“The Washington County Sheriff’s office says an instructor conducting firearms training was seriously injured when he was hit by shrapnel after an exploding target went off,” kata.com reports. “The office said 42-year-old Scott Turner of Albany suffered life-threatening injuries in the accident. He was flown Saturday night to a hospital in Portland.” Ironically enough, Turner’s bio on the Northwest Self Defense Education website emphasizes safety . . .
Since 1994, Scott Turner has trained over 6000 people to handle their firearms safely and responsibly.We are very proud to have a 100% safety record . . . Starting at a very young age, Scott was taught about safe and responsible gun handling.
Guns yes, Tannerite not so much. Here’s how it went down . . .
Turner was leading a group of former military and law enforcement officers in firearms training involving the use of Tannerite. The group had rented a private facility near the rural community of Timber.
The training exercise involved shooting the exploding target. The target was placed behind a car door and when it exploded, shrapnel from the car door hit Turner.
Tannerite’s perfectly safe when used properly. Make that “judiciously.” But this is hardly the first example of injury resulting from “over-enthusiastic” deployment of the explosive. Will legislators feel compelled to “do something”? Watch this space. Meanwhile, our thoughts and prayers are with Turner as he fights for his life.