This can't be good

[bowtiebandit]

http://www.wbaltv.com/news/18247694/detail.html

 

[Notagunnut]

The odds of a shotgun slug making it "hundreds of yards" through the woods without hitting something is EXTREMELY UNLIKELY. It's very likely that the firearm wasn't even pointed in the direction of the center, and the projectile ricocheted off of one, or more trees in the woods before it made ot to the window, even changing direction ninety degrees, or more.
The fact that incedents like these are so rare that we only read about a very few when there are thousands of hunters in the woods is reassuring, but only concientious hunters can reduce these events. Unfortunately it is very evident on many talk forums, especially the Sun's forum, there are jerks, and idiots in every facet of society, and many of us fall victim to them all year long in far more dangerous, and detrimental ways than the rare stray bullet during a two week long hunting season.

 

[kohburn]

the projectile was still on the window ledge - obviously it was only traveling fast enough to shatter the glass but it didn't even enter the room. people shoot out windows with bb-guns


but yeah the press from this will be very emotional and bad for us.

 

[sje0123]

"You'd think there would be laws protecting you from a bullet going this far."

Like what bullets that self destruct after 150 yds?

"If someone had been standing in a different place, who knows what would've happened. I'm frustrated, outraged."

They would have been closer of further away from some broken glass on the floor. The projectile didn't even make it into the room from what the article says.

 

[wilcam47]

"You'd think there would be laws protecting you from a bullet going this far."

I know this would be scary....situation for whoever was involved but this quote?? makes it sound like a law will stop an accident from happening...its called life and things/accidents happen...I might say that they make a law that prevents people hunting 1/2 mile from a school...? thats reasonable for a shotgun...

 

[coinboy]

Call me a conspiracy theorist but...

Who else thinks this may be a crock of $hit. I could just imagine the day care center being pissed off that two guys are walking around the woods with shotguns and wait for the perfect moment. The hunter takes the deer. Meanwhile, someone at the daycare center places a shotgun pellet on the window ledge and breaks the window and calls the cops. Just a theory.

I can't imagine a shotgun pellet breaks the glass and lands on the window ledge. Aren't the chances that it will either fall off of the ledge or continue through the glass? Something smells fishy here and there is no real way to prove otherwise. Unless of course the shot laying on the window doesn't match the shot the hunter was using.

 

[sje0123]

Call me a conspiracy theorist but...

Who else thinks this may be a crock of $hit. I could just imagine the day care center being pissed off that two guys are walking around the woods with shotguns and wait for the perfect moment. The hunter takes the deer. Meanwhile, someone at the daycare center places a shotgun pellet on the window ledge and breaks the window and calls the cops. Just a theory.

I can't imagine a shotgun pellet breaks the glass and lands on the window ledge. Aren't the chances that it will either fall off of the ledge or continue through the glass? Something smells fishy here and there is no real way to prove otherwise. Unless of course the shot laying on the window doesn't match the shot the hunter was using.

Who's to say it wasn't a BB shot by some punk kid that the police or whoever mistook for a shotgun pellet?

 

[boule]

Hm, this article is very interesting in three facets:

- The slug had enough energy to shatter the window but not to penetrate it. This suggests either a very flat angle of impact or an extremely low velocity, probably both. It could be that the slug was deflected upwards and then impacted the glass falling down. It could also be that someone threw a slug at the window to blame hunters. What is better than endangered children if you want publicity?

- Two hunters with a deer were found close to the site. Did they use shotguns? Which calibre were they using?

- Noone was charged for this incident. That does not just mean that the hunters who were found did this by accident or police would probably confiscate the guns and make sure they paid for damages. To me it appears that they had no clue where that shotgun slug did actually come from.


Whatever other people might say. Responsible hunters will not shoot without knowing they have a solid backstop andprobably not in the direction of a building. Either this was a freak accident or engineered and I do not want to go there without seeing the traces of the impact.

 

[Rough_Rider]

Hmmm, very fishy indeed.

To quote the article "They also found a projectile on the window ledge." Doesn't say slug, BB, shot, just "projectile".

Hey! What if there was a unique serial number on that projectile that could be linked back to the purchase of that ammunition.... No, wait. That's a BAD IDEA that would never work!!! ( And yet, we will have to explain ad naseum how tough it would be to put serial numbers on ammunition! ).

I wonder if they investigated the possibility that it was the Deer that broke the window and that the hunters were just protecting the children....Hmmm

And this is why I always send my kids to daycare wearing orange hats!

 

[trickg]

Color me crazy, but how is this any different than an out of control motorist who careens into a house or onto a lawn in a residential neighborhood? No one is out there pissing and moaning that people are driving dangerous cars or that there should be laws that keep all drivers 150 yards from buildings or any of that malarky.

Accidents happen all of the time, and they are usually far worse than this little incident. I read a story once about a woman who got bashed in the head by a rock that fell out of the back of a truck going down the highway in the opposite direction. It was a terrible thing and it was a fluke that it happened that way at all, but we can't place the blame on all trucks or truck drivers.

The fact is, we already have enough laws to cover negligence when it comes to firearms, just like anything else, and we certainly don't need further restrictions.

 

[mdjamesd]

"You'd think there would be laws protecting you from a bullet going this far."

Now I can sleep at night, I've heard it all.

 

[trickg]

To be fair here, there are a lot of dumb hunters out there. However, the problem - like any issue involving guns - comes down the the person with the gun, not the gun itself. If this guy was an idiot and wasn't sure where he was pointing the gun when he pulled the trigger, by all means, prosecute the MAN for being an idiot and for being negligent. You simply cannot chalk this up as a gun problem.

 

[novus collectus]

A search by patrol of the area behind the facility revealed that two hunters had shot a deer several hundred yards away, and that a bullet shot at the deer traveled on and struck the window.

The deer was hit as the article reads, so this is why the slug did not have much energy left. It was a fluke IMO and they may not have even been shooting in the direction of the building. It is possible that a bone deflected the slug at an angle, or after passing through the deer the slug ricocheted off something on the ground and went at an angle towards the building.

As Charles Guggenheimer pointed out on another board, this impact was as about as bad as an errant golf ball breaking a window.

 

[alucard0822]

And to think, a lot of counties went to shotgun/slug only because they thought modern rifle bullets would ricochet too far. I have played around with slugs, and for the most part, a brenneke or sabot slug and some foster slugs will remain intact and bounce off the ground or any obstacle for quite a distance, where a fast rifle bullet either breaks up, or digs into the ground/obstacle rendering it harmless in most cases.

 

[trickg]

And to think, a lot of counties went to shotgun/slug only because they thought modern rifle bullets would ricochet too far. I have played around with slugs, and for the most part, a brenneke or sabot slug and some foster slugs will remain intact and bounce off the ground or any obstacle for quite a distance, where a fast rifle bullet either breaks up, or digs into the ground/obstacle rendering it harmless in most cases.

Myth Busters did a thing on the portrayal in movies of escaping being shot by diving under the water, and they did a test on several different guns to see what would happen as the bullets penetrated the water. If I remember correctly, the faster the rifle bullet was, the faster it exploded when it hit the water - even a .50 cal didn't penetrate very far.

 

[alucard0822]

Myth Busters did a thing on the portrayal in movies of escaping being shot by diving under the water, and they did a test on several different guns to see what would happen as the bullets penetrated the water. If I remember correctly, the faster the rifle bullet was, the faster it exploded when it hit the water - even a .50 cal didn't penetrate very far.

Yup, and the slug completely penetrated the 12' water tank with 1' thick block of ballistics gel in the middle, bounced off the bottom, penetrated the block again on the way back up, and was found intact, resting on top of the block, of course after splitting the plexiglass they made the tank out of from the hydrostatic shock.

After that, they went to the pool, and all rifle bullets broke up, and didn't make it past a couple feet including the 50BMG

 

[trickg]

Yup, and the slug completely penetrated the 12' water tank with 1' thick block of ballistics gel in the middle, bounced off the bottom, penetrated the block again on the way back up, and was found intact, resting on top of the block, of course after splitting the plexiglass they made the tank out of from the hydrostatic shock.

After that, they went to the pool, and all rifle bullets broke up, and didn't make it past a couple feet including the 50BMG

Exactly - they found that the slower slug and handgun bullets did a much better job of penetrating the water than the high powered rifle bullets. However, that was at point blank range in water - simple physics will tell you that slower bullets are going to lose energy faster at distance moving through the air and that this was a non-issue that was less life threatening than (as someone else mentioned) it had been a house on a golf course that had a window busted out by a golf ball.

 

[h2u]

And to think, a lot of counties went to shotgun/slug only because they thought modern rifle bullets would ricochet too far. I have played around with slugs, and for the most part, a brenneke or sabot slug and some foster slugs will remain intact and bounce off the ground or any obstacle for quite a distance, where a fast rifle bullet either breaks up, or digs into the ground/obstacle rendering it harmless in most cases.

This is why my buddies police force could never practice "skipping" slugs off the street under vehicles for perps hiding on the other side........

If it were ever to be possible, it would really suck for perps ankles and shins...

 

[coinboy]

I still think this is a bit fishy. What are the odds of a slug breaking a window and landing on the window sill? Most slugs I know would break the glass and keep going. I have never heard of a bullet of any type that hits an object and just stops. Most will either bounce off or go through the object. Not hit the object and suddenly lose momentum and drop. I am still calling foul on this one.

 

[novus collectus]

I still think this is a bit fishy. What are the odds of a slug breaking a window and landing on the window sill? Most slugs I know would break the glass and keep going. I have never heard of a bullet of any type that hits an object and just stops. Most will either bounce off or go through the object. Not hit the object and suddenly lose momentum and drop. I am still calling foul on this one.

I have seen rocks that bust a window land just inside of it. It takes a bit of energy to bust some kinds of glass and that may have been just enough to stop the momentum especially if it hit an an angle I assume.