Here we go again — another gun accident. Last Saturday at the Manatee Gun Club, a lady was shooting with her fiancé at the pistol range. She was wearing a low-cut blouse and a hot .45 brass casing bounced off the screen, dropped into her blouse and was caught in her bra, instantly causing a very painful burn and blister. In the process of jumping around and trying to shake it loose, she put a .45 caliber round in her boyfriend’s thigh. If my info is correct, it missed his femoral artery and he probably will recover — “God willing,” as they say in the Middle East.

Wow, what a fun day at the range! I propose a new rule requiring proper range attire or no shooting. And this includes footwear also — I’ve seen the same type of thing happen with a piece of hot brass stuck between the toes of a person wearing flip-flops or shower shoes at the firing line. I often see parents with kids or even adults sitting at the range with no hearing protection or shooting with no eye protection. Sometimes people just cover their ears with their hands. I even saw one guy with a spent shell casing stuck in each ear. Now that’s very creative. I tried to give a little kid some earplugs and Dad said, “No, he’ll either eat them or push them up his nose.” Is it just me or are we missing the boat here, folks? Once again we are becoming our own worst enemies and providing the anti-gunners with more ammunition. Gun handling is very unforgiving, and too many people are either forgetting this or weren’t properly trained to begin with.