...of firearms safety that need to be adhered to just as much as the 4 rules. One of those rules is something I mentioned in a blog post I wrote a few days ago about a man who reportedly shot his son. The man reportedly had tried to climb into his truck and put a handgun into the truck's center console at the same time and the gun discharged killing his son who was in the passenger seat. I mentioned in my blog post the rule hunters are taught in hunter safety courses, in essence about not trying to do things that require both hands while holding a gun. They are told never to climb a fence with a loaded gun and not to try to climb into a treestand with a loaded gun but instead to unload the gun completely and then either lean it on or near the fence so you can reach it after you climb to the other side or tie it to a cord to pull it up into the tree stand after you have first ascended. In both cases it is important to unload it first. That could be similar to placing an unloaded pistol into your pocket or waistband or holster before climbing into your truck and once in then putting it into the center console if that was where you were going to put it (not a good place to put a gun in my opinion).
Well, it has only been few days at most since I reminded folks of that and last night a friend sent me an email about a hunter in upstate NY. Seems he climbed up into his treestand and then pulled his rifle up after him, kind of like he was supposed to do but not quite right. Apparently he forgot to unload it before doing that. According to the news report, he shot himself in the foot while trying to get his rifle up into the treestand. See:
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121205/NEWS/121209856
To add insult to injury, the NY State Police and DEC are now investigating to see if they are going to charge him criminally. I would think the hole in his foot enough punishment in a case like this.
All the best,
Glenn B
