01 November 2013

The Four Rules: An "Only Ones" Failure

The Four Rules:
  1. All guns are always loaded.
  2. Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
  3. Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target!
  4. Always be sure of your target.

The violation?

An active-duty military member shot himself in his leg Thursday in a Tikahtnu Commons parking lot as he loaded his pistol for a venture into town, police said.

Police received a call at 11:47 a.m. that a man had a non-fatal injury after shooting himself in his left thigh, said Anita Shell, Anchorage police spokeswoman.

The man had just left Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, where regulations bar military personnel from carrying loaded personal firearms, Shell said. The man was in the Tikahtnu parking lot, just outside the base, to meet his wife for lunch at the Red Robin there, Shell said.

The man was seating his magazine with his finger on the trigger when he shot himself, Shell said. [Emphasis added - Ed.]

But this isn't possible, right? The anti-gun fringe is always telling us that only military and police should have guns. They're the ONLY ONES trained enough.

I was first handed a rifle at the age of six, in 1961; you do the math. Yes, I've been in the Navy, and worked for a small-town PD in the years since then ... but have never shot myself.

Accidents happen, people. I'm sorry he hurt himself, but this one was entirely preventable ... sigh.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Saw a sheriff's deputy (with an extremely canted holster) clear leather (against range rules) and put a .357 through one of his butt cheeks!
Finger on the trigger? You bet!
At least he only did that one time.
:-)

gfa

Rev. Paul said...

I'm guessing he could only have done it twice, anyway. Am I right? ;^)

Bob said...

You never much see these accidents with revolvers, for some reason.

Rev. Paul said...

Probably due to the much heavier pull required on a DA revolver, don't you think?

Murphy's Law said...

Red Robin? Yum!

When did they get those in Alaska?

Old NFO said...

Truly preventable, and at least he didn't shoot his wife...

Rev. Paul said...

Law, they've been here for years.

NFO, that's true. Nor his kid in the back seat.

DR said...

You know this is really embarrassing there really is no reason a member of the military should accidentally shoot themselves.

There's no responsibility in this world anymore. Everyone thinks it's playtime all the time.

Rev. Paul said...

Indeed. This was carelessness, plain and simple. He knows better, and should have been paying attention.