Mea culpa, I'm a week late for the anniversary of this momentous event in the history of firearms safety, so shoot me. :) (I'm still better than last year.)
January 6th is the anniversary of the first known "I didn't know it was loaded" story ever offered in defense of an accidental shooting. I refer of course to Laux Pfister.
On the 6th of January 1515 (the Feast of Three Holy Kings) in the city of Constance (Konstanz) a young man named Laux Pfister hired the services of a local prostitute (described as a "handsome whore" in court papers). After they were finished he took up a pistol (described as "of the type that makes it's own fire", i.e. a friction-lock, almost certainly an early wheel-lock) and was "playing about with it".
Naturally the pistol discharged and the bullet struck the woman in the chin, passing through her throat and out the back of her neck.
The court required him to pay 40 florins in compensation, in addition to 20 florins per years for the rest of her life. Additional costs to Pfister were ~75 florins, including medical bills totalling 37 florins.
I feel that this story rather epitomised certain discussions in this sub-forum recently; private possession of firearms, accidental discharge of such, legalised prostitution, safety of prostitution, compensation for personal injuries, access to heath care and of course "responsible gun owners".
January 6th is the anniversary of the first known "I didn't know it was loaded" story ever offered in defense of an accidental shooting. I refer of course to Laux Pfister.
On the 6th of January 1515 (the Feast of Three Holy Kings) in the city of Constance (Konstanz) a young man named Laux Pfister hired the services of a local prostitute (described as a "handsome whore" in court papers). After they were finished he took up a pistol (described as "of the type that makes it's own fire", i.e. a friction-lock, almost certainly an early wheel-lock) and was "playing about with it".
Naturally the pistol discharged and the bullet struck the woman in the chin, passing through her throat and out the back of her neck.
The court required him to pay 40 florins in compensation, in addition to 20 florins per years for the rest of her life. Additional costs to Pfister were ~75 florins, including medical bills totalling 37 florins.
I feel that this story rather epitomised certain discussions in this sub-forum recently; private possession of firearms, accidental discharge of such, legalised prostitution, safety of prostitution, compensation for personal injuries, access to heath care and of course "responsible gun owners".
via JREF Forum http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=272015&goto=newpost
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