The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: Hazcat on April 10, 2008, 06:02:47 AM
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CEDAR CITY - Dan Kidder considered Wednesday his lucky day.
After all, if he had been in bed at about 8 p.m. Tuesday, he may not be alive.
A .38-caliber bullet went through a wall of his house and through his headboard Tuesday when a neighbor was practicing how to quick-draw his new revolver.
"The 'what ifs' are staggering," said Kidder, who is a firearms instructor.
He said it could have easily been a baby-filled cradle instead of an empty bed.
Cedar City Police Sgt. Jerry Womack said the neighbor had loaded and unloaded the gun a few times and thought it was empty.
But it obviously wasn't.
The bullet went through a wall of the neighbor's house, through a wall of Kidder's house, through his roughly 1-inch thick headboard and landed in the carpet about six feet from the bed.
"It's a common thing to have happen. This is something that happens with a new firearms owner," Kidder said, and Womack agreed.
Womack said most experienced gun owners are safe and know how to correctly handle firearms.
Whether or not the neighbor was an experienced gun handler, Kiddler said he plans on bringing him some safety literature.
"It's important for people to know what they're supposed to do," he said.
One suggestion, he said, is to empty the revolver's ammunition, count the rounds, check the chambers and then keep them in a separate area.
He also never "dry fires" at something that can't be fixed or replaced.
That, however, may not have made a difference in his situation.
Kidder said his neighbor apologized profusely after the incident, and he doesn't intend to pursue charges.
"He was very remorseful," Kidder said. "He was shaken by it, and he was very, very apologetic."
Despite the seriousness, Kidder, who has lived in Cedar City for about a year, said normally people get to know him before wanting to kill him.
Link http://www.thespectrum.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080410/NEWS01/804100330
You have to admire the mans' attitude! ;D
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It isnt just the neighbors....
Mike and Sue Kennedy were watching television Saturday night when a bullet fired by a Colorado Springs police officer pierced their living room wall and passed between their heads.
They'd like to know why it happened - but they're not getting answers.
Three days later, police won't disclose what caused an officer to fire his service pistol as he chased a man in the 2800 block of Casden Circle in east Colorado Springs. Police won't say if the man the officer was pursuing had a weapon, nor will they identify the officer.
"They just told me they couldn't say too much," Mike Kennedy said.
Police spokesman Lt. Skip Arms said no further details will be released until the case is reviewed by the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office.
The 9 mm round from the officer's Smith & Wesson hit 44 inches from the floor and passed between their chairs. Had the bullet been a foot and a half in either direction, Kennedy said, one of them would have been hit in the head.
"It went past us and into the opposite wall," Kennedy said. "I'd say there was maybe 30 inches between my wife and I."
The shooting occurred about 9:30 p.m. Saturday after the officer tried to pull over a vehicle traveling south on Circle Drive without its headlights on.
Instead of stopping, the vehicle pulled into an alley in the 2800 block of Pikes Peak Avenue, where the driver and the passenger jumped out, police said.
The passenger, a man, ignored orders to stop and ran into the backyard of a nearby house, with the officer in pursuit. The officer fired a single shot, which hit the Kennedys' house.
The man was found hiding in the front yard of a house on Casden Circle. He was questioned but released. The driver is being sought.
Mike Kennedy said that he and his wife hope the city will pay to fix the damage but haven't heard from anyone yet.
They were scared, but won't be moving any time soon, he said.
"This is our retirement home, even if there is a hole in it," he said.
http://www.gazette.com/articles/officer_35065___article.html/police_colorado.html#slComments
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My friend and I were in the front room playing a game of chess and his wife was in the kitchen when we heard glass break and Hus wife scream we went into the kitchen and saw the the glass globe for the light over the sink was gone, we drained the sink and low and behold a 9mm bullet lay in thee sink. Talk about close. Never found out where it came from. What goes up must come down.
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At least in all of these instances nobody got hurt. :-\