I had a couple carrying a profusely bleeding pit bull careen into the hospital. The dog was sneezing and snorting blood everywhere, but the tail was wagging a mile a minute. The owners were both crying and generally freaking out. I took a quick look at the dog and determined that the damage was not too bad: the dog was a young healthy dog that was apparently happy and stable in spite of his injuries. The owners kept freaking out and I had a hard time getting sense out of them. I finally grabbed the husband by the shoulders and looked into his eyes and said, "It's not that bad...I should be able to put that back together." The both settled down and relayed the story.
Apparently, they had left a loaded shot gun leaning against the wall....not locked up, not in a gun rack, just leaning against the wall. The happy dog's overactive tail knocked the gun over. When the husband picked up the gun, the dog was investigating the hubbub when the gun went off, catching his nose. Given the (relative) lack of damage, it looked like most of what got the nose was scatter. It was bleeding like crazy, but there was enough tissue that I could get it all back together.
After I fixed the dog, I ascertained that there were no children in the house. As nice as the owners seemed, if they had kids, I would have reported the accident. While I would shake my head and be a little down trodden if I heard about another animal in the house getting accidentally shot, I would have had a hard time living with myself if a child had been involved. This may not be completely legal per se, but if it isn't, it is a clear example of what is right versus what is legal. Human physicians don't really have this quandary: they are required to report gun shots.
A couple of weeks later, I got a thank you letter with pictures from the owner. There was a picture of a dog happily grinning at the camera as well as a close up of the healed nose.
Unfortunately it's the crazy 5% of gun owners that give the rest of us perfectly sane and safe ones a bad name. I would never leave a loaded firearm in my home unsecured, but I have a kid and common sense.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what the percentage is, but I agree that it's the moron who has a gun go off while he's "cleaning it", when he "just picked it up", or when it "just fell over", that make other gun ownership a bad name. Those things just don't happen. What actually happen is, a person has a gun loaded in a situation where it shouldn't be, have their finger on the trigger when it shouldn't be, have the gun pointed where it shouldn't be, and accidentally pulls the trigger. I like guns. I carry one all day every day at work. It is a powerful tool that could someday save my life. And like most other powerful tools, it can hurt you when you screw around with it in an unsafe way. This idiot should have been criminally charged, IMHO.
DeleteThat dog was VERY lucky. Or not I guess, depending on how you look at it. Very irresponsible indeed.
ReplyDeleteWhen my boyfriend was in his firearms training course for an armed security guard position, his instructor told his class this,"there are two types of gun owners: those who have had an accidental discharge, and those who haven't had one yet--regardless of how careful you are."
ReplyDeleteThank goodness most gun owners are responsible safety-minded individuals.
I'm a bit of a safety nazi. I trust no one, even myself. Clear every time you handle a firearm, even if you cleared it 15 seconds ago. That said, I do keep 2 loaded and unlocked weapons in the house. My sidearm, and an M-4, neither where the dog can get to them, no kids. An unloaded weapon is as much good as a hammer.
ReplyDeleteand yet the guy lobby had/has an issue with physicians asking while taking a history if there are any guns in the house.
ReplyDeleteAs a card carrying member of the guy lobby, I have to question the motivation of these physicians. According to the most recent statistics, accidental gun deaths are at an all time low, and deaths associated with firearms that involve children are also at all time lows. These are numbers going back over one hundred years, so they might suggest something. Fewer children die from gun accidents than die from bicycles, tricycles, swimming pools, five gallon buckets full of water, and automobiles. House fires are more often the culprit, and you don't want to know where physicians rank here. But just for shits and giggles, yes...physician mistakes kill FAR more kids than accidents involving guns. Maybe....
DeleteAs a Canadian where gun toting is far and few in between (unless you count the licensed hunters) I feel safer. Not to rile up any of you that have guns but happy Canadian society does not feel bearing guns is the answer. Guns kill. Period.
ReplyDeleteA comment like that will rile up lots of Americans, but this American right here completely agrees with you.
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