Last week we were practicing for the 4H State shoot coming up next weekend. One of the team members was halfway shooting their 25 shells when his shotgun accidentally misfired. It was a pump 20 gauge and the safety was on. I was handing him 1 shell at a time and as he closed the action the gun fired. I immediately checked the safety and it was in the on position. His trigger finger was still wrapped around the stock in front of the pistol grip. He did everything right and the gun discharged harmlessly down range. I have been an instructer for 4 years and this was the FIRST time I had ever witnessed such an event. It scared the Hades out of both of us! I quickly used this event to teach the other team members that this is the exact reason why we preach muzzle control and safe handling at the range. I could tell by the looks on the kids faces that they were listening to what I was saying. This could have been a different story if we had not been drilled in the proper use of firearms. I just thought I would pass this along as it may help someone who does not think a gun with the safety on can fire. I can now tell them it can and most certainly will! I tried to get the shotgun to do it several times after that and it would not do it again. Just thought I would pass this along as it may help someone else.
