Occasionally, like everyone else in this business I suppose, I step over to see what’s going on on YouTube. One thing that really chaps my hide: the number of people who think it’s really funny to post videos of women getting knocked on their rear ends by unexpected recoil. Chuckle, chuckle.

Right.

People, it is not that hard to introduce someone to firearms in a safe and appropriate way. It is not rocket science. All it takes is a few minutes of instruction about how to hold the gun and how to stand. It also takes an appropriately sized firearm, and a little attention to safety. Hardly a big deal.

Here is an example of the sort of “funny” video I am talking about. (Edit: I’m having trouble with the embed function. The link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXfg5o1ZVq4)

Viewing that video of new shooters with viciously unfunny range friends may help us visualize what went wrong for the woman in this news story.

“Corredor-Rivera died of a single self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Ralls County Sheriff Gerry Dinwiddie tells WGEM-TV that the woman was shooting a .500-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun when the strength of the gun’s recoil caused her to lose control. … The sheriff said the gun spun around in her hand, leading to a second fatal shot.”

Somehow, I cannot bring myself to laugh at such things. Can you?