Authorities say a 62-year-old man has died after accidentally shooting himself at a West Columbia shooting range.
Lexington County Coroner Harry Harman said Jerry Marsh III of Columbia was taking his .40-caliber Glock semi-automatic handgun apart around 7 p.m. Thursday at Shooter's Choice when it fired, striking him in the chest.
Authorities say Marsh died a short time later at the hospital.
First of all, the gun did not fire. "When it fired" is misleading. The man was so unsafe in the handling of his gun that it's frightening. Forgetting there's a round in the chamber is bad enough, but then he pointed the gun at his chest and pulled the trigger, these are essentially the mistakes he made. And he paid the ultimate price.
Does anyone really believe these were his first violations of safety rules ever? I don't. That's why taking gun misuse more seriously is so important. One strike you're out would weed out many of these dangerous people and save lives, sometimes their own.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
The man who is the subject of this article died as a result of his ignorant and foolish actions. Tragic as it was, it was his own doing.
ReplyDeleteAs for MikeB's "one strike and you're out" mantra, I cannot categorically endorse such an idea because every situation is unique. Let the criminal justice system do its job.
And meanwhile, armed citizens should do everything in their power to compel other armed citizens to strictly follow the basic rules of firearm safety.
But, but, I thought gun ranges were havens of gun safety and safe shooting practices?? There goes another law-abiding gun owner.
ReplyDeleteThat's incident number 39 that I'm aware of at shooting ranges this year. http://newtrajectory.blogspot.com/2012/05/where-is-safest-place-to-avoid-gun.html
Oregonian, are you capable of performing division? There are some 16,000 indoor ranges, plus the many thousands of outdoor ranges in this country.
DeleteI'll leave you to perform the arithmetic.