Woman shoots self while trying to kill mice

[ccharles000]

A Mendocino County woman who was trying to kill mice in her trailer with a gun ended up shooting herself and another person.

Sheriff's officials say the 43-year-old woman pulled out her .44-caliber Magnum revolver after she saw the mice scurrying across the floor of her trailer on Highway 20 in Potter Valley.

But she accidentally dropped the gun, which went off as it struck the floor. The bullet went through the woman's kneecap, bounced off the keys sitting on the belt loop of a 42-year-old man in the trailer and grazed the man's groin before ending up in his coin pocket.

Authorities did not release the shooting victims' names.

The mice escaped the shooting unharmed.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/07/08/state/n090328D73.DTL

[rucky]

1. We need a Non-Lethal Darwin Award category.

there's just too many maimed stupid people limping around.

[lizerdbits]

15. They do have Honorable mentions for people who survive

http://www.darwinawards.com/stupid/

[Rick Myers]

2. A 44 to kill mice???

Meth makes you do stupid things! Or, maybe she's an employee of Blackwater!!! Shoot first... Oh, wait, the mouse is on my boyfriend! Git the gun!!!

[Bunny]

5. When you're battling a small rodent, you need superior fire power.

Everybody knows that.

[Sal Minella]

27. Hunter wouldn't have dreamed of using anything less.

[Turbineguy]

38. Varmint Cong

They never quit.

[ProfessorGAC]

77. Then Why Not An RPG?!?!?

Now THAT would have gotten those mice!
GAC

[ejbrush]

51. Gotta aim right between the eyes...

Sometimes they'll charge when they're wounded.

[Bosso 63]

72. A .416 Rigby would be my choice for household pests.

From mice to rhinos, and everything in between.

[undeterred]

3. And it turns out they were only shortbread mice...

[SalmonChantedEvening]

4. Thank You Fahletinme Shoot Mice Elf

Again.

[Nostradammit]

56. OMG!!!

*ZING*
:rofl:

[bunkerbuster1]

63. Ouch.

I mean, fookin' hilarious. Thanks, I needed that.

[SidDithers]

67. That was freakin' brilliant...

And as a long time Sly fan, I'm disappointed I didn't come up with it myself :)

:applause:

Sid

[mikeytherat]

69. Awesome!

My band covers that song, and now I'm gonna be inserting "shoot" into the lyrics!

mikey_the_rat

[renegade000]

6. .44 magnum is a tad overkill for a mouse

imho

[struggle4progress]

54. Dunno: sounds t'me like she mighta had better luck wid a bazooka

[Recovered Repug]

58. You got to get them on the first shot.

Mice will charge if they're wounded.

[slackmaster]

7. A .44 Magnum is definitely overkill for a mouse

But she accidentally dropped the gun, which went off as it struck the floor.

That is almost certainly bullshit. No modern firearm in good working condition will fire from being dropped a short distance. She probably tried to catch the gun as it was falling.

NEVER TRY TO CATCH A DROPPED KNIFE OR GUN!

[lizerdbits]

17. Now that's stupid

When I drop my kitchen knife I jump back, what kind of idiot would try to catch a gun? Oh, this person. I've never used a gun in my life but it's hard to imagine how dropping it without trying to catch it would fire it, wouldn't it have to involve some amazing Hollywood fall hitting something right on the trigger? :shrug:

[slackmaster]

18. We do know that she lives in a trailer and is dumb enough to try to shoot a mouse with a handgun

That's dumb enough to try to catch a dropped gun.

[Paladin]

42. Golly Slack---That Sounds Like Cultural Bias (n/t)

[slackmaster]

75. It's only OK for gun-grabbers to stereotype gun owners as toothless rednecks

I stereotype stupid people as stupid.

[RebelOne]

64. Are you implying that someone who lives in a trailer is dumb?

Excuse me, but I live in a mobile home and I am anything but dumb. Blonde, yes, but dumb, no.

[slackmaster]

74. It's a stereotype often assigned to people who own firearms

That they are uneducated and poor.

[malaise]

43. Apparently not

The mice are still alive but one knee cap is trapped.

A cat is so much cheaper.

[yardwork]

48. I bet she didn't try to catch it either. I bet she doesn't really remember what happened.

I bet that she and her boyfriend were messing around with the gun and when they both ended up shot they came up with the best excuse they could think of in their condition.

[raccoon]

79. By George, I think you've got it! nt

[panader0]

8. "grazed the groin"? Yikes!!

[uppityperson]

35. Did you read the whole route the bullet took? Shades of JFK!

The bullet went through the woman's kneecap, bounced off the keys sitting on the belt loop of a 42-year-old man in the trailer and grazed the man's groin before ending up in his coin pocket.

[Irreverend IX]

46. That "ricochet" sounds really dubious.

I can't imagine a bullet with the energy of a .44 Magnum bouncing off a guy's keys, unless one of them is a giant key made of half-inch thick metal plating. And the groin -> coin pocket thing is just bizarre. I suspect both of them were really wasted and made up some incoherent story to cover for whatever they were doing.

[NeedleCast]

9. No Cure For Stupid

[Rick Myers]

26. I love it!!!

:thumbsup:

[jimshoes]

10. Everybody knows you use .22 long rifle for

mice. Shhesh!:crazy:

[Wiley50]

21. Yep, that's why they make "rat shot" ammo for .22

Rat shot is basically a .22 cal shotgun round with tiny little shot

I used to use a plastic cooler with swivel handles for catching mice

Prop the cooler up on one handle that you have tied a long cord to.

smear some peanut butter on the floor under the cooler

sit back and wait while holding the cord

when a mouse goes after the bait pull cord causing cooler to slam shut over the mouse

slide thin cardboard under cooler carefully then flip the cooler over

now you can safely transport the mouse elsewhere

Hint: you need to have a lot of time to kill and no heart to kill the mouse

[YOY]

52. It STILL would have made a big ol' mess in the best possible situation

Not to mention the holes in the floor/walls/furniture.

[onehandle]

11. More guns! More guns!

They make me feel safe with gun owners like that in the world.

[Pavulon]

30. People like this are dangerous with a bread knife

flaming idiots. Nothing you can do for them.

[eShirl]

12. I think I saw this cartoon one Saturday morning long, long ago (n/t)

[east texas lib]

13. That had to hurt!

But her friend has a cool souvenir.;-)

[Ichingcarpenter]

14. I know what you're thinking.

I know what you're thinking. "Did he fire six shots or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?

[ehrnst]

71. Yeah, lacking a 44, she would have been forced to use a hatchet, or a chainsaw

Then that guy's groin would be in much worse shape.

Phew!

[Solly Mack]

16. now that's a magic bullet

[Starry Messenger]

19. Never bring a gun to a mice fight

n/t

[Journeyman]

20. Only a .44 Mag to take on MICE? . . . Is she crazy? You need REAL firepower for mice. . .

something in a semi-automatic I would think, maybe even a hand grenade just to be certain.

Silly woman. Woefully unprepared for life's emergencies.

[slackmaster]

22. I think a mouse in a trailer calls for "Kill it with FIRE!"

:rofl:

[lynettebro440]

23. Stupid is as stupid does

:shrug:

[notadmblnd]

24. One of these has always worked for me

[elfin]

25. I much prefer the Wheel of Death

Got rid of my Dad's rifle and installed the Wheel of Death instead.

Big bucket ( ex. a drywall container) with two holes at the top. Put holes in an empty can. Cover the can with peanut butter and birdseed. Thread it onto a coat hanger wire, inserted into the holes in bucket.

Fill the bucket 3/4 full with antifreeze if going to be gone a long time. Otherwise water, if checking frequently.

Make a handy "ramp" to the death treat/trap.

They go for the treat and spin into the Great Beyond.

Works amazingly well.

Note - if using antifreeze - put well out of reach of dogs.

The antifreeze keeps the critters from decomposing.

So -- Ugh -- but it works.

[htuttle]

28. If everyone carried a cat, this would never have happened!

[Turbineguy]

40. Yeah but you'd need

a CCC permit for that and they haven't been invented yet.

[zanne]

65. HAH! nt

[TheCowsCameHome]

29. How stupid. A pick-axe would have made more sense.

:rofl:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

31. Sounds like our glorious military in Iraq - complete with collateral damage.

[Oeditpus Rex]

32. She hates meeces to pieces

[ccharles000]

47. LOL

[uppityperson]

33. Damn it all. If she'd been trained, those mice would never have escaped to terrorize someone else.

I mean, really! Everyone has the Right to defend themselves against mice! What are we turning into? A nation of cowards, huddling fearfully behind a couch while waiting for Vermin Control to come set traps? Those mice may go on to terrorize other people in the neighborhood!

I just don't know what she was thinking. Steinbeck had it right, of mice and men. What would she do if confronted by a Bad Guy(tm)?













:sarcasm: since my sarcastic posts seem to be taken seriously enough recently to get on ignore lists.

[Edweird]

37. There is actually a kernel of truth in there.

She was obviously unaware of basic firearm safety (a massive understatement, I know), and another case where training and education (unfortunately common sense cannot be bought or sold) is sorely needed.






PS, as a side note, I wish to apologize for coming off as insulting in our previous interaction. You were completely civil and I appreciate that. I do enjoy a civil yet vigorous debate over personal attacks and histrionics.

[uppityperson]

39. There is indeed truth in her not being trained.

Just thought I'd take it to an extreme and thank you.

Not on your ignore list, eh? I managed one by copy/pasting what he/she said to me. Oh well.

[Edweird]

45. Ignore list? Puhlease...

I don't need no stinking ignore list.
I'm certain we agree more than we disagree, current topic excepted.
Some here forget that and insist on an "us" versus "them" mentality on the same side of the aisle.

[zanne]

68. But you're an equal opportunity insulter.

[kestrel91316]

34. "....in her trailer..." - I suppose I could make some sort of

comment about trailer "trash" and banjo-pickin' toothless dudes but then I would just get jumped all over.......

[Edweird]

36. She's never heard of a mouse trap? What a dumbass.

[LostInAnomie]

41. You know what's sad? In the best possible scenario...

... the woman would have still ended up with a large hole somewhere in her trailer and mouse juice everywhere.

[paparush]

44. A .44 slug does not simply "graze" one's groin.

Akin to Dennis Miller commenting that "there's no such thing as a slight groin pull."

[JeanGrey]

49. Darwin strikes again. What a moron.

[hootinholler]

50. Why does she have to live in a trailer?

Man, that's giving mobile home communities a bad name.

-Hoot

[Lisa0825]

53. Thank goodness the more intelligent of the two escaped harm!

:evilgrin:

[WhiteTara]

55. meth amphetamine

the stupid drug. I'll check the police blotter this week and I'll bet there will include an arrest for drugs.

[skooooo]

57. Wow..

it must make you *really* stupid!

[kimmylavin]

59. "The mice escaped the shooting unharmed."

Well, at least the smart ones in that place made it out okay!

[OkieD]

60. At least

she didn't shoot him in the face.

[ehrnst]

61. I'm betting that Stevens is emailing this story to Scalia this am. (nt)

[mwb970]

62. It's called "thinning the herd".

This is the closest thing humans have to natural selection, having freed ourselves from nature's version.

[salguine]

66. I'm still waiting for the NRA to trumpet this heroic story of someone

using a gun to defend their home.

[SidDithers]

70. They'll just include in their "statistics" without giving details...nt

Sid

[ehrnst]

73. Here's footage:

http://www.youtube.com/v/GFJTNZBucSc&hl=en&fs=1

[JMackT]

76. Much better choices available

Although when killing something, overkill is usually leads to a quicker death.

[samsingh]

78. we can't educate people in general but let's

educate them on using guns wisely and properly. that's more important than knowledge about the world.

[Wcross]

80. Next time I suggest using a glue trap or getting a kitty.

Wait a minute, forget about the kitty. I wouldn't feel comfortable allowing that woman to be around any living thing.