Stupid... Stupid... Stupid...
I can not BELIEVE how bloomin retarded some people act. While I feel bad for the ladies family I feel even worse for what it does to our cause to have stuff like this happen. Did you notice how they did a backflip to tie it in to the kids father? Yes he was a gun nut too.. a congressional gun nut who championed outdoor and gun issues.. Seeeee how stupid everyone who owns a gun and breeds is sheeple? SEEEE how his proginy kills innocent photgraphers?
Ya know.. when I did the
M1 Garand Rife - An American Companion In Three Wars Site I managed to survive LITERALLY *thousands* of exposures without ONE SINGLE negiligent discharge (ND). Similarly when I worked on the
Nor-Cal Precision site, Jerry and I had not ONE accidental discharge (AD), or so much as an unexpected hammer fall. When I worked on the
Jardines Custom and
Valtro sites I lost NONE of the assistants that I was working with due to bullet woulds. Even when working with the sniper rifles and evil assault weapons for the
Tactical Intervention site I somehow managed to not lose any photographers to lead poisoning. I can not tell you how many thousands of exposures that comes to. Almost all of them with a weapon present and in various states of breakdown or use.
Minding and OVER-stressing the basic four safety rules was second nature to everyone present. Each session of photography was begun with a TRIPPLE chack of the firearms being photographed by EVERY person present.
There are times when one needs to shoot a firearm with 'apparently' live rounds in it. NO PROBLEM! Get a reloader friend to make up a few with no powder and no primer.
I am so sick of people's stupidity affecting MY sport adversely. I am sick of each new death making new poster children for those who would ban my sport. WHy must it be that every stupidity induced gun death gets reported widely but when a kid starts his families house on fire in Illinois its RARE to hear about how his sister died from it if you are over 3 states away.
If this note seems a bit vitriolic.. well mea-culpa... I am sick of biased reporting and of those who are supposed to share my sport with me giving the reporters and politicians the fodder they need to continue their crusade against us.
Charles