I was on a shoot the other day - nothing remarkable about that. A member of the syndicate has a 'mature' (and pretty collectable) S/S 12G. He habitually uses snap caps in this gun - although they remain an enigma to me.
As he was leaving the shoot, he couldn't find his snap caps and so fitted two spent cartridges. As he was putting his gun in his car, he blew a hole straight through the drivers headrest and left a 5in diameter 'abrasion' (His words!!) to the laminated windscreen and A pillar. The latter happened to be in line with two other members of the syndicate who were at the time wishing him HNY. I understand their wishes changed somewhat after the incident. There is little doubt that they were extremely lucky that the windscreen laminate held (just). Equally fortuitous was the fact that the weather was lousy and lunch had just been served and almost everyone was in the 'Lodge' - most of the time, we tend to congregate outside.
It transpires he put a live cartridge in by mistake and pulled the trigger as he was putting the gun in its slip to release the hammer pressure. I guess we should be grateful the gun was pointing into the car before he pulled the trigger........
Leaving aside the obvious questions and statements, what are people's views as to the most appropriate and constructive penalty/sanction for such an indiscretion?
Some might say that the undoubted embarrassment and shock might be enough (and the costs) - but there is a point here at syndicate level, where one occasionally has to deal with a low shot or whatever (hopefully not too many like this) and let's face it, this was a pretty basic mistake. It might be coming to the end of the season, but apathy that uses end of season as an excuse for not dealing with the issue is not my preferred approach. Thoughts please?
As he was leaving the shoot, he couldn't find his snap caps and so fitted two spent cartridges. As he was putting his gun in his car, he blew a hole straight through the drivers headrest and left a 5in diameter 'abrasion' (His words!!) to the laminated windscreen and A pillar. The latter happened to be in line with two other members of the syndicate who were at the time wishing him HNY. I understand their wishes changed somewhat after the incident. There is little doubt that they were extremely lucky that the windscreen laminate held (just). Equally fortuitous was the fact that the weather was lousy and lunch had just been served and almost everyone was in the 'Lodge' - most of the time, we tend to congregate outside.
It transpires he put a live cartridge in by mistake and pulled the trigger as he was putting the gun in its slip to release the hammer pressure. I guess we should be grateful the gun was pointing into the car before he pulled the trigger........
Leaving aside the obvious questions and statements, what are people's views as to the most appropriate and constructive penalty/sanction for such an indiscretion?
Some might say that the undoubted embarrassment and shock might be enough (and the costs) - but there is a point here at syndicate level, where one occasionally has to deal with a low shot or whatever (hopefully not too many like this) and let's face it, this was a pretty basic mistake. It might be coming to the end of the season, but apathy that uses end of season as an excuse for not dealing with the issue is not my preferred approach. Thoughts please?