Freak Rabbit Shoot Gun Accident (UK)

[CO Liberal]

FREAK RABBIT SHOOT GUN ACCIDENT

Two men were injured in a bizarre shooting accident during a night-time rabbit hunt outside Newton Abbot.

The casualties, both in their 50s, were on the tailgate of a four-wheel-drive car when it went over a deep rut in a field. The jolt threw one of the men off the vehicle. As he fell the shotgun he was carrying discharged, firing a pellet into the shoulder of his pal. A police spokesman admitted: "It's a very unusual incident. It's being treated as a freak accident."

The shot man, aged 52, was rushed to Torbay Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. His injuries were not life threatening.

The friend, aged 54, suffered fractured ribs together with cuts and bruises. He was also rushed to Torbay Hospital for treatment.

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http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=102060&command=displayContent&sourceNode=100885&contentPK=7163196

[demsrule4life]

1. I really don't think this falls into your area

You have always said that you are for the legal and responsible use of firearms, this is one in a million accident not some scumbags useing guns in their life of crime.

[MrBenchley]

2. US hunters perforate themselves

barnyard animals, house pets and bystanders with monotonous regularity...

[RoeBear]

3. Go for it Benchley...

...go ahead and call hunters stupid. That will really bring in the votes.

[MrBenchley]

4. Naw, roe, they're all intellectuals like this guy.....

Bush's brush with an protected species -- Various
Maybe Dubya's proposal to gut the Endangered Species Act (see yesterday's item, below) stems from his own brush with a protected species: During his 1994 run for Texas governor, Bush the Younger participated in a Texas dove hunt as a campaign photo-op. The candidate accidentally killed a protected plover known as a killdeer, which he says he mistook for a dove (the two are birds, and that's where the resemblance ends, say critics. Judge for yourself: dove / killdeer). He was charged with a misdemeanor and fined $130. Later asked by the Houston Chronicle the difference between a killdeer and a killdee (they are both terms for the same bird, based on its distinctive call), Dubya answered: "One's dead and one's alive." He later joked about the dead bird in his State of the State Address in 1995.

http://www.motherjones.com/web_exclusives/features/news/bushfiles8.html

[RoeBear]

6. I don't give a shit about Bush...

...do you care about the votes of Democratic hunters?

[MrBenchley]

10. Gee, roe

I care about both of them...but not so much I have to swallow every piece of shit the NRA ladles out to its inbred membership....

[DaleFM]

8. Mr Benchley said

quote "US hunters perforate themselves .... barnyard animals, house pets and bystanders with monotonous regulity" endquote

Very obvious uninformed statement.

Do your research and actually find the real facts. Please.

My question is to why they were traveling in any vehicle with a loaded firearm. Very foolish to do that as they discovered.

[MrBenchley]

11. Hahahahahaha.....

"Hunting season is coming!
Give your horse
blaze orange
visibility with the ORIGINAL EQUINE PROTECTAVEST vest, blanket, tailbag or trail sheet."

http://www.protectavest.com/

"In North America in 1998, there were 139 hunting accidents in which the victim was mistaken for game. Of those, 22 were fatal.

Return to Hiking Hazards. "

http://kevingong.com/Hiking/HuntingAccident.html

[Gun Runner]

5. Freak rabbit SHOT gun accident

......Just to help you properly identify the type of gun involved.

This would also be called an AD or Accidental Discharge. As you can see many safety rules (and if this had been done in this country laws) were broken by at least 3 people (driver included) to enable this AD to happen.

The question is, after the fact were the laws enforced or was the guy allowed to shoot his friend and then just go home for a hot cup of tea?

When Night hunting for any game, please remember to be extra careful. When night hunting for rabbits from a moving vehicle in this country realize you are breaking many laws in addition to the dangers involved.

[CO Liberal]

7. This Took Place in England

Not the USA.

[Man_in_the_Moon]

9. Negligent

not accidental.

Using the word 'accidental' carries the connotation that nothing could be done to prevent it. Obviously that is not the case here, this was caused by negligence.

There are very very few 'accidental discharges' they nearly always are 'negligent discharges'.

[Gun Runner]

12. That is right

I thought I was clear, this is illegal in the USA. Read my post closer.

And to stress my point why does law enforcement consider it an accident instead of negligent? Even if the activity was legal, and we do not know for sure if it was legal in the UK, they were negligent. And if negligent gun owners were made an example of people who are affraid of guns would not feel the need to pass more laws for me to follow to compensate for the people who choose to ignore safety and social responsibility, the same way they ignore other laws.

To reinforce, in the US many fish and game regs would be broken by doing what was done by these 3. The UK has some of the most restrictive gun control in the world but jacklighting or night hunting rabbits is legal?

[slackmaster]

13. Night rabbit hunting is allowed one weekend a year on Catalina Island

It's a locals-only event intended to reduce the population of feral rabbits, to try to preserve what's left of the native flora.

[Gun Runner]

14. Night hunting

I have a lot of experience night hunting and fishing. You need to be 3 times more organized and move at a much slower pace. I would be inclined to skip the local picnic night hunt with a bunch of people I do not know.

If you can not control the population on an island you have a problem. Do they allow hunting during normal seasons?

when one of these dork island rich boys with a gun shoots his buddy, we will have to hear about it. "Yuppie shoots friend in ass, deemed an accident"