Why do we care so much about gun safety and accurate shooting? Well for one, bullets don’t just stop when they hit a target. Many of them exit very easily. Shooting someone in the arm and missing the bone will surely produce an exit wound, and that projectile may carry-on to hit an innocent victim.
A 9mm bullet can travel through 6 interior walls before it stops. 6! That’s your bedroom, the kids room, the front of the house, the neighbor’s window, and the neighbor’s bed. If you are just punching holes at a range, that's on you, but the minute you accidentally or negligently discharge your gun or choose to use that gun for anything other than targets, that's on all of us.
LAWYERS
You are 100% responsible for each bullet from your gun. Poor marksmanship, even on the range, can be deadly. A bullet launched over the berm at an outdoor range will need to land somewhere, and it will likely do so with a great deal of violence when it does.
Make no mistake, there is a lawyer attached to every bullet. In our litigation happy society, even the good guys are arrested, charged with murder, stripped of their rights, and left penniless after the prosecution is over. I don't believe most shooters realize the depth of responsibility they take-on when they handle a gun. If you are an inexperienced shooter, there is nothing more unacceptable than overconfidence, covering-up your lack of training. It’s easy to spot.
The best accessory you can buy for your gun is training. Don’t be a fool, get professionally trained before you carry. Cement the basics of gun safety into everything you do with a gun. If you can’t take guns seriously, you have no business owning or even firing a pistol.
A SICKENING TALE
It’s not just the average Joe getting arrested. Cops and Military are persecuted for their defensive actions as well! One case comes to mind that was clearly an abuse by prosecutors is the Betty Shelby case in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Betty was a sheriff in Tulsa county. She had good training, was even taught how to identify potentially dangerous individuals high on PCP or other drugs. Since she was a street cop, she saw a lot of action in the highest crime areas of Tulsa.
On patrol one day Betty came upon Terrance Crutcher. His van was parked not on the shoulder, but in the middle of the road like he had stopped short and abandoned it. Crutcher, a very large and tall man was wandering around his vehicle appearing to be high on some drug.
Betty recognized his behavior and immediately called for backup. In the meantime she spoke to Crutcher who was just babbling nonsense, ignoring her. When backup arrived, the four officers instructed Crutcher he would be taken into custody. He incoherently continued to ignore them.
The officers decided they would need to apprehend Crutcher with force. As they approached him, Crutcher backed away. He moved to the driver door of his van, reaching into it through his open window. Fearing he may have a gun in his vehicle, Shelby fired a single, fatal shot to his chest.
Shelby was not revered for taking down a thug with a long criminal record, high on PCP, potentially threatening the lives of innocents. Nope. She was prosecuted for murder. It was all over the news. The media ate it up, fueling the fire already burning in the wake of Furguson, Missouri. Even President Trump stated “she choked”! Utter bullshit, all of it.
Thankfully, Shelby was acquitted of the charges, but only after her name was obliterated, her job lost, and a huge financial toll. All because a prosecutor was too weak to stand-up to the mob.
If this can happen to a Cop, just think what they will do to you!