Some people just should not have guns. (Me)

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Maybe a few trips to the range without your guns? Just you and yourself to sit back and think about what happened. Please, don't go with the first "knee jerk" thought you have. Think of it this way, those guns you might sell off, might wind up in the hands of someone not as careful as you are. Take a few days, or weeks, off from shooting and just give it some careful thought.
 
It was a mistake. Complacency got ya.

It's certainly not likely to happen again. You'll be fine.

Go get back on that horse.
 
A couple of points, take what comfort you can.

1. Pesonally, If I was downrange when you were shooting, I would not want you to stop shooting forever, just stop long enough for me to get on the other side of the line. More people go to the range, the more likely I am to get to keep mine from my Senators (boxer + feinstein).

2. Is there any way in (a particularly warm and unpleasant place) that you will do this again. My vote is hell no.

3. Apologize by giving away free t-shirts to people around you that say "BigJim, please do not shoot me, I am just setting up my targets."

Help Others. This mistake is a non-repeat. And you now have a new-found humility with which to serve others.
 
Big Jim,

We have had threads before about negligent / accidental discharges. I have maintained that were are all doomed to commit them sooner than later. Not because I am a defeatist, but we are human beings and we make mistakes. Remember that old line about “to error is human … “ , welcome to the human race.

I mentioned in an earlier thread a safety training program that I went through. It pointed out how there are four general types of errors that cause most injuries.

Eyes not on task
Mind not on task
Loss of grip, traction or balance
In the line of fire

Sounds like you fell into the third. These are usually brought on when one or more of the following states exist;

Rushing
Frustration
Fatigue
Compliancy

Only you can say how many of them were in existence when your error occurred, but the point is to recognize them so that you can be more on guard when they are present.

I agree with everyone else, you probably shouldn’t quit shooting. After this I will wager that you are even a more safe shooter. That sick, cold feeling in the pit of your stomach will stick with you for a while and it will make you a better person.

Rick
 
We are all human and make mistakes, you sound as if you won't make this mistake again, refocus and get back to shooting.
 
Maybe a few trips to the range without your guns?
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I was thinking the same thing. I know you feel embarrassed, and that's a hard thing to get over with all of your peers. But you will get over it. Visit the range sans firearms; see your shooting buddies, take a some abuse a little at a time.


Great advice from everybody.

Hell, I'd share a range with you ANY DAY. After something like this, I KNOW you're gonna' be the safest m'er f'er in the world!!!!
 
With your experience, it only proves that it can happen to anyone. The fact that you shared your experience on this forum shows that you care enough to let others learn from your experience. We can all be easily distracted at times, sometimes things become so much 'second nature' to us that we don't concentrate as we should.

I once stood at the range loading magazines when there was only one other person on the range. The RO mentioned that there was only one other person there, what he did not tell me that this person was downrange, not on the firing line. He was setting up targets at the 200 yard range which cannot be seen from the pistol range. In another 5 minutes, I would have been firing. Luckily, the RO came down to the pistol range where I was to berate me for handling equipment with another shooter downrange. Of course I then berated him for not clearly stating the shooter's position, there were no flags present and no horn sounded.

I agree with some of the previous posts. I encourage you to consider the source of distraction then get back out to the range. Heck, take a buddy with you for some extra encouragement, but go!
 
You are feeling what I felt one time when I had a negligent discharge. No one was hurt, that's the main thing.

What kept going through my mind was "what if?"

What if my dog or a family member or a friend or anyone had been walking by?

What if it happened and someone was killed?

That happened to me many years ago, although the memory of it is still so fresh in my mind I can still smell the burning powder and the feeling of the skin crawling on the back of my neck.

I mounted that shotgun shell on a plaque and I still have it, to remind myself to be careful.

I screwed up. You screwed up. Happens to everyone.

I considered selling my guns for a couple of days after that, too. I didn't even want to touch one.


Now, to the good part. That experience made me into the "gun guy" I am today. It made me nth degrees safer than I was then, and I was already pretty bloody safe.

You have had an extremely earth shattering, ego smashing, painful lesson. Learn from it and carry on.
 
There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who have made a mistake and those who will.

An idiot is someone who keeps making the same mistake but does not know why and will not accept he/she is the problem.

You do not sound like that kind of person.

You know what you did wrong and how serious the mistake was. Good. It is very unlikely you will ever forget. Not only will you not make that mistake again but you will continue to evaluate the poteintial of making other serious mistakes.

No one got hurt. Don't let the lession go to waste. Get back up on the horse.

At the very least, go to the range one more time before selling anything. Give yourself a chance to calm down. Prove to yourself you are a responsible person.

Anyone else who thinks they could never make a mistake like this probably will. Compliancy is cause by people believing something can't happen.

Everyone deserves a second chance (as long as they understand what that second chance is worth).
 
Mistakes DO happen, they cannot be avoided..... look at it this way

youve been shooting for 24 years.... and only one mistake? thats a pretty good rating... I made my first mistake when I was around 18 had an A/D in the house with my rifle... 30-06 round went thru the roof.... I was very much ashamed of myself and it took a long time for me to get over it...

1 mistake out of 24 years and probably millions of rounds.... thats not bad thats very good.. give yourself some time and get back to it. Theres always room for improvement :)

One of the ROs at the local range always says it's 'when' not 'if'. He felt that way after he 'dry fired' and shot his TV!
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Thats a hard lesson learned.... no TV and a A/D all in the same day...
 
Gettin' old ain't all it's cracked up to be!

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. You're the age I was when getting old began having an affect on me. The last 5 years have been tough. The older you get the more care you need to take with dangerous activities. That's why old people drive so slow ;)

I know it's hard to let yourself down but realize nobody got hurt. The reason nobody got hurt is because it wasn't as dangerous as you are making it out to be. Sure it's a safety rule and sure safety rules are important but they are layered for a good reason. Because things like this happen to people. Maybe not this one thing to everybody (it hasn't happened to me) but it is just plain impossible to be focused 100% of the time on everything. Had I been there you'd have caught some flak from me and I'd be expecting an apology but I think this transgression is forgivable by those who were there and know you.

Everytime I run a stop sign (maybe 3 times in my life) I feel like giving up driving. Seriously, I am that hard on myself also but that's a good thing because it redoubles our resolve to do better. The regret wears off eventually, the resolve won't, so take it as a warning and a learning experience but don't make a second rash decision based the first one.


Things like this Kinda make you wonder how those people we see screwing up everything they touch get through it all, eh? :D
 
I sort of understand where you are coming from here. I almost had a ND a last summer. The only thing that saved me was the grip safety on my XD. If I had been holding the gun better I would have sent a 165 gr .40 S&W into the cement floor of my basement. I will never know where it would have gone after that. My wife was up stairs so hopefully it wouldn't have gone through the floor. After I realized what I had done I just sat down and stared at the floor. It was scary!


Don't make any rash decisions you probably are not thinking too well. At least you are man enough to post something like that. It shows that you will learn from your mistake and will be undoubtedly be safer in the future.
 
We've had all kinds of incidents at the range. And the thing that makes them a 'good' vs bad incident was the way the individual in question handled themselves after they had been corrected.

There was a guy who showed up at the range with his son. He proceeded to fiddle with the pistol at the stand when there were several guys down range checking out their targets. When the group saw him they yelled "Put the gun down!". And the guy then yelled back "It's not loaded!". Well basically an agrument ensued and the guy was absolutely furious that he was embarassed like that in front of his son. Intead of being a man and admitting "Hey, yeah you guys were right, I shoulda had my pistol down on the table when yall were down range. Thanks for the reminder", he decided to argue and be hard-headed just so he didn't look like an idiot infront of his son. He could have easily taken that lesson in stride, and better yet, taught his son several important lessons at the same time. But he handled it all wrong.

This guy was banned from the club and he happily declared he didn't want to be a member anyway.

I guess I'm saying that you can be the guy who takes his lessons and reminders in stride. Everyone must do it throughout our lives, regardless of sport, hobby or work. Think about things the way you need to. If it were me, I know I'd be hard on myself as well as take a huge hit to my pride and question my ability. I'd also think of the things that could have resulted, then quickly look away and be grateful that things came out alright. Then move on. I'm sure I would think about never going to that range again. I'm sure I'd think about continue at the same range, but hope I never run into the folks again. I'd think about writing a letter, stating the indicent in general, then stating the lessons as a reminder to all, maybe an open apology.

At any rate, take care. Remember the guy I wrote about above? He is an official part of orientation at our club of what not to do. Folks that have acted differently than him, meaning those that have taken corrections and incidents in stride aren't thought of in a bad light, heck they probably aren't even thought of anymore. But they are good examples we think about. They are the people this great sport is made of.
 
You made a mistake. We all do. The important thing is that you've 'fessed up to it and you're willing to accept responsibility for your own actions. You're not blaming this on the range for not having better procedures in place (even though they probably should) and you're not blaming it on anyone else other than yourself. You screwed up and you admitted it. There are fewer and fewer stand-up guys like yourself around anymore. If you must, beat yourself up a little bit, but then move on. Get back to shooting and educating others. We need guys like you.
BB
 
I know a guy who drove up to a green light and stopped. When it turned red he pulled out, to the sound of screeching tires and honking horns. He had been driving about 30 years at the time. Brain farts happen.
Click to expand...

doh! been there, done that



bigjim, a computer science professor friend of mine works with another one, an old timer who was on the original board that evaluated the WWW/HTML spec back when it was just a proposal. this guy REJECTED it because it... get this... "it wouldn't scale"!

anyways, for like, two decades, this guy has been using his own temporary loss of sanity as an object lesson and teaching tool. it's pretty humorous, although i don't know if you'll ever laugh your mistake.

still, that mistake probably made you a better instructor than all your nra certs.
 
Saw some helmet camera video a few years ago from a pro videographer who was also an avid skydiver. He had been on four or five lifts that day videoing freefall jumpers, waiting till they cleared the plane and going out after them to shoot footage.

It was the last video he ever shot, the last time out the door he had forgotten to put on his chutes.

As so many others have indicated, brain fades happen. Sometimes things intrude on what we are doing to a dangerous extent, it is one of the costs of being human. That loss of focus is the problem. You have now had a valuable lesson in loss of focus. NOT stupidity, loss of focus.

Don't give up on a long time hobby. Don't beat yourself up to an unreasonable degree either. You were "white" as white can be, never a condition to be in with a gun in hand- that always calls for yellow at minimum (per Cooper). Now that this has happened, it is most unlikely it will ever happen to you again. Use the lesson, don't abandon it. Make it a teaching point- you have been a big enough man to offer it here already, continue to do so for others.

Regards,

lpl/nc
 
it happens.. its tough sometimes with hearing protection.. everyone will yell clear, and it sounds like everyone is yelling clear, except one person.. who doesnt hear a thing, and no one knows this.. so he/she keeps shooting..
 
As a Minister

I often have used my own life expereinces to bring home a point in a sermon. You can not know the number of times that people have come up to me and agreed that it was not the scripture that I referenced that made the point, it was the human touch that brought it home. Further, many have said that when they see/hear a minister who makes the same mistakes they do, they understand that no one is perfect and that what shows the character of a man is how he learns from those mistakes. Sure, we can run away and hide and we will probably never commit the same mistake again. But as Christ said, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." The true character of a man is not in the mistake he makes, but it is in the lesson he learns and shares with others.
 
As a Minister

I often have used my own life experiences to bring home a point in a sermon. You can not know the number of times that people have come up to me and agreed that it was not the scripture that I referenced that made the point, it was the human touch that brought it home. Further, many have said that when they see/hear a minister who makes the same mistakes they do, they understand that no one is perfect and that what shows the character of a man is how he learns from those mistakes. Sure, we can run away and hide and we will probably never commit the same mistake again. But as Christ said, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." The true character of a man is not in the mistake he makes, but it is in the lesson he learns and shares with others.
 
Mistakes happen.

Bigjim, don't overreact. We have all made mistakes that could kill people, and many of us do it with automobiles. We take classes, we tell our children all the right things, we criticize others for doing dumb things. and then we go do something like being distracted and run a redlight or stop sign. It happens. A mental lapse such as that is worthy of criticism, and I have been criticized with accidents and tickets on occasion. In each case I can look back and see that what I did was stupid. However, I learned from the mistake and carried on, still driving. I have many friends that I can point to that have had AD's, none fatal thankfully. I suggest that you continue shooting, and you will be a better man for the experience, and maybe a little more tolerant of those others that do something dumb due to a mental lapse. We are all human and make mistakes. No one is looking to crucify you, and you should not be too hasty in your actions. In a while, you will find that you still love guns and shooting, and will be able to point out other's mistakes again, with the added thought that "you can understand how it happened, it happened to me. Just don't let it happen again." Brain freezes are part of life. Now on the other hand a normally observant guy like yourself could have saved you if one had been watching. You may be able to save a life by carrying on with your experience being a lesson. We need guys like you around even if they made a mistake themselves at some time in their life. ;)
 
Don't give up shooting. You made a mistake. Because you followed the 4 rules, no one was hurt. (#3- Be sure of your target and beyond.) I had an ND this last summer, and because I followed the 4 rules, no one was hurt. (#2-Never point the gun at anything you do not wish to destroy.) I had an ND taking the (very unergonomic :cuss: ) safety off on a Mosin Nagant. It was pointed downrange, the only damage was to my pride. :eek: We have about the same amount of experience, and are about the same age. You were given a reminder about the importance of the 4 rules, and you have taken them to heart to the point of doubting your abilities. Don't. If anything this incident will make you a 'safety monger', as mine did me, and it has served me well. My nephew did the same thing you did, except, there were no dividers, it was outdoors. Yes, he was done shooting for the day. Yes, I reiterated the 4 rules to him, and had him recite them back to me, with a promise from his father that he will continue to burn them into his memory. No, I did not ban him from shooting with me. I know he will be extra vigilant henceforth. You will be, too. :) I wouldn't blame you if you probably go to another range for a while :eek: , but please don't give up shooting, or instructing new shooters. You're much too valuable to us, the shooting community, to just hang up your hat. :)
 
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