youth knew the combination or where the key was kept or broke into the cabinet (The National Violent Injury Statistics System, p. 2).

Sources: 

Baxley, Fances, MD, and Matthew Miller, MD, ScD. “Parental Misperceptions About Children and Firearms.” Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine. 160 (2006): 542-47.

The National Violent Injury Statistics System. Youth Suicide: Findings from a pilot for the National Violent Death Reporting System. Boston: Harvard Injury Control Research Center: Harvard School of Public Health, 2009. http://www.sprc.org/library/YouthSuicideFactSheet.pdf. Originally accessed through Harvard School of Public Health: Means Matters. Source of Firearms in Youth Suicides. Boston: Harvard School of Public Health, 2009. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/means-matter/youth-access/index.html.