Practical jokes & guns? 50 cal shot by 9yo!

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Dingoboyx

New member
I read a thread the other day on 'other rules for guns'

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=358171

and in post #35 I wrote about not playing practical jokes (huge loads, little people etc) and just now saw a couple of exact examples of this on Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgioghA1QEc
http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=kGChttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGCBQPr-c4k&NR=1BQPr-c4k&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGCBQPr-c4k&NR=1
These are the silly/irresponsible gags I am thinking of. Sure it is quite funny on face value, but what if the boy stuck the scope thru his eye and had to spend the rest of his life with only one eye & a terrible fear of guns?

What about the girl with the SA shottie? how funny would it have been if she turned towards the cameraman (or audience, or other shooters) while firing the 2nd and 3rd shots?

IMO, the boy was too little and light weight to shoot the 50 cal, his parents/guardians should have had more brains than to risk letting the boy shoot such a weapon? Remember a little boy shot himself in the head (and died) recently, with an uzzi (or similar) at a gun show.... Accidents can & do happen! :eek:

The girl, they should have just given her one shell at a time, IMO. A fool could see she was gonna either go over backwards, drop the gun or something.... I was quite shocked to see her keep firing. Whoever was in charge of the gun should have been more sensible & not give her a full tube of rounds!

The point of this thread, is to enlighten folks to the inherent dangers of practical jokes with guns! As funny as the look on someones face is, when they git the bejesus knocked out of them, it is downright dangerous. The dangers are too real & often too permanent. (like pulling the chair out from under someone about to sit down.... real funny when they will never walk again coz they broke their back.... you can't undo it once an accident has happened, especially when guns are involved.

A guy I used to work with (from a courier/trucking company) had terrible scarring on his arms and face, after I got to know him after a couple of years or so, I asked whats with the scars? He was spotlighting, standing on the back of a pick up, leaning on the back roof section of the cab.... the guy inside the cab had the shotgun facing barrel up over his shoulder.... a bump.... BANG.... took most of the skin of my mates arms and face!

Another guy, a girlfriends father, had only one arm, lost the arm from half way between his wrist and elbow..... yup, leaning, Daniel Boone style on the barrel of a shotgun (resting his arm on the muzzle, butt on the ground).... took his arm clean off!

ACCIDENTS HAPPEN..... DON'T INVITE THEM! BE CAREFUL!:eek:

Call me a woose, I don't care! If one person can learn something from this thread & save one person from a gun accident (especially an AVOIDABLE accident, my mission is accomplished.

Oh, and what does everyone say when an accident occurs? "I diddn't think it could happen to me?)

Well, It can, so take heed..... NO pranks, jokes or gags with guns.... it CAN happen to you.... it might not be you that gets hurt, but it may be someone you love/care for :eek:

Any feedback is welcome, comments, stories.... or simply acknowledging you have read this thread and might take it as a warning will do.....
 
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ar15chase

New member
Funny vids.
I do agree with you %100 on the fact, jokes shoudnt be played with guns, it is very irresponsible, and extremly dangerous. That girl could have slung that shotgun around at anyone without meaning to, she was not anywere near having control of it. I would say her and the camera-man got lucky. As for the little boy, I think his parents need a good case of scope eye, for letting him shoot that. If a person that size is going to shoot a 50 they need to be lying on the ground with it, so they can get all their body mass behind it.
 
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madmo44mag

New member
I agree 100% as well.
Although I have from time to time used large bore magnum revolvers to help timid shooter over come their fear of smaller guns.
I never fails once they shoot with my help if needed a large bore magnum ( one round) they find that 9mm or whatever it may be, very tame in comparison and the fear is lost.
This is not a joke but a training tool.
I have never had anyone ever come close to being hurt and most really enjoyed the experience because they now know they can handle their gun of choice without fear of the recoil hurting them.
 
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Dingoboyx

New member
yeah guys

You might get a hefty 9yo with a bigger build, who has been shootin' since he was 3, who CAN handle firing a 50 cal (+1 for prone) but the boy looked stunned and 'not on the ball' from go to woah? The parents/guardians thought it was a great joke.... how quick they would have sued the 'instructor' (who should have known better!) if things had gone rrr's up!

The girl... yup, totally out of control.... just lucky she didn't swing around.. She should have got one round at a time, and someone there with her to catch/support her.... the outcome was inevitable :(
 
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Gbro

New member
Thanks for the thread Dingo,

The oldtimer (Gray hair) doesn't mean he is an experienced instructor. There is so many things to watch for with youngsters and guns!
just by the way the boy was acting it looked like he was very unfamiliar with shooting and wasn't holding the gun properly and the gray haired guy didn't catch it. While the boy looks like he was uninjured, he may very well not want anything to do with shooting for a very long time if ever again. That is a tragedy in itself.
I use examples of incidents found on this forum all the time in my firearms classes for adults and youngsters alike.
This is one I use with adults in every class. I have it saved on my gun class only PC and was unable to pull it up off the web as it did happen several years ago but that sure doesn't take away the importance of continuing to remind everyone of the tragedy of this incident.
Here,
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1885704&postcount=3

Keep up the good work Dingo!

Greg
 
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Evan Thomas

New member
Good on ya for making this point, Dingoboy.

I don't get the humor of practical jokes in general... don't find much humor in watching someone get hurt or humiliated. (This is one area where I think TV and sites like Youtube have a LOT to answer for -- anyone can be a "star" if they're willing to video somebody doing something stupid.)

And as for "gun jokes"... No. Just no. They're not toys, and it's not funny. :mad:
 
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Dingoboyx

New member
Thanks Gbro :cool:

Tophe... +1 on the glasses (wouldn't have helped with 'Scope eye') but yes you are very correct :D

Good old 4th of july.... hehehehehe I have that video on my computer in WMA if anyone wants it & cant lift it off youtube. That is quite (very) funny and yes the gun is unloaded.... The look on her face is priceless, but a cruel trick... I doubt if he would ever get her to go to a range after that? But then, he has probably tried for years, and she wont go, so that is her 'punishment' :eek::D
 
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Housezealot

New member
I have been guilty of one firearm practical joke, My father in law gave his son 870,My brother inlaws experience with firearms was limited to what he learned in basic training so he was not familiar with a shotgun, I showed him how to load it, but I loaded it up with blanks. :D he could not figure why he couldn't hit a pop can from just a few yards! it was pretty funny.
 
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Dood_22

Moderator
I think the "too much gun" jokes are despicable.
Dangerous and they can ruin someone's view of firearms for life.
 
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Dingoboyx

New member
I too have played jokes in the past....

but only ever with fellow shooters (experienced/predictable) & never with 'real bullets' or massive loads. Just silly little things like in CAS once I substituted a couple of a mates 12ga shells with some full of confetti, instead of lead :D.... but I realise now even this is a no-no.... if a guy cant count on the rounds he pulls from his own range box, to be the ones he put there, one day he might think he has a 'confetti round' and accidently shoot someone or mix one of these in with his HD rounds, and just shoot the BG with confetti, & end up being hurt in a serious HD situation :eek:

That is why I brought up this thread, maybe I have turned into a fuddy duddy, or wowser in my old age, but I would rather that than see someone hurt from a silly practical joke, especially when it comes to noobs (inexperienced/unpredictable) and 'atomic loads/guns.

Like I said before, if this thread wakes someone (one person) up to the fact that guns are serious things, can cause serious injury (not just the bullet) from the gun/recoil its self..... and saves a single person having an accident, I am happy :D
 
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ActivShootr

New member
but I loaded it up with blanks. he could not figure why he couldn't hit a pop can from just a few yards! it was pretty funny.
Click to expand...

:D Terribly funny and no one gets hurt. I think jokes like that are ok.
 
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Keltyke

Moderator
I think the "too much gun" jokes are despicable.
Dangerous and they can ruin someone's view of firearms for life.
Click to expand...

A BIG +1 on THAT!

Utube and idiots who think stuff like that is funny are going to do more to get guns banned/restricted than Brady EVER did!
 
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Mike Irwin

Staff
I like this reply from the whiny European in the video discussion of the little kid shooting the .50...

"Americans, insane fat burger murderer gun fan americans damn you all!!! "


Hehehehehehehehehehe...
 
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Dingoboyx

New member
But what's his whiney point?

I am an Australian insane fat burger murderer gun fan Australian.... can I be damned too? :D

It's heaps of fun murdering burgers with guns (especially if they are cold (or not enough ketchup)) :cool:
 
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Dingoboyx

New member
True skully

But if I said 'tomato sauce' they wouldnt know what i was talkin' about :D Have you tried using vegemite for bullet lube yet? :cool:
 
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Swampghost

New member
A) I'm 100% against fooling around with small arms. Too many things could go wrong.

B) If you play with properly designed cannons they can be all kinds of fun @ minimal loads and still impress folks.
 
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Fox1

New member
Dingoboyx
Senior Member

Tophe... +1 on the glasses (wouldn't have helped with 'Scope eye') but yes you are very correct
Click to expand...

Actually, it might in some cases (probably not with a .50).

My son was shooting a S&W .22 pistol for the first time so I had him shoot it prone and sandbagged. I was watching his trigger finger so much I didn't realize he'd "crept up" on the pistol and when he fired it, the slide just "tapped" the front of his safety glasses.
He was shocked and scared but he only received a slight scratch where the bottom of his safety glasses pushed his cheek.
No permanent scar, and even if there was it would be better than a damaged/lost eye.
After about 10 minutes of just sitting with dad talking and watching others shoot, he decided he wanted to shoot it again so I helped get him into position and he went right back to shooting.
 
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Dingoboyx

New member
True Fox

I was meaning for a 50 cal not held tight enough, and getting a full on scope eye, the glasses might have broken and made things even worse.... however, I always reccomend & use glasses & ear protection myself, in all forms of shooting.... feel naked without them :eek::cool:
 
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