The Importance of having, and knowing, your Backstop.

[Patriot]

Great article from the Rochester D&C today. It’s a long article, but a worthy read. This guy is lucky to be alive because two morons didn’t ensure they had an adequate backstop while target shooting. IMO these guys should be in prison. I hope they lose everything they own in the civil suit. They give the rest of us a bad name.

http://on.rocne.ws/2D5NSsU

 

[SmallGameAddict]

Holy crap. 'Target shooting', with absolutely no backstop. With high power rifles no less. Bad idea in the long sad history of bad ideas. Forever changed a family's life. Definitely food for thought for anyone target shooting or plinking, esp on private property.

 

[C3D]

Rule 4

 

[71velle]

whats weird is that at 750 yards a 308 would have over 6 feet of dropThe must have ben shoot up an incline or something. If it were flat ground it would not ave happened.

 

[Acer-m14]

 

[misunderestimated]

One of the greatest responsibilities of shooting a fire arm is one that bullet leave the barrel it normally destroys anything it encounters .

 

[ManrisFrack]

whats weird is that at 750 yards a 308 would have over 6 feet of dropThe must have ben shoot up an incline or something. If it were flat ground it would not ave happened.

That area is pretty flat. https://www.google.com/maps/place/P...d3de4f!8m2!3d43.2343532!4d-77.8138553!5m1!1e4

6' drop is rather conservative for typical 308 at 750 yards even with a 200 yard zero. Still, the correction I get is a little over 17 MOA. That could easily be the difference between the top and bottom targets on a target stand. A target that is a foot and a half higher than you might hardly be noticeable at 100 yards. I wish we knew the specifics of the ballistics and could use them as an instructional tool. I'm sure the are thousands of guys across this state that would shoot across a field like this and not realize how far the shots could be going.

 

[tirwin1]

I'm not sure what I find more disturbing. The fact the two shooters thought nothing about a backstop or the fact the charges against them were dropped. Maybe they were charged with the wrong offense but I find it hard to believe a person can shoot someone (even if unintentionally) and get away with a "sorry bro, my bad."

 

[ManrisFrack]

This was an accident, at least as far as criminality goes. It would be akin to your miss on bambi striking another hunter 750 yards away whose presence you were unaware of. They tried to charge recklessness but there wasn't enough evidence for that. Hopefully the civil suit holds them liable for unsafe practices.

We need to be careful labeling (and even thinking) of accidents as criminal just because they involve guns. No one wants to be building berms along game trails just to stay out of prison. It sounds absurd but this is NY.

 

[Uzi]

One of the greatest responsibilities of shooting a fire arm is one that bullet leave the barrel it normally destroys anything it encounters .

That was lovely. Brought tears to my eyes.

 

[misunderestimated]

Rural Hillsborough residents want backyard shooting law updated

 

[camper4lyfe]

I work "with" Kevin, and had I not known he went through this, I never would suspect anything had happened to him at this point, aside from not seeing him at work for a few months.

 

[oc shooter]

wish these things never happened but they do

 

[Glenn B]

I have to wonder if other evidense was discovered that exonerated the two shooters and pointed at someone else. Such evidence clild be ballistic tests of any expent rounds found near where the victim was shot. I would think that while not having found the bullet that struck him, they may well have found other bullets around the area, one or more of those several that hit the mower. I am thinking that the police must have performed an exhaustive search around the scene with metal detectors to look for the bullets. If not, they gave the shooters an out but there was still an awful lot of evidence to support charges unless the police did find a bullet or more than one that had not been fired by the two who were arrested. That could warrant dropping all the charges. Other than that, the charges might have been dropped due to rights violations. Why the case was sealed, I could not say.

 

[GOPerfect]

What a horrible story. Seriously, could happen to any of us that own country type property.

 

[Bigfoot]

I hear gun shots (target shooting) behind my house on occasion. I usually never think much of it.
But every once in a while I just get a uncomfortable feeling and I will stand quietly and listen for anything going through the air or impacting the branches or outbuildings around me... It's never happened in the 28 years that I have lived here.

Now that we can use a rifle during deer season in Genesee County it adds a "little bit" more of a concern I have to admit.
I still use my shotgun because my hunting grounds (not behind my house) is pretty flat and I don't spend all of my time in the stand.

I am familiar with the land behind my house (combination of open fields and woods) and target shoot back there on occasion myself. I have never come across a built backstop back there but the lay of the ground in areas provide a good natural backstop. But just the fact alone that I don't know who is shooting back there, gets my spidey senses going every once in awhile. Simply because of the fact that I don't know what kind of gun safety the person(s) may or may not be practicing.