no. 622 - While It Could Have All Gone So Wrong, Everything Is Alright

Easter Sunday we went to my parent's farm for dinner. After the normal amount of bickering between my Mom and Dad, good-heartedly refereed by my brother, sister and myself, we started to get ready to head back home.

My Dad and brother went outside to do "chores" (sit in the shop and bullshit), Mr. DD woke up from his hour-long nap on the sofa and XBoy was getting bored and antsy. As we sat around the table, chatting about nothing, my husband wandered into what we call the den. It's just a very small room that doubles as an entry-way that has space for nothing more than some hanging plants, a few items of taxidermy, an antique writing desk, phone and the gun cabinet.

Mr. DD is quite the gun fancier, unfortunately. He gets the "hobby" from his dad who has enough rifles, guns and ammunition collected that when he showed a small group of Japanese business men his safes, I'm sure they thought he was his own personal militia as firearms are a no-no in Japan.

On the other hand, my own father's collection is just a handful of old rifles, most probably not in working condition. My husband pulled out an old .22 rifle from the cabinet. He discovered it was loaded and proceeded to unload it (safety first). He took out two rounds and then found one jammed. I can't describe exactly what he saw or what happened since I was in the next room. All I can say is suddenly a loud BANG came from the room.

I jerked around in my chair at the table to peer around the corner. There stood my husband, dumb-founded. Without even touching the trigger, the rifle had gone off. He was holding the rifle, barrel up at the time so we looked to see if it had actually discharged a round, or if somehow a blank, like a "bird-banger", had gone off. We didn't see a hole in the ceiling, so we figured it was a blank.

However, on the wall, up high there was a display of pheasant feathers and upon closer inspection, we saw the hole hidden behind the feathers, which was about 10" from the ceiling.

At the same time, XBoy called me from the bathroom, which was on the other side of the wall. He was doing his thing when he heard the bang and wanted to know what was going on. There he was, still sitting on the toilet and I saw something in his hair: white flecks of plaster.

I looked up at the wall adjoining the den and bathroom and saw the exit hole of the .22 and another entry hole into the ceiling, which leads to the attic (luckily).

I have to admit that we all initially found the whole situation rather funny. My husband just shot up my parent's house. I reminded him that this was much worse than the time I shot the bat in our old house with a pellet gun. But as the shock and surprise wore off, we all started to realize how badly this could have gone.

Mr. DD could have been holding the rifle differently and hit himself; hit my sister sitting in the doorway; or what if XBoy had been in the room and Mr. DD had held the rifle at another angle, say looking down the barrel? Or the angle of the shot could have gone a little lower and shattered the wall-width mirror in the bathroom instead of shooting over it with XBoy opposite? The what ifs when it comes to the bad things that could have happened...

I find myself asking "what if I hadn't lost Vivienne in 2004", trying to imagine how better things might have been. To have to wonder what could have happened Sunday has given me nightmares. A million other scenarios could have happened. We were lucky it ended with this one. Very, very lucky.

Comments

[Nico]

Oh, wow, DD. I just got goosebumps all over reading that. I am SO glad that lady luck was smiling on you guys that day!

[Tracy]

Wow. Yes, that's the kind of situation that puts my "what if" thinking into overdrive.

Glad everybody is ok.

See, I am not anti-gun, but this is why I'm scared even having my husband's shotgun in our house.

[Dooneybug]

Oh man, that is truly terrifying! I am glad everyone is ok.

[Mandy]

Wow. I'm glad that no one was hurt.

C is similar to Mr. DD and I'm sure he could scare people with our gun safe as well. We are both adamant about checking for live rounds before even letting guns back in the house, just to avoid that situation. It still crosses my mind. Especially with a child in the house now...

[Tracy]

Strangely enough - I just read this article. Guess I'm glad you're not this family:

http://www.kmbc.com/news/15701029/detail.html

[Shelli]

So scary!!! I'm glad no one was hurt. Ironically, S. just applied for a gun permit today (I had been giving him a hard time but agreed he could keep one in the house so long as the gun and ammo were in two separate and locked safes).
Now your story has freaked me out.

[beagle]

In my former career, I encountered sadder endings to similar stories. Hence I will never have a gun in the house. Just too scary for me. I'm a worrier in general and ten years in an OR only amplified that trait!

I'm so glad it all turned out well in this case, truly glad.

[PiquantMolly (AKA Mollywogger)]

Jesus Christ, that's terrifying.

[Betty M]

Very scary indeed - glad it was all ok.

[Summer]

Wow. So glad things happened the way it did.

[Catizhere]

holy shit.

that's all I got. Holy.shit.

[Aurelia]

Holy Shit! And people wonder why I hate guns...just thinking about what could've happened makes me feel sick.

[Christine]

I am like you in the "what if" department. I imagine that at first it was funny but when you saw the plaster in Xboys hair and realized what almost happened...wow, it gives me chills to think about it.

[laura]

omigosh, so scary! glad everyone is ok.

[Meira]

I'm just speechless.

And frankly, more sure than ever that I don't want a gun in the house. You hear about people leaving a gun where the toddler can get it and you think, "Well, I just won't be that stupid!" But here's a prime situation where Mr.DD was doing everything right -- and still came close to shooting your child. I mean, yeah shit happens -- it's most likely to happen in a car (which we all do everyday without worrying) . . . but I think that if my child was dead because of something like that, the knowledge that I did everything right and shit happens wouldn't alleviate the guilt. Scary, scary stuffs.
But then, I grew up without guns, and don't know anyone who has one now -- so I have none of the familiarity that might open my mind on the subject.

[Jill]

I'm so glad nothing really awful happened. And it is probably a good thing that the gun is now unloaded.

[Kath]

Oh, DD, I'm getting goosebumps too. Sheesh. What a relief that it all turned out well.

[Lala]

What the HELL is he doing with loaded guns in the house??? That was scary as hell! Hell, I tell you, hell!

[Jenny, Bloggess]

Holy crap, chica!

No loaded guns in the house.

Guess I need to check mine tonight.

[Julie]

Wow! How terrifying that must have been. My word, all the "what ifs" that exist on any given day, and then that. Thank goodness ya'll are OK.

[Oh, The Joys]

Sheeeeeeeesh! Scary, sister!!

[Jennifer]

Scary. Glad to hear luck was on your side that day!

[isabel]

Thank goodness you are all okay. Phew!

[BunnyBlue]

My dad is a huge gun enthuists , and he knows how to handle them very well. never pointing them at ANYONE or ANYTHING you don't want... well... not living anymore. A few weeks ago he was cleaning them in the garage and one accedently went of... going through the garage wall , and almost hitting my mother outside mowing the lawn. It can happen. I'm glad nothing happened in either of out situations.

[BunnyBlue]

My dad is a huge gun enthuists , and he knows how to handle them very well. never pointing them at ANYONE or ANYTHING you don't want... well... not living anymore. A few weeks ago he was cleaning them in the garage and one accedently went of... going through the garage wall , and almost hitting my mother outside mowing the lawn. It can happen. I'm glad nothing happened in either of out situations.