Fourteen-year-old Tyler Hodge (not shown) of Reidsville, NC. Tyler and friends were playing in the woods at a family gathering, celebrating a birthday late Sunday afternoon. At some point, a friend of Hodge’s ran from the woods and flagged down a passing car, telling the driver that his friend had “accidentally been shot with a BB gun.”  Tyler was pronounced dead at the scene by EMS at 6:45 PM on Sunday. . .

“I’ve been in law enforcement for 30 years,” Sherrif’s Deputy Dean Venable said. “I’ve see [sic] injuries due to BB guns and most of the time it is just that. I’ve even had reports of people who have lost an eye because of a BB gun, but never have I heard of anyone losing their life because of one. And that’s where we find ourselves.”

Rick Kanoy, a local firearms instructor and salesman stated the obvious: BB guns are deadly weapons.

If a BB would hit your skin, it would actually penetrate an inch of your skin. That’s a long ways. And if it were to hit your eye, it would go right through your eye. If it hit you in the temple, it would go all the way through and also, if it hit you in the jugular vein, you would bleed to death in a matter of minutes.

That said, BB guns are fun. They’ve brought the joys of marksmanship to millions of young people, who’ve gone on to become safe and responsible gun owners. The trick: get BB gun shooters to follow the four rules of gun safety. Specifically, muzzle control. If you see a youngster violating the rule, treat it as seriously as you would if he’d been “playing” with a real gun. Whether the shooter is your child, or someone else’s.

Firearms safety is everyone’s responsibility. No matter what the weapon.

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Benjamin T. Shotzberger
Ben is an aspiring gun-writer caught up in the pursuit of playing with firearms for a living. He spends his days grinding his way up the corporate ladder and wishing for 5pm. His nights.. well the details of how he spends those are private.. His childhood dreams of chasing "bad guys" for a living met the unfortunate reality of student loans, bills, and promotion potential. Ben resides in the Northern Virginia area and enjoys long walks.. to the range. Ben is always on the lookout for new article ideas. Have a firearm you want reviewed? A product tested? Your suggestions are welcome!

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8 COMMENTS

  1. Some of these newer BB Guns are pushing a 17 or 22 cal projectile at advertised velocities approaching 1200 feet per second! That puts them in the same class as my ruger Mk II pistol, but no one would hand that to the kids and tell them to go play.

    In my view, the purpose of a BB gun is to learn safe handling, good habits, and marksmanship fundamentals before graduating up to the Big Iron.

    • I know, bad taste-but the movie is stuck in my head. I would think this was intentional stupidity, although beyond me why if one kid would shoot at another he would aim at the face or head. I’m curious to see if a manslaughter charge follows.

  3. I had a friend that leveled my Pumpmaster 760 at me and after I told him it was loaded, he proceeded to shoot me in the armpit. The bb went in just under the left pectoral muscle and made its way between the skin and muscle around to the back of said armpit. I walked the ten feet to him and grabbed my gun and went home. Now I was about 9 years old and scared to death that if my parents found out that I would be in trouble and my beloved instrument would be taken away FOREVER, so I slid that damn bb out through the hole it went in and the bloody mess was covered up. What I do remember is that this kid was aiming at my head and the little POS managed to yank the trigger and not shoot my eye out.

    I am sorry for the death of Tyler Hodge. Just a crying shame. Four Rules No Exeptions No Redemption

  4. whatever happened to good ol’ red ryders? i dont think you can shoot through posterboard with those things and their still fun as hell haha

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