guns don\'t kill people, imbeciles do...

[Ken Gargett]

this from the paper this morning. unfortunately, the best will in the world doesn't stop morons gtting hold of guns...

THREE people including a child were in a critical condition today after live bullets were used instead of blanks during a French special forces open day, army and regional officials said.

Sixteen people, 15 of them civilians, were injured in the bizarre incident, as parachutists from a marines parachute regiment demonstrated to the public the techniques involved in hostage liberation exercises.

According to the army toll, three are in a critical condition after "incomprehensible" scenes at a barracks near Carcassone, in the country's south-west.

One soldier has been detained, although no explanation was immediately forthcoming for why the wrong ammunition was loaded into weapons.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy was urgently awaiting the results of a top-level military probe into the accident, according to a presidential statement.

A regional official, Bernard Lemaire, told France 3 radio that two civilians including one child were "critical".

He said that investigators believed the deadly ammunition was loaded by mistake.

"The question being asked is 'Did the soldier engage in a criminal act or not?'," Lemaire said.

"For now, no one can answer that, but the theory being worked on is one of error."

[El Presidente]

That is absolutely tragic.

I can't even guess as to how the soldier would be feeling. I hope all pull through and lessons learnt.

[Trevor2118]

» "The question being asked is 'Did the soldier engage in a criminal act or not?'," Lemaire said.

»

» "For now, no one can answer that, but the theory being worked on is one of error."

How the hell could anyone mistake a live round for a blank....didn't they notice the "pointy-thing" in the end.

Very Sad.

[SmokinAl]

If not criminal negligence it's criminal stupidity. The first thing you do when you pick up a weapon is check its load.

[Guest Warren]

This is such a horrible thing and you can only hope it was some kind of tragic accident and not a planned anarchie.

However you should never forget that blanks are almost just as dangerous , only at close range.

There was a promising American actor by the name of John Eric Hexam who just as he was becoming successful , thought he would play a little joke. He picked up a props gun he knew to be loaded with blanks. He put it to his head and pulled the trigger.

Blanks have a packing piece that is expelled when they go off. It doesn't have any great range but when put up tight against a skull it has to go somewhere . It killed him stone dead.

End of one promising career.

[sandholm]

»

» How the hell could anyone mistake a live round for a blank....didn't they

» notice the "pointy-thing" in the end.

really sad to hear the news, and my thoughts go to the wounded

as an ex military person who have served and train with several military forces I might have a bit of insight.

So first, blank rounds do have a "pointy-thing" in the us its usually made out of plastic, in Sweden and France (FFL) they are made out of wood.

Here is an example

http://www.collectorsarmoury.com.au/images...dnanace0032.jpg

Now, special forces is always training with live ammunition, very rarely blanks are used, sometimes when training with laser system, but otherwise you always have your gun loaded with live rounds, and I mean always. You will be fighting with live rounds and you have learn to live with them.

Therefor if you look at statistic, special forces more or less never shoot anybody of themselves, because they are used to it. If you look at "common" forces they are usually a bunch off clowns when it comes to live ammunition and gun handling (as also 99% of home gun owner are...)

"guns do kill people"???, its rather hard to kill a man running around shouting "bang"....

cheers

[Guest Warren]

First of all sandholm I would like to say that I am not an apologist for the loony left gun lobby , but I must take exception to your claim that 99% of home gun owners are hopeless.

I was involved in pistol competition in a big way some years ago and I always took my responsibility as a gun owner very seriously.

One of my other functions at the time was as a testing officer for gun safety in the area of drawing from a holster in competitions that require this ( Mainly Action match , Bianci Cup ) Which I competed in in the US.

I found that quite a few of the bad ones were the very people who were licensed to carry in public eg . Police , Army , and Prison officers.

I actually had an instance where a police woman pointed my own pistol in my face when she was inspecting it.

Many of the civilian people that I dealt with I feel had more respect for the fire arms that they were intrusted with.

[Ken Gargett]

If you look at "common"

» forces they are usually a bunch off clowns when it comes to live ammunition

» and gun handling (as also 99% of home gun owner are...)

»

» "guns do kill people"???, its rather hard to kill a man running around

» shouting "bang"....

»

» cheers

i should clarify in case it has been lost in translation but the heading was meant with more than a hint of sarcasm, so you and i would be on the same wavelength here.

[smokum]

You never point a gun at anything unless you intend to kill it. Blanks or no blanks. Sad but foolish accident.

[Trevor2118]

» » How the hell could anyone mistake a live round for a blank....didn't

» they notice the "pointy-thing" in the end.

»

» really sad to hear the news, and my thoughts go to the wounded

»

» as an ex military person who have served and train with several military forces I might have a bit of insight.

»

» So first, blank rounds do have a "pointy-thing" in the us its usually made out of plastic, in Sweden and France (FFL) they are made out of wood.

I was expressing my experience with Australian Army Ammunition (and my info may be out of date....I am in my 60's) but our blank rounds contained no bullet of any form; the cartridge was wadded and slightly crimped.

Notwithstanding this, weapons were never stored pre-loaded. Ammunition was alway distributed separately. Still don't see how this could happen. But I agree, very sad event for all concerned.

[Colt45]

» i should clarify in case it has been lost in translation but the heading

» was meant with more than a hint of sarcasm, so you and i would be on the

» same wavelength here.

»

»

does it make it OK if they used an ax?..........

[El Presidente]

» does it make it OK if they used an ax?..........

Low blow ;-)

Axe may take out 3 and wounded one as occured here yesterday. Port Arthur massacre in 1996 was 35 dead and 37 wounded. One lunatic. It was what spurred the change in our gun laws.

Interestingly, the biggest single form of firearm death was suicide, accounting for 3930 fatalities out of a total of 5083 for the ten years 1991 - 2001. The number fell from 505 in 1991 to 261 in 2001.

Sydney morning herald Shane Wright

January 3, 2004 Figures sourced from Australian Institute of Criminology.

Trendlines have continued to decline since 2001. Axe murder rates may have increased ;-)

[havanaclub7]

» Axe may take out 3 and wounded one as occured here yesterday. Port Arthur

» massacre in 1996 was 35 dead and 37 wounded. One lunatic. It was what

» spurred the change in our gun laws.

Prez,

Just curious, what are the gun laws in Oz? Is gun ownership common or are the gun laws restrictive?

With the recent SCOTUS decision here in the states, I think we're going to see more and more large cities have their gun laws opened up. I have a feeling D.C. and other cities will have to allow citizens to have handguns. But I suspect when it's all said and done that they will be able to require gun owners to have permits and will likely require gun registration too.

[gostgost]

» You never point a gun at anything unless you intend to kill it. Blanks or no blanks.

Smokum has the answer right here. The other thing is a clip loaded with blanks is lighter than a clip with live rounds so how good was he?

Just a bunch of asses!!!!!!!!!!!!!