Numbers don’t lie: Hunting is safe
WHEN it comes to safety, hunting with firearms is near the top of the list of recreational activities ranked according to the number of injuries per 100,000 participants. You will find it sandwiched between billiards and bowling, which hold the first and third spots, according to a 2018 report by the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
Billiards and pool players average 17 injuries (.02 percent) per 100,000 participants, while hunters and bowlers average 27 (.03 percent) and 50 (.05 percent), respectively. Target archers hold fourth position on the list with 60 injuries per 100,000 participants.
To add perspective, a person is 31 times more likely to be injured while cheerleading, 42 times more likely to be injured while riding a bicycle and 65 times more likely to be injured while playing basketball than hunting. Do we even need to consider tackle football?
Credited with hunting’s safety record is the Hunter Education program, once referred to as Hunter Safety, that is mandatory at some level in nearly every state and most Canadian provinces. The first mandatory program in the United States was created in New York in 1949. Its purpose was to reduce hunting-relating accidents. From there, the concept spread to other states.
Utah adopted Hunter Education in 1957 after the state experienced 126 hunting-related accidents resulting in 22 fatalities during that year. Of those, 93 (74 percent) involved juvenile hunters. Though the Beehive State’s Hunter Education began as a voluntary program, lawmakers opted to make it mandatory in 1960.
In 1961, the number of accidents dropped to 38 involving six juveniles and five fatalities. Through the years, accident numbers continued to improve, and in 2017 there were just seven accidents and a single fatality. “Since 1996 Utah has averaged less than seven hunting accidents per year. During that time, Utah has had only seven hunting firearm-related fatalities,” according to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.
To put it succinctly, Hunter Education has had and continues to have a positive impact.
Here in the Silver State, Hunter Education became mandatory in 1972 for those born after Jan. 1, 1960. Fortunately, there have been relatively few hunting-firearm related fatalities in Nevada — 28 since 1955. And three of those have occurred since 1997.
While that is a good track record, one fatality is one too many. Moreover, it offers little consolation to those who lost loved ones and friends in hunting accidents. Not to mention those who might have been otherwise involved in an accident resulting in someone’s death.
Today the hunting community expresses condolences to the family of a 48-year-old Winnemucca man who died from a gunshot wound suffered while hunting in the North Pequop Mountains east of Elko.
Preliminary findings of an investigation by the Elko County Sheriff Department and Nevada game wardens determined that a friend of the victim was attempting to place his weapon into a plastic gun case attached to a side-by-side off-highway vehicle when the rifle accidentally discharged. The bullet struck the victim in the chest.
Those circumstances are eerily similar to a 2105 incident in which a 48-year-old Carson City man was killed when he was struck by a bullet accidentally fired from the rifle his partner was placing in the rear seat of their vehicle. The ensuing investigation showed the partner failed to clear the chamber before placing the firearm in the vehicle.
These unfortunate circumstances serve as painful reminders of the importance of making sure firearms are unloaded before being placed on or in vehicles. Be sure the chamber is clear. It also reminds us of the importance of following the four primary rules of safe gun handling.
■ Treat every gun as if it were loaded.
■ Keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.
■ Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.
■ Make sure of your target and what is beyond it.