Think about how many times you’ve heard a bump in the night, gotten up to investigate, and it turned out that it was actually someone (or something) native to your house. Now compare the number of false alarms to actual intruders. Now imagine that you had a loaded firearm in your hands for each of those false alarms, your finger on the trigger, and your nerves running wild. It’s not hard to see how such a situation could quickly turn disastrous, and the reality is that such paranoid reactions set off by false alarms happen much more often than actual intruders do. This means that you’re much more likely to accidentally shoot someone you love than you are to ever use the gun on an actual intruder.  Twenty-two times more likely to kill a loved one than to use that gun for protection, to be precise. (NGC, 10-5-09)

In Rochester, Minnesota, a grandfather shot and critically wounded his 16-year-old granddaughter after mistaking the girl for an intruder. Police say the man and his wife were sleeping when they awoke to a noise outside at around 11:00 p.m. The man grabbed his handgun and fired at least two shots at the figure outside the back door. The teen had been staying with them, and the grandfather thought she was still in the house. (USA Today, 12-12-2012, p. 6A) Rather than saving the day, this trigger-happy grandpa did the most horrible thing you could possibly do to a child.

A similar thing happened in Bend, Oregon, in 2011. Only this time it was the man himself who paid the price. Stephen Trono, 61, was shot 5 times by his wife after she mistook him for an intruder. He partly blames himself for the accident; he says he bought his wife the gun “for protection” after she was allegedly assaulted by a man in  a bathroom. His wife fired six shots, four hitting him in the abdomen and one in the hand. (USA Today, 1-14-2011, p. 8A) He’ll have a long road of recovery ahead of him. Meanwhile, in Melbourne, Florida, a 72-year-old woman was accidentally shot by her husband during a “robbery drill” the couple was conducting to practice how they’d respond to a real life intruder. (USA Today, 8-25-2010), p. 9A) These people found out firsthand that the biggest threat to their family doesn’t come from the outside world. The decision to bring a gun into their home is what endangers them most.

This easily happens to trained professionals as well. Peter Liang, a rookie police officer, was patrolling a high-rise with his gun drawn in 2014. That’s when he says a sudden sound startled him and he fired. The bullet ricocheted off a wall and killed a 28-year-old man who was on a lower floor. (Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 3-24-2016, A4)

In Cincinnati, Ohio, a father used his gun “for protection” to accidentally shoot and kill his 14-year-old son. The father had dropped his son off at a school bus stop, but the boy, attempting to skip school, returned home and hid in the basement. The father, hearing a noise and assuming he was alone in the house, decided to shoot first and ask questions later, typical of the trigger-happy spirit shown by gun owners everywhere. He shot 14-year-old Georta Mack in the neck, killing his own son. (USA Today, 1-14-2016, 4A)

A grandmother in East New Orleans shot and killed her 3-year-old grandson with a gun she was keeping “for protection.” The boy’s 42-year-old grandmother, Deonca Kennedy, was employed as a security guard at the time, and had stashed the gun under her pillow where the two of them were sleeping – something many careless gun owners do to keep their weapon handy at night. As they tossed and turned in their sleep the gun went off, striking the boy in the chest. She was charged with negligent homicide and other charges. (USA Today, 1-21-2016, 3A)

It doesn’t matter how much training you have, this is a legitimate threat. A New York City Police officer accidentally shot his 17-year-old daughter when she was trying to sneak back home one night after an unplanned evening out.  (True Child Safety, Police Officer Accidentally Shoots Daughter) Even though he aimed for the leg, the bullet hit her in the thigh, ricocheted off her femur, and ended up lodged in the hip.  She was admitted to the hospital in critical condition; a life-threatening injury that required major reconstructive surgery. He even called out first, but when she delayed in answering (still hoping to sneak back undetected) he decided to shoot first and ask questions later.  All the training in the world didn’t stop this professional gun handler from nearly killing his own daughter.  This is the way your gun is likely to be used when things go bump in the night.

Another teen accidentally shot himself while investigating a suspicious noise. (USA Today, 4-7-08, 9A) It sounds like something out of a slapstick movie, but it happens a lot more than you might imagine.  Another time, a man was shot by police while he was holding a would-be burglar at gunpoint.  (ABC New Phoenix, 10-8-09; the police assumed he was the burglar.)  Such cases of mistaken identity are anything but uncommon.  You might also accidentally shoot your spouse while retrieving the weapon in the dark in the middle of the night and fumbling around for the safety, one of the major causes of accidental shooting. This is even easier to do thanks to the wonderful invention of hair-line triggers, which are a super-sensitive trigger that takes only the slightest bump or squeeze to shoot. Bottom line: the math is against you.

Arm yourself with information!  Get our full eBook, Guns for Protection?, which is packed full of information you won’t fine online.  At just $4.99, it’s a must-read for anyone interested in the gun safety debate, and all proceeds from your purchase go to help kids in need.

See also:

• Concealed Weapon Gun Accidents
• Deadly Celebratory Fire
• People Accidentally Using Guns Against A Family Member
• Child Gun Accidents