Gun Cleaning Negligence Leads to Fatality
The AP reported yesterday: Ohio man cleaning gun killed Amish girl.
A man cleaning his muzzle-loading rifle shot the gun into the air, accidentally killing a 15-year-old Amish girl driving a horse-drawn buggy… The man had fired the gun in the air about 1.5 miles from where Yoder was shot, Zimmerly said.
The incredible coincidence of this incident clearly illustrates the importance of taking all precautions and following all procedures when safety is at risk.
The ubiquitous rules for handling firearms are:
- The gun is always loaded. [The rules always apply.]
- Don’t let the muzzle cross anything you don’t want to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the trigger unless you are ready to shoot.
For a negligent discharge (not an accident) to occur, one of these rules must be violated. If these rules are followed, it is impossible to have an injury. (Try to think of a way!)
However, the true interest and impact of this story is that a young girl was killed 1.5 miles from the location of the discharge. I’ll make the assumption that if Amish are about, then population density is lower than average, so this is really a freakish scenario.
The lesson for industrial operations and maintenance is that such “accidents” are far more likely to cause injury or death than the Ohio man cleaning his gun. Leaving a wrench on the lathe chuck or having a motor explode are not acceptable matters to leave to luck.
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