Irresponsible Gun Owner of the Day: Gerard Vincent Poulson

“A possessive and jealous [Gerard Vincent] Poulson accused his wife of one year of infidelity during an argument at their home in February 2012,” perthnow.com.au reports. “He became enraged – shouting and swearing at her and jabbing her in the side of the throat, the judge said. He then went into a bedroom and retrieved a .303 Lithgow rifle, shouldered the weapon and advanced on his wife with the barrel pointing towards her.” Quick aside. South Wales’ Lithgow Small Arms Factory, produced the SMLE [Short Magazine Lee-Enfield or “Smelly”] Mk III rifle from 1926 until 1953. The .303 British cartridge goes all the way back to 1895. And this story of jealousy is as old as time itself. Right so . . .

She backed away as Poulson said “You’re dead, bitch”.

He put the rifle between her eyes and pulled the trigger. The rifle was not loaded.

The terrified woman fell to the floor.

When spoken to by police some months later, Poulson said his act was intended only to demonstrate to his wife how quickly a woman could be killed if she was unfaithful and her husband was so minded.

A shot across her bow, so to speak. OK against her forehead. The judge was unimpressed with Mr. Poulson’s theoretical demonstration. Maybe it had something to do with Poulson’s previous convictions for choking his wife and banging her head into a floor.

Clearly, Poulson showed a careless disregard for muzzle discipline. Or worse, not. Which earned him some IGOTD hardware and a few months in the boob. Yes, that what the Aussies call it. Which also describes today’s Irresponsible Gun Owner of the Day.