# Stupid Gun news of the day (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 29, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729 "2013-01-29T19:01:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 218
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4341 "2015-01-02T03:48:14Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Some of you people don’t seem to realize that accidents can happen to anyone–even police chiefs: Sometimes more than once, > [@](#): > > {…} McCollom called 911 at 4:16 a.m., saying he had accidentally shot his wife twice, GBI spokeswoman Sherry Lang told Channel 2 Action News. {…}[RIGHT][CITE](http://www.wsbradio.com/news/news/peachtree-city-police-chiefs-wife-shot-and-critica/njd2y/)[/RIGHT] I’m sure the second shot was only to confirm that the first shot really was just an accident! CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4342 "2015-01-02T04:51:46Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Sometimes more than once, I’m sure the second shot was only to confirm that the first shot really was just an accident! > > CMC fnord! [It was only one](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/officials-georgia-police-chief-says-he-accidentally-shot-wife/). ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4343 "2015-01-02T19:15:02Z")
More information: > [@](#): > > McCollom spoke calmly in the audio recording, telling a dispatcher he needed medical help for an accidental gunshot wound at his suburban home, about 30 miles southwest of Atlanta. > > “Who shot her?” the dispatcher asked. > > “Me,” McCollom said. “The gun was in the bed, I went to move it, and I put it to the side and it went off.” [http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/police-chief-shot-wife-moving-gun-bed-27965404](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/police-chief-shot-wife-moving-gun-bed-27965404) Well it looks like Glock (the gun used here) is guilty of fraudulent advertising. Here is what they say about their safety systems: > [@](#): > > GLOCK pistols are equipped with the “Safe > Action”® System, a fully automatic safety system > consisting of three passive, independently oper- > ating, mechanical safeties, which sequentially > disengage when the trigger is pulled and auto- > matically reengage when the trigger is released [http://us.glock.com/technology/safe-action](http://us.glock.com/technology/safe-action) ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4344 "2015-01-02T19:45:09Z")
I wonder how many “accidental” gun deaths are really murders. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4345 "2015-01-02T20:21:55Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I wonder how many “accidental” gun deaths are really murders. That was my first instinct as well, but nearest I can tell she’s not dead (yet), so if that was his plan he fucked it up. ---
**Author:** ![Ionizer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5daacb/32.png) [@Ionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ionizer)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4346 "2015-01-02T21:17:31Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If you are saying that the bullet came from someone firing into the air and that the wound was on top of his head, none of the stories say this. They only say that he died of a head wound from a stray bullet. You are correct. But stories do indicate that no one was seen nearby firing a weapon, leading me to assume that the projectile was on a ‘ballistic’ path, likely from a farther rather than closer distance away. It obviously penetrated his cranium (facial injuries are not-all-that-often instantly fatal IME as Level 1 Trauma-center CT-Tech for a number of years). I have done many 3-d CT ‘model-reconstruction-of-face-by-implant(s)’ scans on facial gunshots on folks that had their face torn off by point-blank shotgun/trauma blasts, etc. When I said ‘top’ I was thinking to myself of the upper cranium or possibly into posterior cerebellum area (which is at back/lower brain area. Again, I admit bias from dealing with literally hundreds of head wounds from weapons, plus uncountable MVA’s/beatings, and such. Heck, one young adult male put a .44 into mouth and fired upwards. Ripped/removed his face to pieces, mushified his anterior cerebrum and the projectile was palpable under skin atop his uppermost forehead area (eerie to push it aside so I could rescan that particular area for reconning). He lived a much different life - like “crayons-and-paper for entertainment” (another popular term in the Trauma folks at places I worked). That is about all that could be expected of him from that point on, at best. My bad on the assumption of ‘top’. Mea culpa. I let my experiences with gunshots-to-head bias my writing. Not too many places on head that cause ‘instant’ death as described other than through calvarium. And projectile _probably_ was on a high-degree ballistic path. I know of one person in Central Idaho (a friend of a friend decades ago) who told of a death of a hunter/friend from a ‘stray bullet’. Hit him in upper/rear portion of cranium (ie ‘top’, so to speak. DRT - dead right there, as us medicals and/or LEO’s odten refer to situations. More often than not, IME, ‘celebratory gunfiring’ is done at a reckless high-degree angle to ground into air - that’s what made me assume ‘top’, but it could have been more of a lateral impact, of course. It doesn’t really matter where overall, for sure 🙂 I’d bet heavily that projectile damaged Circle-of-Willis area for such an instant drop/death of person. But, just my 20+ years of experiences in dealing with head wounds… ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4347 "2015-01-02T23:13:53Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If you are saying that the bullet came from someone firing into the air and that the wound was on top of his head, none of the stories say this. They only say that he died of a head wound from a stray bullet. I just did some quick math. If you fired a .30-06 Springfield up at 70° (pretty close to vertical, for a normal, happy or drunk person), it looks to me like the bullet would be in flight for over two and a half minutes; it would come to rest on or near the ground over twenty miles from where it was shot; but most importantly, it would have a _horizontal_ velocity in the neighborhood of 700fps (allowing a 20%+ loss to wind resistance). So it could easily deliver a fatal hit to the side of the head. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4348 "2015-01-03T00:13:29Z")
Your math is off. The maximum range of a .30-06 is maybe 3 miles, with a tailwind and downhill. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4349 "2015-01-03T00:46:25Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > More information: > > [http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/police-chief-shot-wife-moving-gun-bed-27965404](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/police-chief-shot-wife-moving-gun-bed-27965404) > > Well it looks like Glock (the gun used here) is guilty of fraudulent advertising. Here is what they say about their safety systems: > > [http://us.glock.com/technology/safe-action](http://us.glock.com/technology/safe-action) So where does it say the gun malfunctioned? Looks to me like the idiot pulled the trigger. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4350 "2015-01-03T01:06:12Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Some of you people don’t seem to realize that accidents can happen to anyone–even police chiefs: > > [http://www.ajc.com/news/news/peachtree-city-police-chiefs-wife-shot-and-critica/njdy2/](http://www.ajc.com/news/news/peachtree-city-police-chiefs-wife-shot-and-critica/njdy2/) he had been a firearms instructor too. ---
**Author:** ![Sinaptics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Sinaptics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinaptics)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4351 "2015-01-03T15:14:04Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Your math is off. The maximum range of a .30-06 is maybe 3 miles, with a tailwind and downhill. I’ve heard it repeated a million times that a bullet from a 22 rifle with travel up to 1.5 miles if fired at a 45 degree angle. A 30-06 has about 2.3-2.4 times the muzzle velocity, so I’d say 3 miles is probably fairly accurate. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4352 "2015-01-03T15:48:53Z")
And here is a case showing people need to be nice to their dogs–otherwise the dog might shoot you: > [@](#): > > Well, this is unsettling: A dog shot a man in Wyoming, police told the Sheridan Press. > > It happened Monday, when Richard Fipps, 46, and two of his employees were trying to move his truck, which had become stuck. Fipps told his dog to move from the front of the vehicle into the back seat, Sheriff Steve Kozisek told the paper. > > The dog followed the command, climbing into the backseat, where a .300 Winchester Magnum rifle was lying. Somehow, the dog managed to discharge the rifle — which apparently did not have its safety engaged — and the round penetrated the back seat and hit Fipps as he stood next to his truck, Kozisek said. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/12/19/dog-shoots-man-in-freak-accident/](http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/12/19/dog-shoots-man-in-freak-accident/) ---
**Author:** ![Ionizer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5daacb/32.png) [@Ionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ionizer)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4353 "2015-01-03T15:58:10Z")
**Silenus** said: “_Your math is off. The maximum range of a .30-06 is maybe 3 miles, with a tailwind and downhill." Your math is off. The maximum range of a .30-06 is maybe 3 miles, with a tailwind and downhill_.” I would agree in general with this. My step-dad was a large-city SWAT-sniper on-call while patrolling, and was always talking about the practice shots and maximum range(s) of the various long-barrels the ‘team’ used, usually 30-06-type weapons. I accompanied him to practices a few times and never was any shot tried at anywhere near a couple miles. And that no shot would be taken at such range in urban area due to unpredictability of wind, etc, during ‘flight time’ of the projectile. Now, I do know of guns (yeah, _true_ guns, LOL) such as the big-boy howitzers that can launch big heavy projectiles for ~ 10 to 15+ miles with outstanding accuracy. I spent a couple years at Ft Sill (aka Artillery Capital of World) and have stood on Mt Scott (tall ‘mountain’ w/ outstanding unobstructed view on north edge of Ft Sill, OK within the Wichita Mts National Preserve) and watched with binocs as batteries of guns mass fired-for-effect onto the other side of the base faaaar away. You could see impact site by the white smoke rising waaaay off in distance. Ft Sill is basically a longish rectangle to allow for such long safe practicing, or so I was told by a General making small talk with me as we waited for a firepower-demo during an International General’s Conference one day. Impressive ballistics and flight time, etc, for them big guns. But it takes MUCH more energy to go such distance as 20 miles than what a 30-06 has within its cartridge relative to weight of projectile, I do believe. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4354 "2015-01-06T23:24:20Z")
> [@](#): > > A Kentucky police officer is recovering from non-life-threatening injuries after accidentally shooting himself in the stomach inside an elevator on Friday. > **[Cop Accidentally Shoots Himself In Elevator](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/darryl-jouett-shoots-himself-in-the-stomach_n_6420688)** > > Cop Accidentally Shoots Himself In Elevator ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4355 "2015-01-07T00:27:58Z")
> [@Gary\_Kumquat](#): > > [Darryl Jouett, Police Officer, Accidentally Shoots Himself In An Elevator | HuffPost Latest News](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/05/darryl-jouett-shoots-himself-in-the-stomach_n_6420688.html) Every argument they ever have from now on, she’s gonna rub that in his face… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4356 "2015-01-08T05:02:39Z")
> [@Gary\_Kumquat](#): > > [Darryl Jouett, Police Officer, Accidentally Shoots Himself In An Elevator | HuffPost Latest News](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/05/darryl-jouett-shoots-himself-in-the-stomach_n_6420688.html) Here’s the video. > **[ItemFix - Social Video Factory](https://www.itemfix.com/?r=ll)** > > Social Video Factory Luck the poor woman there didn’t get shot! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4357 "2015-01-09T14:38:27Z")
A corrections officer somehow [managed to shoot](http://www.adn.com/article/20150108/corrections-officer-accidentally-shoots-daughter-fairbanks-physical-therapy-office) his own daughter at a physical therapy session in Fairbanks, AK. Why he had a chambered round and the safety off is apparently a mystery at this point. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4358 "2015-01-09T15:15:48Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Why he had a chambered round and the safety off is apparently a mystery at this point. I’m not sure how many times it needs to be said, but many guns don’t have safety switches, and having a round chambered is the recommended way to do it (unless your gun doesn’t have a firing pin/drop safety). If someone is carrying, the expected configuration is round chambered/safety off. This is in line with the mindset of those who carry – if someone started shooting up the physical therapy office, see, the life of his 12 year old daughter could depend on milliseconds. The world is dangerous, never know when it might happen, aim for center mass, etc… ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4359 "2015-01-09T15:21:54Z")
Someone _did_ start shooting up the physical therapy office. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4360 "2015-01-09T15:22:54Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Someone _did_ start shooting up the physical therapy office. Maybe the physical therapist didn’t have a round chambered. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729.md?page=217) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729.md?page=219)