# Have you ever been shot?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-shot/567636>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [January 14, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-shot/567636 "2011-01-14T19:48:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-shot/567636/41 "2011-01-17T00:54:17Z")

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My rifle blew up on me. Got peppered with propellant on the face. Does that count?

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**Author:** ![lucky\_henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc8723/32.png) [@lucky\_henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucky_henry)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-shot/567636/42 "2011-01-17T02:40:21Z")

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Not with a bullet. I was hit with shrapnel when the comm van I was in was hit with either a mortar or rocket propelled grenade. I was knocked out in the blast, so my first reaction was when I woke up. Literal gut-wrenching pain and nausea.

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-shot/567636/43 "2011-01-17T04:11:43Z")

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I have never been shot, but I came damn close once, back in the late 60s. One of my housemates had a few friends who were in Hell’s Angels. One of these guys was named “Tiny,” and of course he was about the size of a refrigerator. He always carried a loaded gun, and he was supposedly “wanted” for a few murders.

One night, Tiny had been dropping acid and god-knows-what other drugs, in addition to being drunk. He barged into my room and pointed his gun at me, point blank, and said “I don’t like you.” Fortunately, he then passed out. I changed my pants, then spent the rest of the night at a friend’s house. When I returned the following day, there was no more Tiny, and I never saw him again.

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**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-shot/567636/44 "2011-01-17T20:36:14Z")

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> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#):
>
> Can you hear anything over the noise of the engine? I suspect the turbine engine int he M1 is quieter than the diesel-powered tanks I’ve ridden in, but it still seems likely to be louder than any incidental small arms fire.
> 
> Stranger

You can hear mortars, if they land close enough. You can hear tank cannons. You can hear small caliber MG fire, if the shooter is close enough (nearby tank). 50-cal fire comes through pretty good.

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**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-shot/567636/45 "2011-01-17T21:30:23Z")

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> [@SeldomSeen](#):
>
> This just barely qualifies but hey, if it works for [Harry Whittington](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Whittington) and Dick Cheney, it’s good enough for me…  
> Teen years…pheasant hunting with my grandfather and a couple of cousins. Grandad pulled down on a big rooster just as I stepped out of a thicket into the line of fire. He should have observed the “blue sky” rule, which says “don’t fire at a bird until you can see sky underneath it”. On the other hand, If I’d stuck to our plan I’d have been well ahead of him (I’d stopped to take a leak, he had no reason to think I’d be where I was).
> 
> Fortunately, we were a good distance apart, and birdshot pellets lose their velocity pretty fast. I got pretty well “peppered”, it stung like hell and scared me fit to wet my pants, but none of the pellets penetrated. My reaction? yelp, cuss, rub sore spots and continue hunting. No harm done.
> 
> I’ve never liked Dick Cheney worth a damn, but I could never judge him too harshly re. his much-publicized hunting accident…knowing first-hand that sometimes sh\*t just happens.  
> SS
> 
> ETA…yes, he got the bird

Great username - post combo! Glad you weren’t hurt (much).

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**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-shot/567636/46 "2011-01-18T03:21:02Z")

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I, too, voted “no”, but now remembered shooting a BB at a target using a one-cock Daisy. I saw the projectile fly out of the barrel, hit a piece of wood, fly back and hit me just below my left eye. Hurt like hell–left a red mark for a day or so.

I’m sure I was an inspiration to Jean Shepherd. As were countless other kids who got what they wished for…:smack:

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