AFTE Store - Air Gun Problematic

Air-guns: Are they really safe? Due to the mostly non-serious wounds caused by air guns, shooting incidents, especially animal and bird abuse are not always reported to the Police. It is also common knowledge that many children have lost an eye or bear scars of an encounter on the wrong side of an air gun. Eyes are the most vulnerable area on a living being and can easily be lost or injured by any relatives sharp objective, even a finger, and thus can not be used to determine lethality. Cases of fatal shooting incidents involving humans with air guns are not a common occurrence, but are however possible. The JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCE (1976:653) reported an accidental killing of a 5-year old boy by his 7-year old sister. The boy had been shot with an air rifle at a distance of 1.5 metres in the left chest wall. Heart surger failed and the boy died 30 to 40 minutes after the shooting. The autopsy report described the cause of death as a bullet wound to the heart and aorta. Physicians have alleged that the victim would have survived if he had received prompt medical attention. The wound was inflicted with a Sheridan single shot, pump-up pneumatic rifle of 5 mm/.20 calibre. The weight of the pellet was 15.6 grains with a muzzle velocity ranging from 81 m/s to 213 m/s, depending on the number of pump-up strokes. The journal of MEDICINE SCIENCE AND THE LAW (1962:153) also reported an accidental killing of a 7-year old girl by a 6-year old boy with an air rifle. The girl was shot at a distance of 0.5 metre. The pellet caused a wound just over her left eyebrow and was located radiologically in the right occipital lobe of the brain. Her brain injury led to her death four days after she had been shot. The wound was inflicted with a new 4.5 mm/.177 calibre BSA air rifle. The journal does not report any detailed information regarding the air rifle.