I accidently shot myself last night.

[ATTICUS]

There....I said it. I had to tell everyone else today, so I thought I'd share here as well. Maybe someone else will be a little safer because of it. I'm not sure what happened really. Was dry firing my new G30 and while lost in (fatigued) thought, popped in a loaded mag, and kaboom. Took a Speer Gold dot through the hand and ended up having my pinky amputated. Not sure yet if my ring finger will recover completely, but it looks promising. Damn,damn,damn.....I feel really stupid....but lucky. The bullet went through me, hit some magazines on my workbench, destroyed a can of WD40, and finally dropped on the bench in front of me. Ive been handling guns for over 30 years but got careless or stupid or both. Well the meds are kicking in, better rest for a bit. Be careful!!

[Shin-Tao]

Wow.

[capbuster]

Sorry to hear that. I hope your recovery is swift. Take care.

[4V50 Gary]

We wish you a speedy recovery and an accident free 2002.

[Tamara]

Sorry to hear that.



Hope your recovery is speedy!

[Hemicuda]

just goes to show that it can happen to ANY of us...

you will remember gun safety for forever and a day now!

[Denny Hansen]

Hope you have a full recovery on your ring finger--and thanks for posting even though it must have been awkward for you. This will (or should) serve as a reminder to all of us to be more careful.

I know you feel a little stupid right now, but FWIW when it comes to negligent discharges there are two kinds of people: those who have had them and those who will.

Denny

[urban assault]

I am awful sorry to hear about your misfortune. It sounds VERY painful and nasty. I dont mean to be rude at a time like this, but perhaps you could post photos of the injuries you recieved. It would make a graphic illustration about the need for gun safety at all times. I wish you well and hope you heal up with no more problems. Good luck!

michael

[Ewok_Guy]

Best wishes!

[Libertarian]

You were lucky it wasn't worse. I wish you a speedy recovery.

[Ala Dan]

Sorry pal, I wish you a speedy recovery and Happy Holiday's.

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

[OF]

Speedy recovery, Atticus!

- Gabe

[Ledbetter]

If you need a laugh, picture Ledbetter blowing up a 27" Sony Trinitron TV with a .45 Glaser "Safety" Slug. Again, while dry-firing late at night. Here's a tip: Unplug it quick (the dead TV).

December 23, 1999.

Regards.

[Tommy.Gun]

Dear sir-

You are brave to come foward with this, I hope all that read it will take this as a wake up call.

I too have had an unintensional discharge, I put a bullet in my bedroom wall with my 1911. It was no accedent. I was carelessness in my part. I manuely and with some control dropped the hammer off the "Block" less than an eighth of an inch travel on to a round in the pipe and bang.

Wow , Why is it cocked again? I looked up to see a hole in the wall. I'm not sure I even heard it go off! Really strange.

One thing thou, I NEVER forgot about muzzel awareness!

Thats what saved my A**

Three things have to happen for a gun to go off, one of them is human.

[AR-10]

Hope your recovery is swift.



No pics please.

[Calamity Jane]

So sorry to hear of your mishap, Atticus. I hope you heal quickly. I know how you must feel - I, too, had an episode of carelessness last night (not gun-related).

My hubby says: "We all do stupid things - some of us are just better at covering it up than others."

Take care. Mistakes can happen to the best of us. And the good thing about mistakes is they can serve to make us hyper-aware from now on, thus helping to prevent/mitigate future mistakes.

[September11]

I am sorry to hear about your injury. Thanks for being brave enough to share it with us. My instructor told me that two of the biggest gun dangers are ignorance and familiarity. "don't get too comfortable with your gun!"

It's not much solace, but it could have been worse. Thanks for the wake-up shout!

[Herb Leventhal]

Lets face it we all are pursuing a dangerous hobby but love it. What happened to you can potentially happen to any one us in some fashion. We are all human and do make mistakes. Unfortunately you did suffer the loss of your 5th digit but fortunately not your life or serious injury to a family member. We must all strive to be careful with our firearms. Your post is a wake-up call!
Herb

[karstho]

Best wishes on your recovery.....

Many, Many thanks for being so humble as to admit such an accident. It is very difficult for us guys to admit our mistakes (at least that is what my wife says). Many more of us will hopefully avoid an accident by remembering how quickly accidents "do" happen, and how life can change direction often at the blink of an eye... Hopefully, I will think of this thread every time I put a magazine in one of my pistols loaded or not.


Merry Christmas to you and your family......



Karstho

[Redleg]

A friend of mine has a hard time admitting the first digit on his right index finger lazily drifted into the path of a band saw and you had the balls to come foward with THAT! I hate it for you but telling us took mondo guts. I've often caught myself getting a little too comfortable handling my guns. One night I was pointing my UNLOADED 10/22 down the hallway towards the kitchen as I looked through the scope to check it's cleanliness. My three and a half year old daughter came around the corner and cried out, "No daddy don't shoot me!" Needless to say the guns got put away for the evening and she and I watched cartoons together until she fell asleep. I stood over her bed for several more minutes as the tears started flowing. The very thought...

Anyway, best wishes for a speedy recovery. I hope we're all a little more aware for having read about your mishap.

[Apple a Day]

YIKES!!! Speedy recovery, Atticus!

[slick slidestop]

Sorry to hear of your misfortune.

I'm glad your injuries were not more serious. I think we all get a little complacent at times and this should be a wake up call for all of us.

Thanks for posting and wishing you a speedy recovery and a Merry Christmas

[Bruce in West Oz]

We've all done things with firearms we'd rather not discuss

I'm sorry to hear of your accident, but so damned thankful you're still here to tell us about it!!

Heal quickly and well.

Merry Christmas

Bruce

[Porter-Glockwell]

I've recounted this before, in person to some of you, but I figured it needed retelling. ATTICUS you are not alone. I retell this story at every opportunity in the hope tha I can burn it into someone's mind and save them from a similar accident. I also consider its telling my penance for adding a statistic to HCI's 43 times more likely BS. Anyway, here goes.

My injury occured just over 3 years ago on November 17th 1998.
At that time I owned a pristine Beretta 92fs, purchased about a month before my 2 year LDS mission to Italy and only fired a few times. After wiping off the oil I had slathered on 2 years before, I set off for the range with a few friends. We had a good time shooting and retired to a friends house for a gun-cleaning session.

Other friends arrived, and soon there were 7 of us in the room. We were all chatting and cleaning guns, and I wasn't paying too much attention to what I was doing. BIG MISTAKE...
I reassembled my pistol, locked the slide back, and while distracted, inserted an "empty" magazine (which was of course loaded with 115 gr. black talons) I thumbed the slide release and let it fly forward. Then I made my fateful mistake. Instead of using the drop hammer safety, I squeezed the trigger and let the hammer drop while the barrel was pressed firmly into the palm/wrist of my (then dominant) right hand.

The pistol made a muffled "pop" and I felt a shockwave run up my right arm. At first I thought I had missed, as I felt no pain. Then I looked down at my wrist. I had a nickel-sized charred ring of hamburger flesh right where the bottom of my palm meets my wrist. About 30 seconds passed before I started to bleed. That is when I felt the PAIN.

I went into immediate shock. My friends all scrambled to get me out onto the lawn, apply a tourniquet (which was then removed per instructions from 911) get pressure on the wound with a towel, elevate my feet and cover me with a warm blanket. As my arm was elevated, I noticed the quarter-sized exit wound about 3 inches down the back of my forearm. The bullet had entered my wrist, shed its entire jacket, pulverized all of my metacarpal bones, and the core had exited my forearm and lodged itself in the wall.

Getting shot is most likely the absolute worst pain you will ever feel. I don't recommend it to anyone. The most accurate Hollywood portrayal is where Giovanni Ribisi (the medic) gets gut shot in Saving Private Ryan. I couldn't feel my legs or my left arm. the only thing I could feel was the burning, aching, excruciating pain in my right hand. I was freezing and shaking all over.
After what seemed like an eternity, the police arrived (to secure the area as they do in all shooting situations) followed by the ambulance. The pain was steadily getting worse, and I didn't get any morphine until I reached the hospital. The morphine made me vomit, and did little to kill the pain. I was given a dose several times stronger than that usually given to man in my weight category. I was high, but still in pain and very sick to my stomach.

About that time the police came in and interviewed me. They were still treating it like I had been in a gunfight instead of an accident. I don't remember what was said, but I do remember that the cop was a jerk and I in my drugged up state was less inhibited about being rude right back to him.

Anyway, after 3 surgeries over a period of 3 months, hundreds of hours of physical therapy over the period of a year, I have a 6 inch titanium plate in my right wrist, multiple pieces of copper jacket, and 8 screws. The wrist doesn't bend at all, and I have less tactile feeling and mobility in my index finger and thumb due to nerve and tendon damage. I have a 4.5 inch scar on my palm, and a 10 inch cross shaped scar on the back of my arm. I have another 10 inch scar on the back of my right leg where they took a nerve for a nerve graft.

I have transitioned to left-handed shooting, and write/draw with either hand, but still prefer my right. I am left eye dominant, so I shoot even better than I once did. I would still trade all that improvement to turn back time and rectify my little accident.

MORAL OF THIS STORY: Be careful. ALWAYS follow the 4 rules of gun safety. Guns are just like cars. If you don't pay attention you will get hurt.


Porter

[Porter-Glockwell]

P.S. Keep the bullet as a reminder. I still have mine. belive it or not, I consider mine lucky. I figure since I used up all that bad luck in one bullet, carrying it around is bound to remind fate that i deserve a little good karma. j/k

Also, now that you own "the one with your name on it" you just need to be careful of those addressed To Whom it may concern.

Porter