Handgun Recoil Claims Life of 12 Year Old Boy

[Lawdog]

I posted this in the Handgun Hunting forum but due to the handgun being a Ruger I figured it belonged here also.

Go to http://www.lexingtonleader.com/story38.shtml and check the story. The .454 should never be fired by someone so small. I fired my son's .454 and it made me realize I don't need anything that large. I am sorry for the parents of the boy but I smell a major lawsuit coming. At the very least against the owner of the .454 Ruger Super Redhawk if not against Ruger and the manufacture of every large caliber handgun made(S&W and their .500 for an example). Gees I can just hear what the Gun Control nuts are going to say. Lawdog
 

[Omaha-BeenGlockin]

That link no longer relates to the subject----is there any way to update it??

I looked over the paper's archives---and couldn't seem to find the story.

[Lawdog]

The link worked fine the day before yesterday.  Seeing it is a newspaper article and has most likely rotated to the archives.  To get a copy you may have to go to;

The Lexington Leader
P.O. Box 547
Lexington, TX 78947
979-773-3022
979-773-4125(fax)
For comments or questions, email The Lexington Leader at
 ritaowen@lexingtonleader.com

Try this new link http://www.lexingtonleader.com/story44.shtml but just in case here is a reprint of the article.

Gun Recoil Claims Life of 12 Year Old Boy

 
Lee County Sheriff Chief Deputy Rodney Meyer leads the investigation of the death Marcus Wall. The investigation continues into the accident.  - A 12-year-old San Antonio boy died Saturday afternoon south of Giddings when he was struck on the top of the head by the recoil of a Ruger .454 gun he was firing. The boy, identified by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office as Marcus Wall, was pronounced dead at the scene by Justice of the Peace Paul Fischer.

Sheriff’s Deputy Rodney Meyer stated that the victim and his father, Marc Wall, were with friends dove hunting on the Zoch place off County Road 233. Deputy Meyer reported that when the hunters took a break for lunch, they began shooting a variety of guns owned within the group. The Ruger .454 Casull was purportedly owned by Joe Ramsey of Austin.

According to the Sheriff’s report, when Marcus asked to shoot the Ruger, Ramsey told the young boy the gun was too large for him to shoot. However, allegedly it was later “OK’ed for him [Marcus] to shoot the gun”. The report did not identify who gave permission for the child to shoot, though Ramsey stood by the boy when he fired.

From the Sheriff’s account of the incident, Marcus was instructed how to hold and shoot the gun. “Mr. Ramsey assisted the victim [when taking aim] by holding his hand above the victim’s [hands] for the recoil,” explained Deputy Meyer.

When the gun was fired, the gun recoiled upward, hitting Marcus in the head causing head trauma. The gun’s owner, Ramsey, received injury to his fingers but was not transported for medical attention.

The Sheriff’s Office 911 dispatch received two calls reporting the incident, though only the second caller could identify their location. Deputy Mike York advised dispatch that he was in the area and had been flagged down and directed to the location. Upon arrival at the scene, Deputy York radioed to dispatch to cancel the call for an ambulance and to send out a Justice of the Peace.

The recoil velocity of the Ruger .454 has been noted for its strength for some time. In a May 2001 article in Shooting Times, author Dick Metcalf reported that “...when the .454 Casull version of the Super Redhawk was introduced in 1999, Ruger spokesmen candidly acknowledged they did not expect the new chambering to be shot a lot for casual plinking or for steel-target competition. Its recoil was simply too severe.”

Deputy Meyer stated that the case is still under investigation.

Lawdog