Shotgun cleaning tragedy

[BravoLima]

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/sep/12/roane-county-man-killed-while-cleaning-shotgun/

Friends, let's all remember we can never be too careful. My condolences to the family and friends.

[dralarms]

How do you accidentally shoot yourself in the chest with a shotgun?

My prayers go out to the family.

[Jamie Jackson]

My heartfelt condolences to the family.

As to the media: Guns don't just "go off" by themselves...they require intentional, or unintentional, human intervention...

This is an unfortunate tragedy and a reminder that we all need to follow The Four Rules of Gun Safety stressed by Col. Cooper.

[D3vo]

Tragic and odd. Does anyone here point the muzzle toward themselves when cleaning? Someone in the comments said they did

[peejman]

Tragic for sure.

Anyone else notice this...?

A witness, Chris Bingham, said he had come to garage to get money for a job he had done for Jaynes and was walking toward a chair when the shotgun went off.

hmmmm.

Edited September 17, 2012 by peejman

[Guest nysos]

Cleaning accidents are rarely cleaning accidents. Usually the PG way of saying that they tried to off themselves, but the fact that it was in his chest with a shotgun seems odd.

[Jonnin]

Tragic and odd. Does anyone here point the muzzle toward themselves when cleaning? Someone in the comments said they did

Sometimes I do, but by then the barrel is off the gun and its just a metal tube. Depends on what you mean by toward yourself also, some people, that is a 180 degree wall, others less. I sort of lump cleaning it in with gun shows or gun stores or transport/storage: sometimes it points your general direction in such cases. I mean, you put a rifle in your car, its going to point a *someone* before you get to the range.

[Guest MilitiaMan]

1. Pointing the muzzle of any functional gun (not stripped down) towards yourself isn't too bright, under any circumstance.

2. Not being 100% sure your own gun is unloaded before cleaning is just plain retarded.

[sigmtnman]

Anyone else notice this...?

hmmmm.

Yes and I thought hmm as well.

[gjohnsoniv]

Tragic for sure.

Anyone else notice this...?

hmmmm.

Seems suspicious.

[Jonnin]

1. Pointing the muzzle of any functional gun (not stripped down) towards yourself isn't too bright, under any circumstance.

2. Not being 100% sure your own gun is unloaded before cleaning is just plain retarded.

Unclear from the news blurb, but he was in the process of taking it to the bench to clean it when it went off (?). No one knows if he was going to clear the gun before starting the cleaning process, once sitting down at his area, or not. Its not the same as sitting down, looking down the barrel, bang type cleaning accidents. Either someone is lying, which is possible from that garbled story, or he maybe dropped it on its buttstock, which I could very well see happening.

Which makes a case for clearing the gun upon touching it as a great habit.

[Jamie Jackson]

Brings us back to Rule #1. All Guns are Always loaded.

Whenever I pick up, or I'm handed a firearm, the first thing I do (with the gun pointed in a safe direction and my finger off the trigger...#3 & #4) is a chamber check.

It should be so ingrained that it is a part of who we are.

And I agree. The story as printed leaves a lot to supposition. But the media isn't renowned for getting the facts straight...or all of the facts for that matter.

[Jesse]

Not everyone will follow safety rules with guns just like

not everybody will wear seatbelts.

All the preaching in the world wont change peoples minds.

Just gotta watch your own butt.

[jtmaze]

I agree. Rule #1 all guns are always loaded. I was in a local gun store not to long ago to see the new XDS and the guy behind the counter(not the usual guy) took it out and handed it to me without checking the chamber. I am an xd guy and know about the indicator but still checked the chamber in front of guy. I didn't scold him(not my job). It just made me feel uncomfortable.

JTM

Sent from my iPhone

[vontar]

Brings us back to Rule #1. All Guns are Always loaded.

Whenever I pick up, or I'm handed a firearm, the first thing I do (with the gun pointed in a safe direction and my finger off the trigger...#3 & #4) is a chamber check.

It should be so ingrained that it is a part of who we are.

And I agree. The story as printed leaves a lot to supposition. But the media isn't renowned for getting the facts straight...or all of the facts for that matter.

When I was 10, I took the TN hunter safety training. 3 days class room,1 day test, 1 day shooting.

They drove home hard, treat all guns as if they are loaded and so on.

One day my father in law was showing me some of his guns and I chamber checked every one of them.

[Guest Grubbah]

Brings us back to Rule #1. All Guns are Always loaded.

Whenever I pick up, or I'm handed a firearm, the first thing I do (with the gun pointed in a safe direction and my finger off the trigger...#3 & #4) is a chamber check.

It should be so ingrained that it is a part of who we are.

And I agree. The story as printed leaves a lot to supposition. But the media isn't renowned for getting the facts straight...or all of the facts for that matter.

My grandfather solidly reinforced that lesson one time. See, Grandpa had this brand new .22 that he was proud of and was showing it to my dad one day when we were visiting. He *never* stored his guns loaded and so he *knew* it was unloaded....up until the time he pointed it at the ceiling and pulled the trigger anyhow. Luckily he didnt break too many of the other safety rules that day. I was about 7 or 8 at the time, and between the look on Grandpa's face and my Grandma yelling at him wanting to know what he was doing shooting a gun in the house (not her exact words heh), it was a day I never forgot. 25 years later and that day still seems like yesterday.

Whether I believe a gun is loaded or not, the absolute first thing I do upon laying hands on it is do a chamber check. Its such a simple thing to do yet can have such severe consequences if you dont.

[Sam1]

Does everyone not check the chamber a couple of times minimum before cleaning guns? On a semi I check it, rack it a couple of times and check it again before dry firing. Sometimes I'll lock it back and shine a light down the tip... Obsessive, maybe, but I've also never shot myself. I just can't understand why people would not want to take an extra 15 seconds and check.

[TMF]

Does everyone not check the chamber a couple of times minimum before cleaning guns? On a semi I check it, rack it a couple of times and check it again before dry firing. Sometimes I'll lock it back and shine a light down the tip... Obsessive, maybe, but I've also never shot myself. I just can't understand why people would not want to take an extra 15 seconds and check.

I check it right before I break it down. This always surprises me when I hear about folks shooting themselves cleaning their gun. I can't think of a time when I was cleaning my gun that my firearm would be functional, since all the parts are out of it and on some the barrel removed. It only becomes functional when I put it back together, at which point, I can't see how a round would make it into the equation until I intentionally loaded it.

[BravoLima]

Does everyone not check the chamber a couple of times minimum before cleaning guns? On a semi I check it, rack it a couple of times and check it again before dry firing. Sometimes I'll lock it back and shine a light down the tip... Obsessive, maybe, but I've also never shot myself. I just can't understand why people would not want to take an extra 15 seconds and check.

I'm with you. I too am borderline obsessive about clearing a weapon before cleaning or handling it for any other reason. Drop the mag, lock slide, pinky check the barrel from the exhaust port...all while ensuring the weapon is in a safe direction. I can be easily distracted at times, so I know I need double-triple check for clear. I am teaching my girls to shoot; and they know that even if they watch me pull the gun out of the case and show clear that I expect them to follow safe steps and show clear also as soon as it's in their hands.

[JGunner]

Does everyone not check the chamber a couple of times minimum before cleaning guns? On a semi I check it, rack it a couple of times and check it again before dry firing. Sometimes I'll lock it back and shine a light down the tip... Obsessive, maybe, but I've also never shot myself. I just can't understand why people would not want to take an extra 15 seconds and check.

Absolutely this ... yes I'll even shine a flash light down the mag well and into the chamber after I've racked the slide a few times.

I learned something else from one of Clint Smith's videos (thunder ranch). If you ever hand someone a fire arm, have the slide/bolt locked back before you hand it to them. If I'm showing a friend one of my fire arms I clear the weapon, triple check, and lock the slide back before handing it over.

[Jonnin]

I see no reason to check it more than once. Racking it 5 times and dry firing it does not make it any more unloaded than it was when you looked in the chamber the first time.

the ones that make me nervous the most are tube fed. You can check it, and in the process, load it from the one hiding in the tube. Those, I am very, very careful with.

[Sam1]

have to dry fire all of mine to get the slides off

[bubbiesdad]

Tragic and odd. Does anyone here point the muzzle toward themselves when cleaning? Someone in the comments said they did

Does anyone here clean a loaded gun? I'm totally OCD checking for unloaded when cleaning a gun.

[bubbiesdad]

Brings us back to Rule #1. All Guns are Always loaded.

Whenever I pick up, or I'm handed a firearm, the first thing I do (with the gun pointed in a safe direction and my finger off the trigger...#3 & #4) is a chamber check.

It should be so ingrained that it is a part of who we are.

And I agree. The story as printed leaves a lot to supposition. But the media isn't renowned for getting the facts straight...or all of the facts for that matter.

^This^, even at the LGS, after you just watched the counter man clear it.

[bubbiesdad]

I see no reason to check it more than once. Racking it 5 times and dry firing it does not make it any more unloaded than it was when you looked in the chamber the first time.

the ones that make me nervous the most are tube fed. You can check it, and in the process, load it from the one hiding in the tube. Those, I am very, very careful with.

It's like I said above, I check a gun handed to me, even though I just saw the person clear it.