So, there’s been a few hunting stories lately of people shooting themselves with guns during hunting accidents. Usually in these cases the victims ignored one of the basic gun safety rules. We posted a couple dog-related stories on our site recently (one in Russia and one in Iowa). But when I got to looking around I realized that there were more than that. Here’s a run down.
An 18-year-old was waiting for a pizza to be delivered. When he heard the door bell, he put his gun down on the table. Resident Anthony Wulf told police his dog knocked the gun off the table where it fired and shot pizza delivery man 18-year-old Ryan Brill in the leg.
In Indiana, 25-year-old Allie Carter and her dog, Trigger, were hunting together when Carter laid her 12-gauge shotgun on the ground. The safety was off. Trigger (ironic name, right?) stepped on the gun and it went off.
36-year-old William Rancourt was shot when a hunting dog stepped on a shotgun lying on the ground. Rancourt, from New Hampshire, was in Ohio with a small group hunting pheasants. One of the hunting party placed the shotgun on the ground without unloading it.
In New Zealand, a dog stepped on the trigger of a .22 rifle and injured the gun owner, who was in the truck with the dog and gun. the group in this case told police that they thought their gun was unloaded. In fact it contained five shells.
Dog (obviously) don’t know gun safety rules and they can’t control their behavior around guns like humans can. So you have to be the safety for them. Be extra careful with your guns when there’s animals around. If you’re putting your gun down, unload it. If it’s not unloaded, keep the safety on. Be aware of what direction it’s pointing in. Be aware of what lies beyond your target. And realize that dogs don’t know the difference.
