what if you harmed a loved one?

[jpk1md]

Reply to OP.

Don't let it happen.

Its not like you don't have the opportunity to maintain control over firearms in your house my keeping them in your personal control or locking them in a safe that others have no access to.

Vigilance and Situational Awareness are the key to success by reducing the opportunities for accidents of any kind.

 

[Nameless_Hobo]

Why would I sell them? It's me being stupid, not the guns.

 

[RH822]

Show me a dish washing cut that is remotely as bad as ANY gunshot wound and then I'll tell you that you've got a good argument.

My cousin tripped and fell on a butcher knife when he was about 11 years old or so, missed his heart by 1 inch. He was doing dishes.

BTW he still does dishes and uses knives.

 

[Balog]

A guy I know has a son who's a meth head. One night after everyone else in the family was in bed, the son shot himself in the hand with a .357. Running through the house, screaming, bleeding etc. My buddy still owns guns.

 

[Fast Frank]

I've seen lots of folks say "If this happens, I'm gonna do that".

Other folks will say "They couldn't make me do that, even at gun point".

Personally, I believe that we won't know how we will act in a REALLY serious situation like the one described until we find ourselves faced with one.

Shooting a loved one would be a terrible thing to live with for the rest of my life. I don't know exactly how I would respond to that and I intend to do WHATEVER IT TAKES to make sure that it doesn't happen.

Having said that...

The real life situations that make me keep defensive weapons at the ready today will still exist after the terrible accident.

My responsibility to be the one moving TOWARD the danger while my loved ones retreat will still be there.

I only hope that I can do what is right by my family regardles of the situation.

Forgiving myself would be the hardest part...

 

[Stevie-Ray]

Many moons ago, a lady lost her child due to a gun accident. Amazingly, she was doing talk shows to promote trigger locks. Mind you, not a law requiring them, but pleading with people to buy them. She had several audience members pretty much trashing guns altogether with their questions, but she wouldn't bite, insisting that guns weren't to blame but rather people's carelessness with them. I couldn't help but feel proud that there were people still in this country with common sense, and talk shows willing to host them without telling them they were off their rocker. I'd like to think that I would be as sensible as this poor lady, though since every case is different, I would absolutely have to be in that situation (God forbid) to know for sure.

 

[chemist308]

my story

if i inadvertently injured a family member with a gun, i'd be pretty effed up.

It was night, and i heard what sounded like someone breaking into my house through a basement window. We were up, and my father in law was staying with us. I asked everyone not to go downstairs, and grabbed my shotgun. Cautiously and slowly i went downstairs. Finding no-one, and a broken basement window, i knew the threat was gone.

My father in law of course didn't listen. He came down behind me and started talking to me. Adrenaline was high, but i understood there was no further threat. Pointing the shotty straight down i hit the barrel release. BOOM!!! Pain in my right hand. For a few seconds neither of us had any idea what had just happened. As the shock wore off, we realized i had taken a couple ricochet bb's in my hand, but the rest bounced in his direction and connected with him at leg level. To make matters worse, the man was on blood thinners and a half dozen other medications... Immediately i began applying pressure to the wounds with clean white laundry. Cops were the first to arrive but they allowed me to continue applying pressure until paramedics got in. Statements were taken, but no arrests were made and no charges were pressed. My father in law was ambulanced to the nearest trauma center and fully recovered from his injuries--to this day we are still close, though. Emotionally I was in shock after everyone had left. It was like a nightmare that wouldn't end. Then came one of the two hardest parts, which was calling my mother in law after everyone had left. The next morning i had to clean up the blood. There was a lot of it, it was hardened, and the job was traumatic to say the least.

Immediately, i got rid of my guns--i blamed me, not the objects. But i couldn't look at them either. It took weeks for the nightmares to subside and months for them to stop. It took years before i could hold one without shaking. For some time, my gun cabinet was serving as a bookcase with some minor modifications. Eventually i got through what i was going through. Yeah, i was 'effed up' for a while. And i learned from it...

 

[Stevie-Ray]

Chemist, whoa, thanks for sharing that one, though it was probably still hard. Many here will probably now know that they might not be built out of solid steel, yet there can be forgiveness over time. Best to you and your family and here's to no more accidents.

 

[CajunBass]

What? You don't have enough real problems in your life, you have to imagine some more? Must be nice.

 

[Neo-Luddite]

Oh, sorry--can't resist

Whatif--Shel Silevrstein


Last night, while I lay thinking here,
some Whatifs crawled inside my ear
and pranced and partied all night long
and sang their same old Whatif song:
Whatif I'm dumb in school?
Whatif they've closed the swimming pool?
Whatif I get beat up?
Whatif there's poison in my cup?
Whatif I start to cry?
Whatif I get sick and die?
Whatif I flunk that test?
Whatif green hair grows on my chest?
Whatif nobody likes me?
Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?
Whatif I don't grow talle?
Whatif my head starts getting smaller?
Whatif the fish won't bite?
Whatif the wind tears up my kite?
Whatif they start a war?
Whatif my parents get divorced?
Whatif the bus is late?
Whatif my teeth don't grow in straight?
Whatif I tear my pants?
Whatif I never learn to dance?
Everything seems well, and then
the nighttime Whatifs strike again!

----------------------------------



When I was a kid I dropped my Daisy 1200 CO2 BB gun, it went off, and put a BB in my hand. They couldn't take it out for fear of cutting the nerves and tendons. 23 years later--I can feel the BB. The funny thing was--it didn't hurt. Nasty gash and stiches for a BB. Glad it wasn't my eye.

 

[hso]

Shoot self? I've injured myself in various activities and didn't give them up so I wouldn't expect to give up shooting. Life isn't about quitting when you screw up badly. It's about learning from the mistakes.

Shoot stranger? No, I'd learn from it and move on to reduce the chance in the future.

Shoot someone known? Same as above, I'd try to learn and reduce the chance for the mistake in the future.

Shoot loved one? That's almost impossible to say what the emotional reaction would be.

 

[akodo]

Show me a dish washing cut that is remotely as bad as ANY gunshot wound and then I'll tell you that you've got a good argument.

you are right, minor injury and gunshot wounds are entirely different.

However, we do have one handy tool which does leave injuries as serious as gunshot wounds.

car crashes.

If you got in a car accident and one of your children was thrown through the windshield and died, would you ever drive again?

There are people who have had that happen to them, and have driven after. There are people who have had that happen to them, and never drove again.

Of course, often these people see the event as totally or partially their fault, but what about a genuine hands off not your fault accident?

If you were on the 35W bridge in Minneapolis, MN, and it collapsed, and you only managed to get your 3 children to safety but when you went back for your wife she had already drowned, would you give up driving? Would you give up crossing bridges?

Truth is, some people would. Of course, we term them broken in some degree, mentally traumatized, or what have you.

 

[Kevin108]

I've dinged some finger edges with a 22 oz waffle head framing hammer.
I've tagged a finger stapling up insulation.
I've taken quite a few trips over the handlebars of bicycles and ATVs.
I've crunched body panels and bent bumpers on 4x4s.

I haven't given up on anything yet!

 

[fatelk]

I know this is basic stuff to most of us but it applies here.

With rights go responsibilities. If you feel at any time that you might not be responsible enough to own a firearm, you should get rid of it. If there are people in your house (family or otherwise) who should not have access to guns, they should be locked up (your guns, not the people). I'm not talking about laws here, just personal responsibility.

I've seen too many accidents, and been to too many funerals. Cars, guns, farm equipment, motorcycles and ladders are all dangerous and deadly when used carelessly. If you accidently hurt someone and feel you are no longer responsible enough to own a deadly tool, then by all means get rid of your guns.

Before it gets to that point, though, resolve now to be safe, follow safety rules to the point that they become ingrained instinct, and treat deadly tools with the due respect. Accidents can and do happen but they shouldn't.

I've had a couple ADs over the years (due to stupid negligence and complacency) but because it's been ingrained in me since I was a kid that you always watch where that barrel is pointed, they both went into the ground (well, one in the floor). Safety is a very big deal to me, much more now that I have kids.