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Obviously, this is a copy/paste of a post from another gun forum. It illustrates just how fast and easy things can change in our life's. This dad was lucky. Do what you can now to prevent this (or worse) in your household. Merry Christmas!
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My sons Negligent discharge
This as Im sure you can imagine is difficult to write, but I put this out so that other people can learn from this. I understand that there were mistakes made all the way around and I know Ill get flamed, but there is nothing anyone can say that will make me feel worse then I do already. On Tuesday around 8 am I took my daughter to the dentist to get a filling replaced. It was in another town about 20 miles away from the town I live in. I left my 15 year old son asleep. About 11:15am I was driving home and finally heard my phone vibrate. It was my work (I work for a police department). One of the record clerks asks me if I had been monitoring any emergency traffic. I told her no. She then said the words that scared the crap out of me. She said I needed to call the sheriff of the county I live in as my son had shot himself. She then said he was OK and gave me the number. In a nutshell he had got into my gun cabinet in my bedroom and shot himself in the leg. It is one of those cheap type things you get at Wal-Mart that have the glass doors. My ex Father-in-law had put a key lock in it as the one that was there didnt work (we got it at a garage sale). My son had found the spare keys that were hidden on the shelf of my closet. He was looking at my Walther PPK .380. He had been shooting with me a lot in the past and knew how to clear the chamber. With the PPK if you dont rack the slide hard the round can fall back into the chamber, which is what happened. He went to clear it again and touched off the trigger. The bullet went in his right thigh on the inside of the leg, exited the back of the leg, and reentered the back of his right calf and stopped on the inside of his right calf about 4 above the ankle. He is only about 53 and 105lb. The bullet missed the artery, all the bones in his leg and the knee. He then walked around my bed to get the phone, then walked into the kitchen to get my cell number, but couldnt find it. He then called 911 and told them what happened. He then walked to the front door to unlock it for the EMTs, and decided to go outside and wait on the porch. This was the same day that the snow storm had come to the state and it was about 20 degrees and a strong wind. I live in a small town of about 800 people, but 1 block from the hospital. The roads had been cleared and so the EMTs were there quick. He was treated at the hospital and then life watched to Wichita. One of the medics on the life flight was one of my departments entry team medics and I go to church with both doctors and a couple of the nurses. That helped to make me feel better. When he got to Wichita, the trauma doc gave him a local and cut the bullet out. He was released from the hospital to come home the next afternoon. That night I spent three hours on my hands and knees cleaning my sons blood up. Thats a smell and feeling I will never get rid of.
My son is a good kid and smart, but that is no guarantee that bad thing wont happen. I found out later that he had been doing things like this for the last couple of months. I have taken him shooting many times and gave him a rifle and pistol (Nagants for both) for the last two Birthdays. He knew that he shouldnt be doing what he was, but till this point I had no clue that I couldnt trust him. I thought that the spare keys were hidden, but that was a mistake on my part, that thank God didnt have more serious consequences then it did. I had been thinking about a good gun safe before this and was thinking of getting one with my tax rebate this year anyway. Now it will be a must get before they guns come back to my house. I had my duty gun (Glock 22) in the same cabinet, but inside a TSA lockbox that was also locked, but the keys were also in the room as well as a S&W 28 (unloaded). If it had been one of those two things would have been different.
I hope that this will help someone else from having to go though this. I attached picture of the round. It was a .380 Golden Saber 102 gr. I think the flat spot was from when the doc took it out of his leg. As you can see it didn't even start to open up. I think you could reload it and use it again.
As I told a friend this wasn't luck this was proof of God, other wise instead of planning Christmas, I'd be planning a funeral.
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Here is a great replay:
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Glad he's OK, but a few lessons learned here (as if I needed to tell you).
1. Never leave any loaded firearm in a gun cabinet or safe. The home defense weapon should only be accessible to you, and disabled when you leave the house. Honestly, I cringe every time I hear of guys who leave a loaded gun in every corner of the house.
2. Never underestimate the resourcefulness of children, especially teenagers. If they're curious about your firearms they'll find a way to get to them if you don't think ahead. Never assume just because "he/she's a good kid" that they won't try it someday.
3. Not related to your situation, but also be aware that your children have big mouths and can notify every kid in town that you keep guns in your house. When I was a kid I learned that inside every group of kids was a troublemaker, but fortunately I knew to keep my lips zipped shut about my dad's guns.
4. Always keep first aid kits, emergency phone numbers, and phones handy at all times no matter what. You never know when you or somebody may need it!
____________________________________
^ Something to think about this holiday season.
_________________________________
My sons Negligent discharge
This as Im sure you can imagine is difficult to write, but I put this out so that other people can learn from this. I understand that there were mistakes made all the way around and I know Ill get flamed, but there is nothing anyone can say that will make me feel worse then I do already. On Tuesday around 8 am I took my daughter to the dentist to get a filling replaced. It was in another town about 20 miles away from the town I live in. I left my 15 year old son asleep. About 11:15am I was driving home and finally heard my phone vibrate. It was my work (I work for a police department). One of the record clerks asks me if I had been monitoring any emergency traffic. I told her no. She then said the words that scared the crap out of me. She said I needed to call the sheriff of the county I live in as my son had shot himself. She then said he was OK and gave me the number. In a nutshell he had got into my gun cabinet in my bedroom and shot himself in the leg. It is one of those cheap type things you get at Wal-Mart that have the glass doors. My ex Father-in-law had put a key lock in it as the one that was there didnt work (we got it at a garage sale). My son had found the spare keys that were hidden on the shelf of my closet. He was looking at my Walther PPK .380. He had been shooting with me a lot in the past and knew how to clear the chamber. With the PPK if you dont rack the slide hard the round can fall back into the chamber, which is what happened. He went to clear it again and touched off the trigger. The bullet went in his right thigh on the inside of the leg, exited the back of the leg, and reentered the back of his right calf and stopped on the inside of his right calf about 4 above the ankle. He is only about 53 and 105lb. The bullet missed the artery, all the bones in his leg and the knee. He then walked around my bed to get the phone, then walked into the kitchen to get my cell number, but couldnt find it. He then called 911 and told them what happened. He then walked to the front door to unlock it for the EMTs, and decided to go outside and wait on the porch. This was the same day that the snow storm had come to the state and it was about 20 degrees and a strong wind. I live in a small town of about 800 people, but 1 block from the hospital. The roads had been cleared and so the EMTs were there quick. He was treated at the hospital and then life watched to Wichita. One of the medics on the life flight was one of my departments entry team medics and I go to church with both doctors and a couple of the nurses. That helped to make me feel better. When he got to Wichita, the trauma doc gave him a local and cut the bullet out. He was released from the hospital to come home the next afternoon. That night I spent three hours on my hands and knees cleaning my sons blood up. Thats a smell and feeling I will never get rid of.
My son is a good kid and smart, but that is no guarantee that bad thing wont happen. I found out later that he had been doing things like this for the last couple of months. I have taken him shooting many times and gave him a rifle and pistol (Nagants for both) for the last two Birthdays. He knew that he shouldnt be doing what he was, but till this point I had no clue that I couldnt trust him. I thought that the spare keys were hidden, but that was a mistake on my part, that thank God didnt have more serious consequences then it did. I had been thinking about a good gun safe before this and was thinking of getting one with my tax rebate this year anyway. Now it will be a must get before they guns come back to my house. I had my duty gun (Glock 22) in the same cabinet, but inside a TSA lockbox that was also locked, but the keys were also in the room as well as a S&W 28 (unloaded). If it had been one of those two things would have been different.
I hope that this will help someone else from having to go though this. I attached picture of the round. It was a .380 Golden Saber 102 gr. I think the flat spot was from when the doc took it out of his leg. As you can see it didn't even start to open up. I think you could reload it and use it again.
As I told a friend this wasn't luck this was proof of God, other wise instead of planning Christmas, I'd be planning a funeral.
_________________________________
Here is a great replay:
_________________________________
Glad he's OK, but a few lessons learned here (as if I needed to tell you).
1. Never leave any loaded firearm in a gun cabinet or safe. The home defense weapon should only be accessible to you, and disabled when you leave the house. Honestly, I cringe every time I hear of guys who leave a loaded gun in every corner of the house.
2. Never underestimate the resourcefulness of children, especially teenagers. If they're curious about your firearms they'll find a way to get to them if you don't think ahead. Never assume just because "he/she's a good kid" that they won't try it someday.
3. Not related to your situation, but also be aware that your children have big mouths and can notify every kid in town that you keep guns in your house. When I was a kid I learned that inside every group of kids was a troublemaker, but fortunately I knew to keep my lips zipped shut about my dad's guns.
4. Always keep first aid kits, emergency phone numbers, and phones handy at all times no matter what. You never know when you or somebody may need it!
____________________________________
^ Something to think about this holiday season.
