Only in America...
Would they build houses so flimsy you can knock a hole in a wall with a pea shooter!
What drill was he using in the first place, a Fischer Price?
Officials are pondering whether to charge a Missouri DIY satellite TV installer who decided that the best way to punch a hole through the wall was with a .22 calibre handgun, and in so doing accidentally shot and killed his wife. According to KCTV5.com, Ronald Long was attempting to install said system in the bedroom of his …
That's all the safety checks he made? Relied on his impression that all his loved ones were safe? Didn't think to, oh, call out and say 'honey, I'm just about to shoot a gun through the wall'. Or peek outside to see if loved ones or even neighbours weren't strolling about.
So someone is dead, because he didn't take two seconds to check. Throw him in jail, because we don't need idiots walking around our streets.
typical Yank idiocy, but then what do you expect with a president who can't spell 'Guantemanomo' without the aid of My First World Dictionary, eh?
/Paris, because she knows what Yanks would rather do with their 'guns'.
/the whole effort has gone out of commenting; somehow something's lacking.
But the cut & paste comment functionality misses. This yank was "two dumb" (El-Reg spelling, I really hope it was intentional)...
Does this count as a Darwin award, since she married this dipstick? Although that might be a tad unfair - no-one really deserves to get this sort of treatment off their husband.
Yeah right. More like he simply got angry and frustrated at not being able to drill his way through and so just grabbed his gun and blasted away, not really thinking about anything else. I know he lost his wife through this but he should be sent down for several years to show others how completely irresponsible and dumb his actions were and, of course, for needlessly taking a human life through his stupidity. Darwin must be cursing that the wrong person was removed from the gene pool.
Readers outside the US may not be aware of this, but the gun manufacturers have a sideline of powder-actuated nail insertion devices.
Basically it's a .22 cartridge which is put into either a contrivance which then fires the nail into whatever it is you are nailing. Different powder loads for different materials - I imagine your nail goes really deep if you use a concrete load on a wood surface.
Anyway, I wonder if this guy gained inspiration for his idea from this extraordinary piece of hardware. In fairness, apart from the consequences, it did apparently work.
I have to side with the first poster on this one, what was he trying to use to drill in the first place that failed so miserably that the only possible device to be able to penetrate such hardy building materials was a gun and x2 bullets..
however its kinda like hitting a nail wrong and smacking your own hand then needing to have another go. I wonder which bullet killed his wife, the one that went into the wall, or the one that went through the window from his first "attempt"
As Duncan Ellis pointed out, 22 caliber nail guns are quite common around the world.
Examples of people shooting themselves with such nail guns:
Los Angeles:
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/05/06/1083635253690.html
Australia:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Opinion/Shot-with-a-nailgun/2004/12/21/1103391737645.html
Colorado:
http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/9348.html
There is even a cottage industry of lawyers due to nail guns injuries by idiots.
http://www.california-construction-accidents.com/nail_gun_accidents.php4
The tool is called a "Ram-set" (someone's trade name) and it works wonderfully well. I used one when I was building a small house - it would put a 25mm hardened steel nail right through a steel base channel and all the way into fully cured poured concrete. Bang. Bang. Bang. One bang = one nail all the way in. Think of it as a stapler for concrete. And yes, they are dangerous if not used correctly (safety glasses, gloves, and RTFM!!)
Mr. TV installer is an absolute moron, his wife paid the ultimate price for this. Now we are probably going to see a label on televisions that says "Attempting to watch this device may be hazardous to your health." (We already know they are hazardous to our sanity.)
Yeah. Only in america does stupid stuff happen, except when it happens somewhere else, like right here in old blighty where I've seen or heard about contractors taking pot-shots at each other with nailguns, idiots knifing their friends to death by accident and more idiots deciding it would be a splendid idea to walk along in front of a high-speed train. But crap like that only happens in america, right, because Americans are Stupid. Everyone knows that...
Yeah, like that'll work.
For those who don't know, one of the NRA's key rules of firearm safety is to be aware of what is behind the target you shoot at. That means you do look or you're being reckless with a gun.
I would say lock him up but this is in America. They have laws for frying people like him so use them.
he thought the wife was in the house, or did he wait till he had a clear shot. What is it they say "marriage isnt a word, it's a sentence" and of course "If i'd killed her i'd be out the jail by now" or "cant live with them, cant get away with digging a huge hole in the back garden and burying them", well we can all stop digging the holes now and just install the satellite system. either bloody idiot or bloody evil genius
What an utter fucking twat.
P.S.
Tighter border controls - to keep Americans in America.
P.P.S
When it happens here in Old Blighty (i.e. not in America, though the Atlantic seems to be the only difference these days) we really do take it as Darwinism. Seriously. It's a moment to rejoice briefly. In this case a ricochet killing the tit with the gun would have been the decent outcome though :o|
Come on man, we just want cheap shots at the Yanks, they voted in GWB after all.
Good point well made though.
Manslaughter? He should go down for that, plus waving a gun about like a complete idiot, and for not pointing it in the right direction (looking down the barrel).
As for the people who are surprised a .22 could do this, please do us all a favour, grab a .22 calibre weapon, make an automated 'kilbot' to pull the trigger, then stand some distance back and back up your claims with paper work.
They penetrate soft flesh easily, most major organs are soft. Put two and two together please (pun not originally intended). Thinish wood walls aren't uncommon out there are they?
Someone help me out here please. Maybe I didn't read the article properly, but if he was installing a dish, wouldn't be ideally be doing that outside?
If I remember correctly .22 comes in Short, Long and Magnum flavours. I've put .22 longs through a steel door like it's paper. Magnums would pack a cosiderable punch.
Re house quality, many (or even most) houses in the US are timber-framed. The outside is then faced with wood or plastic, and the inside is plasterboard. So no problems getting a bullet through. As far as drills go, a likely problem would be drill-bit length. I know I'd happily put a bullet through a wall if it saved me buying a $20 bit *AND* I knew there was no-one in the line of fire.
If you are in any doubt about the destructive potential of a .22, you should remember that the SA80, M60 and AK-74 (as opposed to AK-47. No, it wasn't a typo) are all 5.56mm (new way of saying .22 in old money)
He may not have had an automatic assault rifle, but an idiot (American or otherwise) can still do a lot of damage with one.
Bigger is not always better when it comes to ballistic energy!
Paris, 'cos she'd need a huuugge nailgun!