bensdad wrote:My thoughts and prayers go out to the little girls and the rest of the family. Every accidental death has a blame-game behind it. I'd rather not play. Most of the people I know have at least a moment or two that they'd like to take back and do over.
I'm not trying to blame the girl, or the family.
I was hoping for some discussion as to what precautions one might take to prevent these sorts of incidents.
On thing I can think of is to make sure that you pick a spot where you can see everyplace the bullets might hit. Public ranges are constructed so as to make it impossible for someone to end up down range, without your noticing it. The woods or fields are not. You can walk downrange, and check that there is no one behind every bush, but you can't guarantee that someone's four-year-old has wandered behind one while you're not looking.
So pick a spot that doesn't have any concealment.
Another - you can't trust four-year-olds not to go running into the range. So if you're shooting around young kids, make sure someone has them in hand, while anyone is on the range.
One more - eight seems a bit young, to me, for someone to be shooting without close supervision. That is, someone within arms reach, who can keep an eye on the safety situation, and tell her when it is safe, and when it is not. And, if necessary, to stop her from shooting when it isn't.
If you were out shooting with the family, what would you do?