Many shooters, myself included, have objected to a habit displayed by many participants in shotgun sports. While waiting for their turn on the trap or skeet range, shooters often lean their shotguns muzzle-down on their shoes, pointing right at their own feet. Some specialist shoes for the sport even have a special leather patch on the toe, designed to accommodate the muzzle!
Needless to say, this is a very, very dangerous habit. It violates Rule Two of the Four Rules of Firearms Safety:
Never point the muzzle of a firearm
at anything you are not willing to destroy
at anything you are not willing to destroy
I've questioned several shooters about this habit, as politely as possible, and been shrugged off as a 'safety Nazi' or a 'typical gun nut - sport shooters are safe, not like you defensive shooters!'
Oh, yeah?
Thanks to Bob H. for forwarding these pictures to an e-mail list of which I'm a member. Someone rested the muzzle of his shotgun on his foot. Guess what happened?
GRAPHIC CONTENT ALERT: These pictures show very serious injury to the foot. A hole has literally been blasted through it from top to bottom. The bone of the big toe is clearly visible, where the flesh of the toe has been blown away. If you're at all squeamish, you shouldn't look at these pictures.
That said, if you wish, click on the two links below to view the images.
I'm going to print multiple copies of these pictures, and carry them with me every time I go to the range. Next time I see some idiot shooter resting the muzzle of his shotgun on his foot, this 'safety Nazi' is going to take great delight in handing him his very own copies of these images.
Who knows? Maybe some of them will learn something . . . before it's too late.
Peter
Well, it's better they shoot their own feet than accidentally shoot someone else!
ReplyDeleteIn any event, I wouldn't want to be around careless folks like those doofi.
chicopanther
Are those pictures the result of the trap/skeet practice of resting the muzzle of an open, unloaded shotgun on the top of a foot?
ReplyDeleteWhile I take firearms safety very seriously, I don't have a problem with O/U or SxS shotguns being handled in this manner due to the fact that with the breech open they are nothing more than a pair of metal pipes.
Wow. I'd be interested how an injury like this is treated. I mean, obviously the flesh that's been pulverized is gone for good, but what about that exposed bone? Will they do a skin graft to cover it up?
ReplyDeleteI think having those pictures with you for prevention of future doofus development is an excellent idea. :)
Worse thing ever... this is why at the age or 6 when we were being taught how to shoot you learned the SAFETY aspect FIRST... Retard. i can't bring myself to feel bad for stupidity. My parents even took us to a safety class in PA, for hunting and snowmobiling. I HOPE he'll teach his kids better....
ReplyDeletebetter then a holding it under your chin
ReplyDeleteMis Minka: "Wow. I'd be interested how an injury like this is treated."
ReplyDeleteA saw pictures of a similar wound in a first aid book for medical aid when not near modern facilities.
The story involved some soldier types in Africa.
One of the indigenous personnel inflicted a contact injury to the top of his foot with a twelve gauge right at the instep.
The wound resembled a hole chewed by a rat.
The foot and wound were cleaned and the wound was packed with sugar.
The bandage was changed and sugar was added as needed.
The pictures of the wound a month later (IIRC) were phenomenal. The wound was closed and appeared to be nearly completely healed with no infection.
It was astounding.
I have used sugar-dine (A commercial mixture of sugar and iodine) on the wounds in the hooves of horses with good results.
Keeping the wound clean dry is the key.
The sugar prevents the growth of bacteria.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDelete"better then a holding it under your chin."
Yeah, I know a young man who did that...in front of his best friend.
He survived, but is blind and has no facial features that you would recognize as human.
The friend is left with that vision in his mind for the rest of his life.