Thread: A reflection and a reminder - Unsafe act

Just wanted to make a reflection and put out a reminder following an unsafe act over the weekend.

I took a newbie out in search for some wallabies on Doc land. He doesn't have a firearms license but has expressed strong interest in hunting and shooting. I took him to the range once before to familiarise shooting and operating the 22 and 223.
We did not go far into the block before my mate got exhausted from walking. While waiting for him to recover, we stood around and glassed for a bit.

Here is where it went wrong. I was looking around using my naked eyes and binos, focused on searching for animals, and did not pay attention to what my mate was doing. Then I heard him yelling behind me "there are two people on the hill there". When I turned to look at him, he was looking at those people through the rifle scope!

I immediately told him to put the rifle down, and explained to him that it is dangerous practice to search or identify game through the rifle scope. That's what the binos are for. My mate said the rifle was unloaded, I said it doesn't matter, how would you feel seeing someone pointing a muzzle at you while you are searching through the binos?

Today I received a call from the local police. The other hunting/tramping party has caught my mate looking at them through the rifle scope. They recorded our vehicle rego and reported it. I explained and apologised to the officer. Fortunately he was very understanding of the situation, and said it was more of an educational phone call. He was happy that I am well aware of what is safe and what is unsafe, and left it at that. Thank you officer.

Obviously I was not happy with my mate, but reflecting on this, I should really be blaming my own lack of supervision. As a license holder, it is my responsibility to provide IMMEDIATE supervision to a non-licensed novice. The word "Immediate" means I should have instant control of what my mate is doing with the gun at all times. Looking around for animals or enjoying the scenery are distractions to that immediate control.

I do wish to sincerely apologise to the other party. This won't happen again, and I hope others don't repeat my mistake.

A reminder from the Arms Code: