5-year old boy shot while fishing.

[Glassunion]

NOBLE, Okla. —  A stray bullet fired by a police officer trying to shoot a snake hit and killed a 5-year-old boy fishing at a nearby pond, officials said.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,292168,00.html

A police officer should know the 4 basic rules of firearm safety.

[HereSince1628]

1. Ophidiophobia meets "hero" with gun but no recall of gun safety

The story doesn't identify the type of snake...it may not have been poisonous.

The snake in was tree not reported t be causing any particular harm or threat.

But if you are afraid of snakes then all snakes are scarey and need to be killed, as opposed to being left alone to slither away or to being captured and released where they can slither safely away.

It hissed--this resistance to 'arrest' was a mortal mistake...for the kid fishing--and required the cops to shoot it.

[ileus]

2. Why would anyone try to shoot a stupid snake? talk about duty to retreat.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

4. I do with regularity during certain seasons...but they are rattlesnakes

I also use the correct ammunition when I do

[ileus]

6. I ran into a timber rattler a few weeks ago picking blackberries.

I had the kids with me and were were in a old clearcut picking berries when we disturbed one in the brush pile we were picking near. The kids freaked out, (I'm a little more used to them) I pulled my LCP and told the kids to get back. I never did see it but that got me to thinking could I even hit the thing with a 380. I suppose coiled up I could pretty easy but not a stretched out snake. We see them on the trail 2 or 3 times a year, but they're easily avoided in the jeep or on the bike. Every time I tell a story of seeing a rattler people ask why I don't/didn't kill it...I don't know why, I'm not against killing them I just don't have reason if they're not near near my house.

Eh...don't know why I just wrote that...I'll probably have to kill one this evening beside the house now.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

7. I carry a revolver as a working gun with a mix of rounds in it

Snakeshot being two of them

[MineralMan]

3. You'd think the cop would know the safety rules.

But, you'd think wrong. He didn't even think about the path of the bullet or check it. He and his buddy were having so much fun thinking about shooting that snake that they weren't thinking about anything else. It's that simple.

Never mind that they could have just walked away and let the snake go about its business. I notice the species of snake wasn't even mentioned. If it was up a tree in Oklahoma, it could easily have been non-poisonous. If it was poisonous, it was probably a copperhead or cottonmouth. Rattlers rarely go into trees. Had they let it go, the odds are very high that it would never have bitten anyone.

Just because someone's a cop doesn't mean that person has any extra measure of common sense. Truly.

[slackmaster]

5. Basic gun safety should be taught in public schools

:argh:

[Tuesday Afternoon]

8. +1

[bvar22]

9. Jeebus,

..couldn't he have just Tazed the poor thing?
.
.
.
.
Just joking about the Tazing. That is probably the only thing WORSE to do than trying to shoot it.


If (and this is a big IF) the snake was poisonous,
AND a direct threat to nearby people,
attempting to shoot it with a solid slug from a pistol is STILL the WRONG thing to do.
A Direct hit on the head with a pistol is very hard to do,
and if the head is missed and the snake is hit anywhere else on the body,
it will go crazy, snapping and striking and cartwheeling in very unpredictable directions.
WAY more dangerous than just leaving it alone.

The correct way to handle this is to remove The People from the area.
Keep an eye on the snake,
and call an expert to quietly and safely remove it from the area.