Accidental shooting in Cavan

Rovi

From the RTE website (http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/1226/cavan.html)-

[FONT=Arial, Verdana, Helvetica]Post-mortem on Cavan shooting victim[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Verdana, Helvetica]

26 December 2005 09:23[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
A post mortem examination on the body of a woman who was killed in a shooting in Co Cavan yesterday is due to be carried out later today. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Gardai say the 25-year-old woman died when a shotgun was fired accidentally in her home in Kilnaleck near Ballyjamesduff. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]It is understood that the weapon - a Christmas gift - was being examined by a younger member of the family when it was fired. [/FONT]

My sincerest sympathies to the family concerned, and especially to the '[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]younger member' who was apparently holding the gun at the time. A desperate turn of events for all concerned.
I'm sure the train of events that led to this tragic conclusion will become known in due course, but on the face of it, it looks like a fatal lapse in the application of at least one of the basic rules of safe gun handling.

Please, please, everyone, enjoy your guns (that's what they're for, after all), but be careful, and think SAFETY at all times.
Remember too, if you're giving a non-shooter a look at a gun, it's up to YOU to look after and enforce safety standards!

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unknownguest

<MOD EDIT>

I cann't belive anyone would say somthing like that even if you are anti hunting. You do your cause no favours and your permanently banned from here.

</MOD EDIT>

Rovi

unknownguest wrote:

<well reasoned, thoughtful text snipped>

Oh look everyone, it's a Christmas Troll!

Can we keep it? Huh? Can we? Can we?
Aw pleeeeeeeeeeeeease, we promise to feed it and look after it!



.

1911

can one of the mod's remove that post and ban the user.

jaycee

Is this not for the greater good? Chances are, they wont be using that gun again after what happened with it. So maybe this is preventing the killing of many innocent animals.....etc etc...

Shame on you for these comments at a time of a familys distress and grief.
Such disregard for human life is beyond belief.

Clare gunner

Ditto my sympathies to that family.
As for the comment from unknown guest.Well maybe he/she/it should apply to Al queida or the local terror thug group of their choice for a job.They welcome that kind of mindset.

mcguiver

A sad Christmas for all involved. Family, emergency services etc.
I'd be slow to comment on the circumstances, as we know all too well how inaccurate our media can be at the best of times.

AS I'V ALWAYS BEEN TOLD: "TREAT ALL FIREARMS AS LOADED EVEN IF YOU KNOW THEY ARE NOT! "

Rovi

More info in today's Irish Independent (Thursday, 29 December, 2005. Quoted from www.unison.ie)-

[FONT=Arial, Verdana, Arial]Tragic gunshot victim is buried on her birthday[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial]
Edel Kennedy and Patsy McArdle

THE young woman who was shot dead in a tragic accident on Christmas Day was buried yesterday on her 25th birthday.
Sarah Blakely died at the family home after accidentally being shot by her younger brother with a legally-held shotgun.
Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral service at St Paul's Church in Ballymachugh yesterday, close to her home place of Killnaleck, Co Cavan.
There were emotional scenes as relatives and friends comforted Sarah's parents, Elliot and Linda, and her brothers Clive and Alan. Work colleagues from the Ulster Bank in nearby Arva were among the mourners.
Speakers were set up outside the small church so that many mourners who had to stand outside could hear the funeral service.
Sarah was due to celebrate her 25th birthday yesterday. It was the first time she would have celebrated with her family and friends in two years, as she was in Australia last year.
It is understood that she was shot as her brother Alan (20) was lifting the gun from behind a sofa and it accidentally triggered. He did not know it was loaded.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial]

With all due respect to the family concerned, and assuming the report is accurate, I can see at least two major breaches of safe gun handling procedure:
1.- someone loaded a gun and then left it out of their control,
and 2.- someone picked it up and assumed it was empty.

It can't be repeated too often: SAFETY, SAFETY, SAFETY!
There are six little words that a shooter hopes they never hear, and prays they never have to say: "I didn't know it was loaded."

Once again, my deepest sympathies to everyone concerned.

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Rew

I think we can leave this for a few days for the dust to settle...