Guy shot himself in the leg at the range we were at today

[Punkur67]

A guy shot himself in the leg today while we were at a local range. Hot brass went down his shirt. Looked like he arched his back and lowered the gun straight down and he shot the back of his leg. It went in the back of his calf and out by his shin.

He was in the 25 yard and we were in the 50. We were walking out and he was in the hallway bleeding everywhere looking for help. My wife (an RN) sat him down to keep him calm till the staff came in to start first aid

I wanted to share this to keep people on their toes and be aware of shooters around you at the range. That could have easily been worse or another shooter hit. I really try to keep an eye on others around me to know who is a risk or not to the best of my abilities.

The range staff was all over it and handled the situation quickly and professionally.

 

[roamin]

All the more reason to avoid public ranges during times like this if you can. Hope he's ok.

 

[Punkur67]

All the more reason to avoid public ranges during times like this if you can. Hope he's ok.

I think he will be fine and hope that is the case. I am sure there are plenty of people out there at the ranges right now that have little to no experience and no training on how to properly handle a firearm. There are 5 + million new gun owners this year alone.

 

[Lunchbox27]

I bet it was this guy...

 

[pmclaine]

I bet it was this guy...

View attachment 7417283

Samuel L. Jackson?

 

[Numedal]

Samuel L. Jackson?

"Trigger discipline muthaf*ka! Do you have it?"

 

[Maser]

Public range........Nuff said!

 

[Deleted member 10043]

Like it really matters if you shoot yourself in the leg at a public golf course or the country club.

 

[cobus13]

Some people just don’t need guns, I am glad you and your wife were there though.

 

[Fig]

Some people just don’t need guns, I am glad you and your wife were there though.

Everyone needs guns. You’re all so negative.

Some people simply need personal growth, and an ND to the calf will help this guy get there. Certainly an ND when another person gets hit it always bad, but some people need to shoot themselves, and I suspect this guy was one of those people.

 

[cobus13]

Everyone needs guns. You’re all so negative.

Some people simply need personal growth, and an ND to the calf will help this guy get there. Certainly an ND when another person gets hit it always bad, but some people need to shoot themselves, and I suspect this guy was one of those people.

Lol. I can get behind this statement

 

[NighthawkCG]

NFAC recruiter? Displaying bravery and toughness and sacrificing for the cause...

 

[armorpl8chikn]

If you are gonna be a dipshit with a gun....well....
These things are gonna happen.

 

[Spblademaker]

Were any stuffed Squirrels hurt?

 

[GBMaryland]

So ever since I ended up with a ridiculous case of trichinosis in May, I’ve been to the hospital a few times.

Last week, extremely uncharacteristically, they were drawing blood at a hematologist appointment and the lady suddenly couldn’t get any blood into the vacutainer. Now I haven’t eaten anything since like 5 o’clock in the morning it’s 1230 now... and she says “do you have Blood clotting issues?” And I guess internally I just freak out because the reason that the doctors office if they put me on blood thinners for nine months because I ended up with a blood clot in my lungs do this whole parasitic infection problem. I look at the lady after I lean back in the chair and I say you know what I think I’m about to pass out.

I end up in the emergency room being triple checked just to make sure I really am OK (and probably to cover the doctors ass so that he doesn’t get sued even though that wasn’t even a mindset option for me - shit happens).

while I’m in the ER, which I have to say it was a fucking hoot because you see like everything, I hear over the radio comms “ Gun shot wound, guy shot himself at the range, will you take this patient?”

So he shows up at the hospital and it’s not that bad it: went through the meat of is leg, missed every single major blood vessel, didn’t seem to do any nerve damage, exited above his knee, Broke his femur, and shot him in the toe. One lucky SOB.

one of the lead nurses and I are talking and I say to her “holy shit that guy is lucky!”

Now don’t forget I live in Communist Maryland… In Montgomery county… Where there are like maybe four or five ranges...

she tells me it happens at least 3 to 5 times a month and then it’s pretty typical!?!?

So basically people are John Wayning it with their holsters, And shooting themselves a couple of times a month.

WTF

 

[Fig]

Were you eating raw bear meat?

 

[benchmstr]

hahaha what a dumbass lol

bench

 

[E. Bryant]

So everyone whipped out their IFAK and helped this guy get the bleeding under control, right? Everyone had some sort of med kit easily accessable in their range bag, right?

Shit happens. Be prepared.

 

[GBMaryland]

Were you eating raw bear meat?

if I were fucking cool I would’ve eaten bear meat and had a good story to tell....

nope, I’m a dumb ass, so I went to a sporting clays event and they were serving up burgers made out of various foul… I ate they only raw one they had. MF’er, that’ll teach me not to eat anything that’s not burnt to a crisp....

 

[GBMaryland]

So everyone whipped out their IFAK and helped this guy get the bleeding under control, right? Everyone had some sort of med kit easily accessable in their range bag, right?

Shit happens. Be prepared.

What was interesting was that the range staff ,with the one that showed up in the emergency room while I was there, had a tourniquet on the guys wound immediately.

what was even more interesting was that the emergency room staff was pretty concerned because the guy was obviously not arterial bleeding, but they put a tourniquet on anyway as opposed to applying direct pressure.

by the time he got to the ER the problem was that there hadn’t been any blood flow to his leg for about an hour and 30 minutes... and they were really concerned about complications due to that... As opposed to the big gaping gun shot wound that missed arteries missed the nerves and did nothing but just generally screw the guy up.

remember how to properly use a tourniquet..... don’t use a tourniquet it in place of direct pressure unless the person is going to bleed out...

 

[db2000]

Like it really matters if you shoot yourself in the leg at a public golf course or the country club.

This is pretty damn funny.
I think his point though, is we've all seen the dumb shit that goes on at public ranges, greatly disproportional to private ranges. It's not what he did to himself but that easily could've been a guy or kid next to him.

 

[powerspc]

What was interesting was that the range staff ,with the one that showed up in the emergency room while I was there, had a tourniquet on the guys wound immediately.

what was even more interesting was that the emergency room staff was pretty concerned because the guy was obviously not arterial bleeding, but they put a tourniquet on anyway as opposed to applying direct pressure.

by the time he got to the ER the problem was that there hadn’t been any blood flow to his leg for about an hour and 30 minutes... and they were really concerned about complications due to that... As opposed to the big gaping gun shot wound that missed arteries missed the nerves and did nothing but just generally screw the guy up.

remember how to properly use a tourniquet..... don’t use a tourniquet it in place of direct pressure unless the person is going to bleed out...

Amen Brother. I can't decide what's scarier, someone with a loaded gun that doesn't know how to use it? Or someone with a tourniquet that doesn't know how to use it?

[Edit] Maybe an idiot with a loaded gun and a tourniquet?

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Like it really matters if you shoot yourself in the leg at a public golf course or the country club.

 

[myronman3]

well one can always hope it is a lefty that is trying to train up to fight trump supporters.....that’s what i am going to go with.

 

[Steel head]

Tex grebner style?

 

[lash]

“...I don't want nobody to shoot me in the foxhole . . . foxhole.

Aiieeeeeeeee . . . Shot in the foxhole.
Shot in the foxhole . . . shot in the foxhole . . .
Shot in the foxhole . . . shot in the foxhole . . .”

 

[powdahound76]

Everyone needs guns. They also need education. And common sense.
When I take a new female shooter, I give a dress code via text the day before to avoid the hot brass issues. Mostly because they are more likely to wear a V-neck.
Only new dude shooter I have helped in years is a friend who is a priest. He has a pretty solid collar....

Yes. This shooting of ones own leg is common.

My work is close to 3 indoor ranges. We see a few of these.
The Range I shoot at upped their RSO staff right now with all the newbs and dang are they busy.
And I have seen a lot of “I was just getting ready to clean it”.
Also had a LEO doing drills during quals. Did similar to what GBMaryland was saying. In the thigh, bullet travelled inside the whole way and lodged at the ankle.
A lady who refused to use a holster and carried in her waistband.

As for tourniquet use, that guy will be fine. Will take a lot of fluids to help his body with all the lactate. Hopefully he has a healthy liver.....
@GBMaryland - was this a bigger or smaller hospital?
Also, EMS should step up response once a tourniquet is applied (right or wrong in applying). 90 minutes? Should have been chopper go to scene.

An open femur fracture without major vessel involvement can bleed 2L out in a relative short period of time.
Without s lot of skill and knowledge, a GSW with an open femur Fx should get a tourniquet.

Also, with tourniquets, most people’s use is similar to this gents gun handling skills. Piss poor at best.

 

[candyx]

Hot brass story

 

[Maggot]

if I were fucking cool I would’ve eaten bear meat and had a good story to tell....

nope, I’m a dumb ass, so I went to a sporting clays event and they were serving up burgers made out of various foul… I ate they only raw one they had. MF’er, that’ll teach me not to eat anything that’s not burnt to a crisp....

Trichinosis is no joke. Hope you make a full and speedy recovery.

 

[Bwhntr53]

So ever since I ended up with a ridiculous case of trichinosis in May, I’ve been to the hospital a few times.

Last week, extremely uncharacteristically, they were drawing blood at a hematologist appointment and the lady suddenly couldn’t get any blood into the vacutainer. Now I haven’t eaten anything since like 5 o’clock in the morning it’s 1230 now... and she says “do you have Blood clotting issues?” And I guess internally I just freak out because the reason that the doctors office if they put me on blood thinners for nine months because I ended up with a blood clot in my lungs do this whole parasitic infection problem. I look at the lady after I lean back in the chair and I say you know what I think I’m about to pass out.

I end up in the emergency room being triple checked just to make sure I really am OK (and probably to cover the doctors ass so that he doesn’t get sued even though that wasn’t even a mindset option for me - shit happens).

while I’m in the ER, which I have to say it was a fucking hoot because you see like everything, I hear over the radio comms “ Gun shot wound, guy shot himself at the range, will you take this patient?”

So he shows up at the hospital and it’s not that bad it: went through the meat of is leg, missed every single major blood vessel, didn’t seem to do any nerve damage, exited above his knee, Broke his femur, and shot him in the toe. One lucky SOB.

one of the lead nurses and I are talking and I say to her “holy shit that guy is lucky!”

Now don’t forget I live in Communist Maryland… In Montgomery county… Where there are like maybe four or five ranges...

she tells me it happens at least 3 to 5 times a month and then it’s pretty typical!?!?

So basically people are John Wayning it with their holsters, And shooting themselves a couple of times a month.

WTF

I just had to reply to this. Quite a number of years ago I got food poisoning really bad. Wound up in the ER. So here I am laying in the ER after getting some morphine for the pain and sickness. When all of a sudden someone announced over the intercom..CODE BLUE IN THE ER....CODE BLUE IN THE ER.....All of a sudden this nurse pulls the drapes back and says to me....Are you the CODE BLUE.....I raised up and said...and I quote "I SURE HOPE THE HELL I'M NOT." Needless to say I don't like hospitals. Glad you're ok. And of course the gun shot victim.

 

[chongoMT]

What would this string of posts look like if the Range guy had a TQ and didn't use it, after watching 2-3L of kool aid splurt out? Every other post would be TQ!, TQ!, TQ! let the surgeon sort it out, he keeps his life and maybe loses a limb. Having an IFAK is almost like CCW. With the right training and decision making it can do a lot of good OR you can end up as the main character of a meme..

 

[nhdeadhead]

Wow that’s crazy! Kudos to your wife for helping out. Sounds like he did the “desk pop” wrong. Gotta watch that trigger finger!

 

[...]

This is why I left the range I RO'd at after only a month.

The general public are fucking retards, and are frankly dangerous with a firearm.

I had to explain to a guy why he had to keep is muzzle pointed down range, even when the gun was "unloaded" (with a mag in the gun and a closed chamber)

I had to explain to another person,who was supposedly in the Chinese military, why they couldn't hold their pistol at chest level and try to shoot the target, because they were shooting the floor

I had to throw one person off the range because they didn't see a problem in drawing their carry gun behind the firing line and flagging everyone on the range

I've seen people struggle to hit paper with a rifle at 25'

I had to explain to a guy, who was just denied on a BG check, why we couldn't rent him a firearm to "try out"

I also got reprimanded for telling a coworker he had to show up on time to his scheduled RO shifts......the manager said that "wasn't my job"......he wasn't happy when I told him " well if you did your job I wouldn't have to"

 

[powdahound76]

Those two guys (Marines) need to see about hitting the gym. Easy to tell they are a tad soft.

 

[lariat]

Everyone needs guns. They also need education. And common sense.
When I take a new female shooter, I give a dress code via text the day before to avoid the hot brass issues. Mostly because they are more likely to wear a V-neck.
Only new dude shooter I have helped in years is a friend who is a priest. He has a pretty solid collar....

Yes. This shooting of ones own leg is common.

My work is close to 3 indoor ranges. We see a few of these.
The Range I shoot at upped their RSO staff right now with all the newbs and dang are they busy.
And I have seen a lot of “I was just getting ready to clean it”.
Also had a LEO doing drills during quals. Did similar to what GBMaryland was saying. In the thigh, bullet travelled inside the whole way and lodged at the ankle.
A lady who refused to use a holster and carried in her waistband.

As for tourniquet use, that guy will be fine. Will take a lot of fluids to help his body with all the lactate. Hopefully he has a healthy liver.....
@GBMaryland - was this a bigger or smaller hospital?
Also, EMS should step up response once a tourniquet is applied (right or wrong in applying). 90 minutes? Should have been chopper go to scene.

An open femur fracture without major vessel involvement can bleed 2L out in a relative short period of time.
Without s lot of skill and knowledge, a GSW with an open femur Fx should get a tourniquet.

Also, with tourniquets, most people’s use is similar to this gents gun handling skills. Piss poor at best.

Most don’t realize how seriously a broken femur can bleed. And its internal so it can be hard to identify, even with a gsw. Two broken femurs and there’s a good chance I want lights lit. If we are out on some country road and the event causing the injury is significant the bird gets called.

Everyone everywhere: get two tourniquets in your ifac. Train on them. Learn the difference between the need for pressure and tourniquets. Maybe just take the time to get an EMT certificate for you and your family. You up you value to yourself and others around you considerably. Getting knowledge isn’t going to stop others from being stupid, so you might as well be prepared and helpful rather than standing there with your mouth open, waiting. Besides, if you have an ifac and you don’t have the training for what you have in it why do you carry it?

 

[powdahound76]

@lariat, excellent points.
I have an IFAK in my shooting bag. With me whenever I am at the range.
You all think stuff for an IFAK is pricey?? Dirt cheap compared to loss of life or major complications.

And since I have a tad more knowledge than the average joe, I still carry my basic jump bag from my FD days in my truck.

It has a lot of goodies. Mult tourniquets, chest seals, NPA, maybe a 10g or 2 with a stopcock.

I have used it a few times, never for a GSW.

 

[Va_Gentleman]

I don't know if it's me.. .but for some reason, Hot Brass never makes me flinch or go nuts. And I have plenty of hot brass hit me.

I remember this one time... @armorpl8chikn and I were on a stage and he was on the left of an excavator blade and I was on the right. He had the PIG that day that chucked brass directly at 3:00 and at warp speed.... Good Times!!!!

The funny thing, is that I was calling his hits and misses.... "Damn! IMPACT".... "SHIT! IMPACT" ..... "OWWW!!!! MISS! 11:00 .3Mil"....

LOL....

 

[Jefe's Dope]

Thanks for reminding me why my member's only range is worth the yearly dues. That and it has bullet proof glass between the pistol lanes.

 

[Blue Sky Country]

well one can always hope it is a lefty that is trying to train up to fight trump supporters.....that’s what i am going to go with.

All we need is a full name...

 

[Snipe260]

If you don’t carry a tourniquet during an antifa riot. Use this method if they are bleeding

 

[Sniperwannabee]

Was it a pistol or rifle?

 

[Doc68]

What was interesting was that the range staff ,with the one that showed up in the emergency room while I was there, had a tourniquet on the guys wound immediately.

what was even more interesting was that the emergency room staff was pretty concerned because the guy was obviously not arterial bleeding, but they put a tourniquet on anyway as opposed to applying direct pressure.

by the time he got to the ER the problem was that there hadn’t been any blood flow to his leg for about an hour and 30 minutes... and they were really concerned about complications due to that... As opposed to the big gaping gun shot wound that missed arteries missed the nerves and did nothing but just generally screw the guy up.

remember how to properly use a tourniquet..... don’t use a tourniquet it in place of direct pressure unless the person is going to bleed out...

Not to be a devil's advocate, but can you see what the bullet hit in their leg or whatever was shot? Can you see the artery that was severed and just not bleeding outside the leg. Did you know the thigh can hold 1500mL of blood before showing any kind of swelling? Use of a TQ has saved numerous lives downrange. Did you know we can save limbs now that have had a TQ on for over 14hrs.

Unless you can see the bleed, use a TQ. Period.

Ask me how I know . Doc

 

[Punkur67]

Was it a pistol or rifle?

Pistol.

 

[fyaman43]

All those new gun owners out there are gonna shoot somewhere...

Honestly makes me very nervous when I see a pack of teenagers walk into the range as I'm checking in and they ask to rent the S&W 500 or the "biggest AR" with all the "clips".

Be careful out there!

 

[DocRDS]

So everyone whipped out their IFAK and helped this guy get the bleeding under control, right? Everyone had some sort of med kit easily accessable in their range bag, right?

Shit happens. Be prepared.

This.

It even happens at private ranges or with experienced people.

Had an individual tag themselves in a match by putting the booger hook on the trigger right out of the holster trying to speed hose a stage in USPSA.

"Everyone is a little suspect but me and thee and sometimes I wonder about thee"

 

[Punkur67]

The staff had multiple med kits and TQs available. They did apply one below the knee just above the entry wound. There was alot of blood coming out. EMS was on site in less than 10 minutes

 

[OldSalty2]

In all seriousness, glad dude appears to be OK and no one else was harmed...

It also is why I wear my fav turtleneck to the range...no hot brass down the shirt for me...no sir...

 

[W54/XM-388]

This is also why I dislike all those pictures of females with very little clothing holding weapons (often inexplicably covered with dirt on just their skin but not on the clothes or weapons).

They pull the trigger and see where hot brass lands and it won't be fun.

 

[Punkur67]

The experience really helped reinforce to my wife why I make her wear appropriate clothes when we shoot too

 

[hermosabeach]

OP
When I go shooting with folks, we cover a lot of ground.

One is the big brass boogie-
Tight collars
Closed toe shows
Hats are worn to help keep brass out- hot brass

—
Should hot brass end up down your shirt

grab brass through the clothing
Pull brass and shirt away from skin

wait 3 -5 seconds for brass to cool

guns- keep down range
If needed- drop the gun

the odds of a AD from a dropped gun are way lower than from an ND with a pistol in your hand

hats- had a girl catch a 22 LR case in between her glasses and her skin while 4 of us were shooting at the same time back in high school.

it ruined shooting for her for the day and going forward.
—

good post OP

Good reminder on pre shooting discussion with guests about how to fix when brass end up down your shirt