Florida man mistakes girlfriend for hog, shoots her

[iverglas]

31. the funny thing is it isn't all about "you"

But if I went out hunting and accidentally shot someone because I didn't visually verify my target and fired in the direction of a sound, I feel I'd have no reason to bitch if my guns were then taken away and i was prohibited from hunting for many years.

There actually is an injured or dead person in these scenarios.

I know my neighbours to the south are very fond of the punishment side of crime & punishment, but punishment just never never, really really, does anything about the harm that has been done.

Where a harm is avoidable, or where there are known good ways to reduce the risk of a harm occurring and the incidence of it occurring, that's where sensible people, or at least people who notice the victims in these scenarios and have a genuine interest in all those "others" who are potential victims of similar events, tend to focus their thinking and efforts.

Reducing the risk of a fool shooting another person in a situation like this is a pretty tough nut to crack, I'd never say otherwise.

Where I'm at, both firearms licences (mandatory) and hunting licences (mandatory) require completion of training courses (there's overlap of some sort; I haven't looked up the details recently, but it boils down to: mandatory training and mandatory testing before licence issued).

That seems like one way a start might be made on reducing these particular risks.

Of course, you can't make somebody take training before using a firearm if there is no oversight at all of who has acces to firearms ...