Very sad - condolences to his family & friends R.I.P.

J.R.

'He was a lovely fella' - tributes paid after hunter shot dead as gun fires accidentally

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/he-was-a-lovely-fella-tributes-paid-after-hunter-shot-dead-as-gun-fires-accidentally-34663220.html

Cass

Seen this last night. Very sad news indeed. No details as of yet, but An Gardaí are convinced, based on what they know happened, it was a tragic accident.

sniperman

yes very sad indeed,but one could ask why was the shotgun loaded inside the house,i would never load until im out in the fields and well clear of the road,but thats me,..condolences to family and all concerned,R.I.P.

Grizzly 45

Plenty of knob end antis gloating about this on FB .:mad:

dodderangler

Seen this on Google updates.
Shows it can happen anytime lads. God help his family at this time. Be carefull out there lads.

meathstevie

Heartfelt condolences to all his friends and relatives.

hermes2011

heart felt condolences to his family. and to his friend how he must be feeling I cant imaigne

VBull

Thoughts and prayers to his family and friends.

I also hope the other person involved in this is given all necessary help to move on from this as it cant be an easy time for them

extremetaz

God help the poor lad that was with him - he's never going to right after that.

Sniperman is right of course, even the most basic observance of any sort of regular safety procedures could have prevented this. Tragic.

Cass

I was in a gun dealers with a mate and was handed a 243 to look at. It was second hand. First thing i do with any gun when i get it is check it. I opened the bolt and a round popped out. I looked into the mag well, seen more so hit the floor plate release and 3 more rounds came out. The safety was not on either.

So there is a fully loaded firearm that the dealer obviously took it, never checked and simply put up on his wall to sell. My point is through some factors things can be overlooked, not checked, etc.

On a personal note there were some speculative remarks earlier on, and while they may have a modicum of truth/possible truth to it i believe its irrelevant. This poor guy lost his life and most likely did not wake up that morning thinking this would be how the day would end, and his family deserve to be free of any remarks that may only serve to prolong this pain.

BTW, not lecturing, just an opinion.

extremetaz

There's every chance then Cass that your actions saved someone else from the exact same circumstances - the critical point there is that you knew to perform that check. That there are people around firearms who don't is, frankly, terrifying.

Cass

The point was not what i done, but that an experienced RFD forgot to perform such a check. IOW it can happen to anyone, in a moment.

The unfortunate truth of our sport(s) is that the tools we use are dangerous. We have one of, if not the best, safety record of any sport and for one that has been going for hundreds of years and officially for over 160 (more than the GAA) that is something to be proud off. However tragedies can happen despite the experience level of the person involved.

Despite the circumstances, and as said above, i feel so sorry for his family and the friend that was there.

dodderangler

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Plenty of knob end antis gloating about this on FB .:mad:

Takes a special kind of scumbag to gloat about something like this.

homerhop

dodderangler wrote: »

Takes a special kind of scumbag to gloat about something like this.

There is a page on fb, how a normal human can think the things they are saying is beyond belief

snor

MOD NOTE

This user is now banned.

The type of vitriol this post contained shows exactly the type of people these so called "animal rights" people truly are when they gleefully rejoice in the tragic death of a man. Regardless of your opinion of his sport/pastime, such a death deserves a level of reverence and respect. For the family, the people close to him, and for all such incidents.

Disgraceful.

bud2000

very sad news, may he rest in peace, we can not be to careful

jb88

I went to a hastily organized Clay shoot a few years ago and my buddy saw some lad step over the fence with a black semi auto shotgun uncased.

My buddy asked him, as it unloaded. He said yes. My buddy then asked do you mind if I check it? He unloaded 5 12G rounds out of the shotgun. My buddy looked at him, asked him had he a restricted licence, to which he replied no.

He took the person to one side and handed him back the cartridges and the firearm separately and asked him if he could think about what happened and look at 20 lads staring at him in a field and ask himself what happened here along with the fact he got over the fence with a loaded shotgun with no safety applied.

My buddy gave the guy a 20 minute safety briefing just to make sure, as it wasn't explained to him. In the guys defence, he apologized and took on board everything that was said.

Later on lads started driving up from all over the place with shotguns to shoot some clays, farmers etc so myself and clubmates just left

Its just people not thinking.

I have heartfelt sorrow for that poor guy who lost his life in tragic circumstances.

A firearm is never unloaded unless you check it, and as for snap caps well that story is for another day. Hope my buddy sees this post, two days in his life I guarantee he will never forget. Time for a return to shooting (MD) ;-)

extremetaz

Cass wrote: »

The unfortunate truth of our sport(s) is that the tools we use are dangerous. We have one of, if not the best, safety record of any sport and for one that has been going for hundreds of years and officially for over 160 (more than the GAA) that is something to be proud off. However tragedies can happen despite the experience level of the person involved.

Despite the circumstances, and as said above, i feel so sorry for his family and the friend that was there.

I agree with all of this absolutely 100%. No argument whatsoever.

Cass wrote: »

The point was not what i done, but that an experienced RFD forgot to perform such a check. IOW it can happen to anyone, in a moment.

This I'm not so happy with though - and I'm fully aware of how pedantic I'm being, and of how redundant the following *should* be in this forum, but in light of the circumstances of this tragedy, it seems unfortunately clear that the point does need to be put into print.

Earlier I made this point:

extremetaz wrote: »

...the critical point there is that you knew to perform that check.

and I'm feeling the need to rephrase it a little - what I was trying to get at was the fact that you (clearly) have built that safety check into your handling routine. It's not so much something that you think about doing, as something that just happens as soon as you pick up any firearm, every time you pick any firearm, and regardless of where that firearm has come from. I'm also willing to bet that regardless of the state of the firearm, the barrel would also never end up pointed at anyone as long as your were handling it either.

These aren't accidental mannerism. They're the result of an absolute awareness of the points you've made above, and that awareness is critical to the maintenance of that safety record, because without it, this sort of thing will happen. IOW - it doesn't happen to 'anyone', it happens to people who don't have those habits built into their handling routines, or those same people cause it to happen to others.

The principle reason that it's so incredibly tragic is BECAUSE it arises out of the absence of these simple mannerisms, so the point IS exactly what you did. That point is paramount to the safety of our sport.

Cass

You're right and i'm not disagreeing with you in the slightest, i just didn't want it to seem as though i was directing the thread to towards "look what i did". That would be tasteless given the theme of the thread.

Grizzly 45

Wonder was it a slam fire?? Caused by the firing pin protuding from the battery face,due to dirt build up or a weak return spring in the firing pin chamber. Rack it fwd if it is a pump or semi and it fires the shel IF of course the saftey is off!l.Thats about the ONLY thing that can go wrong on a pump or semi mechanically.

It will be intresting to see the coroners findings on this.Somthing went seriously wrong in the whole scenario. Still goes to show that you cant be too careful no matter what.This is the second fatal discharge Ive heard of in ten years in Ireland.All in all a still fantastic saftey record compared to some EU countries.

Deaf git

This is a very sad situation for any family and to think some a/holes are revelling in it is a disgrace. Sincere condolences to the family.

Heckler

An awful preventable loss. RIP.

Maybe an idea for a thread/Sticky on firearms handling ?

I know it seems obvious but possibly a list or so ?

ie 1. When handed a firearm clear it !!!!

etc

Just an idea.

Like some its natural to clear a firearm as a matter of course. Not to others.

At my range if I turn my back on my firearm for any reason the first thing I do is check it when I go back. Don't care that the guy keeping an eye on it is a 40 year shooting fella. Check. Check, Check

Cass

Some new developments on this.

Hunter456

Cass wrote: »

Some new developments on this.

his explanations never added up even when the he said he committed suicide. :mad: more **** on the way i bet.

Cass

Another update on this tragedy.

Article here.


This may sound odd to some but i feel for the chap. What he done was reckless, careless and ultimately stupid ................... but, without knowing him i would almost guarantee the end result was not his intent.

As was said above, and noted by more than a few on this thread you can never be too careful. Two lives ruined not to mention the fallout for both families.

Heckler

A tragic outcome that no one would have considered.

Just goes to show never, never, never, pass on or take a firearm without it being cleared. Pull the bolt, rack the slide 3 times, work the action on that .38 repeater 4 times to clear.

outfoxing

Cass could you please close this thread for the sake of his family and some friends who do shoot and might come across this on Line . Burnzie was a lovely lad who could never do enough for people a guy who loved rear breeds of dogs and was the go to guy when you were at the builders providers, he once got trampled on by an EMU but thats another story may he rest in peace.

Cass

outfoxing wrote: »

Cass could you please close this thread for the sake of his family and some friends who do shoot and might come across this on Line . .

I think you might be right.

The story has been covered from start to finish and as you said there is nothing more that can be said about this tragedy.

Unless someone can tell me why it should remain open i'm closing the thread.