Stupid things kids have done with guns?

[Questor]

What stupid things can you think of that kids have done with guns? I'm not talking about terrible things like Columbine, just mistakes in judgement that resulted or could have resulted in some harm to property or people.

I recall that some kids in my neighborhood did damage to construction equipment with BB guns. 

A childhood friend of mine had an eye damaged by a flying BB, so yes, you really can "put your eye out" with a BB gun.

I tried re-blueing a Crosman 760 - Big Mistake. Makes them real ugly.

I also tried making dumdum bullets out of CB caps as a tool for thinning out the songbird population. Worked pretty good. But shooting those bullets up in the air in a densely populated neighborhood was a pretty bad idea.

My favorite was from Joe, who used to hunt rats in his home with a .22 caliber rifle. There were ricochet marks on the floor.

Then there was Eddy, who built himself a hand-held blackpowder cannon that shot a double handful of birdshot. He used to use it to shoot coots and egrets in the local golf-course ponds. I watched him shoot it once. Pretty impressive.

Come to think of it, these things are all pretty harmless compared to the stupid things I'm aware that adults have done.

[jpsmith1]

I used to think it was the greatest fun to stick .22 LR shells in a snowbank and show off by popping them with a BB gun.  Everyone was VERY impressed with my shooting ability.  Nobody realized how lucky we all were to have survived with our sight at least...

We used to sit on the riverbank and pop shots at a train across the river with a .22 pistol.

BB gun wars...

[Tn Jim]

Another vote on the BB gun wars. Shot BB's and got really creative. Put bottle rockets stick first down the barrel and fired them at each other like shoulder fired rocket launchers. Between the BB's and bottle rockets it's a miracle all of us aren't blind! I still have a round scar on the tip of my nose from a BB that I caught when I was 14. Hurt like hell, but still didn't learn my leason for a while.

[WylieKy]

I once shot a buzzard out of the air with a pellet rifle, I was about 9.  It almost fell on me as I stared in amazement that I hit it.  I had it over one shoulder, trying to outrun the stink on the way to the house when it decided it was not dead, and like to beat the fire out of me before I could let it go and get away from it.  How many dumb thing can you list in that scenerio.

Oh yeah,
BB gun wars: check
Bottle rockett wars, both handheld and out of BB gun: check
Shot several small propane cylinders and one large (gas grill) cylinder: check
Would stand on the shore of Lake Cumberland in Ky and shoot a .22 and watch the bullet skip across the lake: check
These are the tip of the proverbial iceburg. 


WylieKy

[jpsmith1]

Let's not even get into fireworks.  I've still got scars and a buddy of mine actually lost fingers to that soet of stupidity.

To get into the DUMBEST thing I ever witnessed with a gun, a buddy of mine tried to CATCH a .30-30 bullet, as it was fired, with an empty .38spl casing.  He held the case about 1" from the muzzle and, I guess, expected the bullet to catch the casing a tear it out of his fingers.  He is missing most of his index and the tip of his middle fingers now.  I watched them disappear in a fine mist as the trigger was pulled.  To say I was stunned is an understatement.

[no guns here]

Dang, my wife will be relieved to know that she didn't marry the ONLY fool on the planet...

bb gun wars - been there, done that until we all got pellet guns... stopped that real fast!

shooting out the lights at the local softball park...  RUN!  COPS!!!

bottle rockets - short piece of pvc stopped up with modeling clay on one end makes a pretty good hand-held launcher but of course it's easier to just throw 'em... had my last bottle rocket fight about 3 years ago with my father in law... I'm 39 now...

rock fights

mub balls at cars... RUN!

.22's skipping across the Arkansas river... pretty cool until we realized there were some guys fishing on the far side...  RUN!

water balloon launchers shot at the school buses hauling the "uncool kids"... RUN FAST!  Who knew the Principal was in the gym behind us???

opened drain on water tower... ran for several days (holiday weekend) before they caught it... funny at the time...

Yep, today I would have been a juvenile offender... back then... "da&@ kids..."



later,
ngh

[Brett]

Let's not even get into fireworks.  I've still got scars and a buddy of mine actually lost fingers to that soet of stupidity.

To get into the DUMBEST thing I ever witnessed with a gun, a buddy of mine tried to CATCH a .30-30 bullet, as it was fired, with an empty .38spl casing.  He held the case about 1" from the muzzle and, I guess, expected the bullet to catch the casing a tear it out of his fingers.  He is missing most of his index and the tip of his middle fingers now.  I watched them disappear in a fine mist as the trigger was pulled.  To say I was stunned is an understatement.

How much did he hve to drink before trying this trick?

[GRIMJIM]

bb-gun wars,we would play the two guys with the daisy spring loaded pistols against the guy with the pump rifle. You were only supposed to put one pump in it but after getting shot a couple of times all bets were off. Eventually I got one in the eye. It was so wierd, I could see it coming but just couldn't duck fast enough. Luckily I wore glssses at the time. I spent a little time picking pieces of glass out of my eye but no damage. Bottle rockets yes. Roman candles yes. 22 shells in the bonfire.

[jpsmith1]

How much did he hve to drink before trying this trick?

Amazingly enough, nothing.  He was also raised around guns and knew full well the amount of destruction that a hunting rifle is capable of.  Apparently the minute difference between .308 and .358 was more than enough to protect his finger.  DUH!!

[WmRoy]

How much did he hve to drink before trying this trick?

Amazingly enough, nothing.  He was also raised around guns and knew full well the amount of destruction that a hunting rifle is capable of.  Apparently the minute difference between .308 and .358 was more than enough to protect his finger.  DUH!!

Who was the fool that fired the gun?

[jpsmith1]

His brother. 

It was a surreal scene to watch play out.  Older brother waving a cartridge in front of the muzzle of a gun and the younger shouting "I'll shoot!  I'm going to shoot!"  I was completely stunned when to rifle went off.  I'd seen them do stupid stuff before, particularly the younger one, but this one took the cake. 

BOTH of them were raised around guns and in hunting families.  They BOTH knew what a rifle was capable of.  I never dreamed that he would pull the trigger.

I basically cut all ties with the two of them.  We were best friends and hunting buddies, but with that crap going on, I valued my skin more than a hunting partner.  I can find a new hunting buddy, someday...

Over the past few years, I've debated who was to blame, and have some to the decision that they were both equally at fault.  One for putting his hand in harms way and the other for squeezing the trigger when he knew that there was something in front of the gun that he did not want to shoot.

I can't get around it.  I have at various times blamed one more than the other, but in the final wash, they were both idiots.