Gun mishap videos. We have all seen them. Sometimes they are funny. Sometimes they end with minor injury and sometimes much worse. I like these videos as much as anyone as long as no one gets hurt and I have a tendency to look at them a little differently than most. Yes, the responses of the shooters can be funny. I guess I look at these videos differently because I am a instructor and teach people how to handle firearms safely and responsibly. I also teach defensive shooting and self defense with firearms which gets quite complex the more you train. I want people to enjoy their shooting experience and learn form it and promote the 2nd Amendment as they go forward. I want them to return and shoot again. I want them to have the ability and act with responsibility should they ever have to use force to defend themselves or others. I want people to in a shoot recreational setting, defensive and personal safety training, and in competitive shooting if so motivated and do so safely.
These videos can be prime examples of failures to handle firearms safely and failures to give firearms the respect they deserve. No matter where you go you will find people doing foolish things and putting themselves in danger. They do it all the time and not just with firearms. You name it someone has done something stupid with it. Thousands of videos of stunts gone wrong and inexperienced and untrained people doing things that have great risk to personal safety and the safety of others. Sometimes resulting in horrific injuries and even death.
One common thing in these gun mishap videos is the irresponsibility of those who will hand a firearm, often a high recoiling weapon, to a completely oblivious and untrained person, often ladies and tell them to shoot. Just Shoot! Just to get a kick out of it! The response is often that the person will never pick up another gun because of injury and the shock of the recoil. I have had ladies and guys in my classes that have had such experiences and are extremely reluctant to shoot a rifle or shotgun or high recoiling handgun. Some absolutely refuse. Some can be brought back to shooting by teaching them to handle the gun and educating them as to how to handle and manage heavy recoil through stance and body position. In one of my classes I was teaching a Introduction to Defensive Firearms/Home Invasion class. In this class I also give the students a opportunity to shoot heavy recoiling guns with good instruction prior to actually shooting. After all shotguns are often used as home defense weapons. Two of the students swore they would never shoot or even handle a shotgun. I found that they had had bad experiences because someone they trusted gave them a shotgun, with no or little instruction, and told them to shoot it. Just Shoot! The recoil hurt them and one said she nearly dropped the gun. Scared the hell out of her. Bad move on the part of the person they trusted. After some discussion I convinced both to give me a chance to get them beyond that bad experience. After some instruction both shot the shotgun and had good experiences and have shot them since. They even wanted to shoot them more that day. That day they also shot a high recoiling, scoped weapon with no injuries (no scope eye). Again a good experience for them. They came back.
Not to long ago I heard of one of these incidents going horribly bad and resulted in the death of the shooter. A lady was given a high recoiling handgun without good instruction and close observation for safety. She was told to shoot the handgun. She did and during the recoil she lost control of the handgun. When she attempted to reacquire control of the gun, it was pointed at her head, she un-intentionally pressed the trigger when grabbing at the handgun. This resulted in her death. Now, this is not meant to scare anyone as this is the only such incident I have heard of and and goes to say they are rare. I just want you to think before you cross into the realm of stupid!
Sometimes these incidents are results of poor training, failure to follow safety rules, and lack of knowledge and training in the equipment used. Have you seen the video where the fellow shot himself in the leg during a close quarters contact drill? Results from a change and lack of training with equipment and attempting to run a complex drill at high speed after a equipment and gun change. He ended up with a .45 caliber bullet entering his upper leg and exiting just above the knee. Another one, the DEA officer teaching a class and shooting himself in the foot. Resulted from a failure to follow safety rules and triple checking to make sure the weapon was clear and the failure to remove all live ammunition from a classroom setting. Yet another one resulted in death of a student when a instructor took live ammunition into a simulated ammunition (paint marker rounds) training area. He loaded live ammunition and went through the training area (Shoot house) firing live ammunition. The live ammunition should have never have been in the area period. The area was supposed to be clear but wasn’t and the student had remained in the shoot house. A bullet went through a wall and struck the student killing him. A complete failure to follow safety procedures by the instructor.
The only one in the room qualified to handle a firearm. Just before he shot himself in the foot.
Firearms and training with them are inherently dangerous. If you are going to teach someone interested in shooting do it the right way and don’t turn them off for ever to the fun, enjoyment, and other benefits of learning to shoot and handle firearms. Don’t put the person you are teaching, yourself or others at unnecessary risk. Better yet if you amateurs, who have loads of bad habits and poor training yourself, will direct the person toward a professional instructor. Don’t play pranks on unsuspecting people with firearms knowing that a inexperienced person could get injured or injure others. Train smart, act responsibly , have fun, and be safe!
T-M Firearms Training 