Friday, October 21, 2011

Pro-Tip for the New Female Shooter

Skidmark sends in a story that's especially applicable:

Bristol police officer shot by girlfriend at Piney Flats shooting range
A Bristol police officer was shot by his girlfriend at an indoor shooting range in Piney Flats on Monday, and the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office is investigating whether the shooting was caused by “hot brass” falling down the woman’s shirt.


According to an SCSO news release, the incident occurred at 4:26 p.m. Monday at Shooter’s Edge, an indoor shooting range and training center located at 413 Century Court, Piney Flats.
The officer was fortunate in that the girlfriend had a .22LR pistol in her hand rather than a .45 ACP. He was shot through the wrist into the chest, wondering if he was in the process of telling her to point the gun away or somesuch. It appears he'll be okay, and will no doubt spend the rest of his law enforcement career having his bulletproof vest appearing in the oddest places...

I wrote about an event similar to this happening at my own range last summer. In this case, the boyfriend instructing the young woman took some shrapnel to the leg with no entry, so no one was actually shot, but it was still a pretty terrifying few moments. Nothing gets the adrenaline flowing quite so much as hearing someone exclaim "you shot me" at the range...

I expect to be bringing a new (female) shooter to the range sometime in the next few weeks, so this is a timely refresher on something else to keep in mind as something to check before we even get on the range. She has a good coach before she even gets to me, so I doubt it'll be a problem, but it's always a good idea to take a few extra moments and game *anything* that could happen with a new shooter *before* you set foot on the range.

Safety is forever - just like a scar from a gunshot...

That is all.

3 comments:

Guffaw in AZ said...

At an indoor range many years ago, there was no drawing from holsters.
A sheriff's deputy thought the rules did not apply to him, and using a severely-canted Bill Jordan rig, put a .357 through his right ass cheek, tearing himself a new one, so to speak. He didn't even know he'd shot himself!(at first)

TheMinuteman said...

Another tip that Joe taught me is to always stand on their strong side.

If they're shooting with their right hand, stand on their right side and vice versa. This allows you greater control of the weapon direction should they start to fail muzzle control 101 and swing towards you.

Ultimately proper clothing for a range trip is always a must. Which is a pain around here because heat in summer can be down right oppressive. While we don't have the horrible humidity of the east, we do have triple digits regularly. I usually bring a light over shirt as backup in case it's needed. I forgot the shirt when I took out my last new shooter. Spring, fall, and winter present much less of a clothing issue.

MAgunowner said...

Instead of a no drawing from a holster rule, they should've had a no pointing a gun at yourself and pulling the trigger rule.