Better Safe Than Sorry

I like guns.

That does not, however, make me an expert on any aspect of firearms. I'm more of a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none kind of guy.

I can usually hit what I aim at. I manage to fill my deer tag most years. The holes I punch in paper are generally pretty close together, but not in ultra-tight groups. In short, I'm a decent enough shot, but hardly a sharpshooter.

I try and keep my firearms clean and functional, but I'm not a gunsmith. It's like with my truck. I can handle most types of basic and preventative maintenance, but for anything beyond that it goes to the shop. Same for my guns.

I know a little bit about basic types of weapons and ammo, but I'm not knowledgeable enough to participate in serious discussions about blowback vs. locked breech, or kinetic energy vs. penetration, or any of the other topics that gun aficionados get into. Heck, I'm still trying to figure out what rifle to take on my first elk hunting trip next fall. (I just got the notice in today's mail that I drew a Wyoming elk tag - talk about giddy! But I digress...)

I own several firearms, but I'm not a collector. There's no rhyme or reason to the contents of my gun safe. Sure, there's the traditional .22s for plinking, and my hunting rifles and shotguns. But there's also several firearms that I purchased out of concern about what might happen when Bill Clinton was elected, along with a few I bought when the Brady Bill looked like it was going to pass, and a few more I acquired when obama weaseled his way into office. I've even won two in various raffles (of course, for what I spent in raffle tickets I could have paid for those two and more besides, but the money went to good causes).

Bottom line - I like guns, but I'm not a fanatic about any aspect of them. Except one: gun safety (here, here, and here).

I've been called a safety nazi more than once, but that doesn't bother me. In fact, I take pride in that label. After all, we're talking about a tool whose sole function is to kill something. That seems to me to justify an abundance of caution.

Which brings us to this story.

Michigan man kills himself while demonstrating gun safety

A Michigan man from Independence Township accidentally killed himself after reportedly firing a gun into his head while attempting to demonstrate how safe the weapon was.

Need I point out the irony in that sentence?

The 36-year-old man’s girlfriend told law enforcement that he’d been drinking throughout the day when the incident occurred Sunday evening. Police told the Oakland Press that when they arrived at the home, the girlfriend was performing CPR on the man. He was declared dead at the scene.

According to the Oakland Press, the man was explaining to his girlfriend that his three guns were safe when not loaded. Police said he put two guns to his head and pulled the trigger, but when he did the same with the third gun, it discharged and a bullet went into his head.

That violates just about every rule of gun safety I can think of. Darwinism in action.

“(The situation) is pretty unique, as I have never heard of anyone testing out the safety of a gun by pointing at their head and pulling the trigger,” Undersheriff Michael McCabe told the newspaper.

People who do that generally only do it once.

There have been numerous incidents related to accidental gun discharges over the last few years. Last week, a Florida man accidentally shot himself in the leg after leaving a gun safety class and manipulating his weapon in the parking lot. He was taken to a hospital and treated.

Just two months ago in Michigan, the vice president of the United Automobile Workers union, General Holiefield, mistakenly shot his wife in the stomach while cleaning a loaded gun. Fortunately, she survived the incident, and Holiefield pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges.

In August 2013, meanwhile, the instructor of a gun safety class in Ohio accidentally shot one of his students while he was demonstrating the firearm to the class. He apparently did not realize the gun was loaded, and the boy survived after being struck in his arm.

Idiots one and all. I'm not making light of their injuries, but I am pointing out that they are all idiots.

I hope I'm preaching to the choir here, but if you own one one or more firearms, please learn, practice, and spread the rules of gun safety. We don't need to give Second Amenment opponents any more ammunition...

(Note the ATF hat on the idiot pictured above.)