By LKB
As previously reported, a TTAG contingent was at the Comp-U-Dopt annual sporting clay shoot fundraiser at the Blackwood Gun Club north of Houston on Saturday. For sporting clay fans, this is an exceptional facility, with 24 sporting clay stations set amidst a thick pine forest, which can make for many interesting and challenging presentations.
The event was held for a very good cause — Comp-U-Dopt is a foundation that wipes and reconditions no-longer-state-of-the-art-
Our TTAG group was to be Dan Zimmerman, myself, TTAG contributor Peter Schechter, and our amigo Jeff Perritt. Unfortunately, unforeseen developments required Dan to cancel at the last minute, but we were able to add a substitute. And as we’ll see, I was very, very lucky that we did.
The day of the event featured monsoon-level rains all morning that turned the Bladwood course into a “welcome to the jungle” kind of experience, complete with plenty of background noise from very happy frogs and other rain-loving fauna:
As my trainer, a military veteran, is fond of saying, “gunfights aren’t called on account of rain.” Duck hunts and charity sporting clay shoots aren’t either. So it was on with the rain shells and out on the course we went.
Our team arrived at our assigned first station. I was standing at the back of our golf cart, getting some shells from my ammo bag on the back seat, when I heard a loud squeak that I thought was feedback from my electronic ear protection. Next thing I know I heard “LOOK OUT!” and somebody grabbed my shoulder and yanked me sharply backwards.
It’s a good thing for me that he did . . . a huge dead tree had just snapped off and fallen:
I’d been standing just to the right of where my ammo bag wound up, leaning over the back seat.
It was a totally freak event that the tree happened to fall at that moment, in that direction, while my back was to it. Had I not been pulled out of the way, the tree would have squashed me like a grape. Blackwood won’t get much more use out of that golf cart.
You’ll also be relieved to learn that no firearms were damaged in this incident, either.
So, who was the hero of the day?
Meet Cody Wisniewski, the director of the Center to Keep and Bear Arms for the Mountain States Legal Foundation. Cody’s an attorney who works on Second Amendment cases at MSLF and as you can imagine, with recent Supreme Court events he and I had quite a bit to discuss. (Look for more on MSLF’s Second Amendment advocacy on TTAG in the future.)
I’ll be arranging to bring Cody to stately Casa de Bonham at some point in the future for an appropriate hero party. Cody also indicatesd that he hasn’t yet had the pleasure of a Texas feral hog hunt, so if any TTAG readers in Central Texas have any need for porcine extermination, please do let me know.
Oh, and as to how (and what) we shot . . . .
Cody (using Peter Schechter‘s Winchester SX4) had the high score of the group (80 of 100), with Jeff (Beretta A400 Xtreme) coming second at 72. Peter (shooting a Beretta Silver Pigeon) managed to outpoint me (54 to 49), but I’ll blame my near-death experience for that. I certainly can’t blame the Browning Citori Ultra XT I was shooting.
Your supposed to be all traumatized and PTSD’dy over that and sue, sue ,sue. It’s the American way.
Heard a rumor the tree fell ‘cuz there were a couple of pluviophile possums getting busy on the weak side of the trunk. Urban legend? Maybe, maybe not. Possums gots feelings too.
“Possums gots feelings too.”
Possums do it “Possum Style!” 😉
You would make me look up pluviophile wouldn’t you.
I keep hanging around here I’m going to be to smart for my own good
Republican governor Greg Abbott chose to sue over a falling tree.
“Attorney General Greg Abbott, paralyzed by a falling oak tree in 1984, will receive more than half a million dollars this year from a legal settlement that guarantees him a six-figure yearly income for the rest of his life.
Now the front-running candidate for Texas governor, Abbott on Thursday discussed the terms of his multimillion-dollar-lawsuit agreement for the first time in an exclusive interview with The Texas Tribune. His campaign also provided a copy of the 1986 settlement to the Tribune.“
Other than your typical reflexive anti-GOPism, what’s your point?
Greg Abbott was permanently paralyzed as the result of a tree falling on him. But is wasn’t a dead tree in the middle of a pine forest — it was a tree in a residential neighborhood, along a public thoroughfare, that apparently (if my memory is correct) the property owners had previously been warned was a hazard; i.e., if they didn’t get it trimmed or removed, it was reasonably foreseeable that it would fall, and if it did it could kill or injure someone. That’s pretty much the textbook definition of negligence, for which the law provides a remedy for your injuries.
I suspect that given the choice, Greg Abbott would much rather not be crippled for life. It’s not like an attorney of his skills wouldn’t have made a lot more money than he got from the settlement.
I, personally, will attest that I would not even CONSIDER trading my past 35 years of mobility for *any* quantity of money. That article just demonstrates how absolutely, extremely stupid those who oppose rational concepts can be. I suspect they think Abbot should have just died, to avoid interfering with their precious Marxist agenda.
Damn!
That about sums it up. That would be a sucky way to go too, driven into the ground like a tent peg.
“…into the ground like a tent peg.”
Manse, I’m sorry, but I admit I *snickered* a bit at reading and then visualizing that… 😉
Glad to hear the fickle hand fate missed you, LKB. I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts as the latest 2A case winds through the halls of the current SCOTUS…
Its a good thing you weren’t laid out on the ground. There were so many people that might have put you out of your misery.
Bad joke, just what the antis would say.
911 What’s your emergency?
“A tree fell on my friend, I think he’s dead.”
Well first make sure he’s dead.
klick clack *KABOOM*
“He’s dead alright, now what do I do?”
“He’s dead alright, now what do I do?”
*Snicker*… 😉
Trees are among the most scary and random creatures you can meet outdoors. Glad you’re OK.
It is amazing how often a random fall actually injures or kills someone. Driving down the street, sleeping in your bed, standing next to someone who is not injured at all, it’s almost like when your time is up, it is UP!
Groot!
Wow.
Yeah, I don’t think that would have been a survivable event.
Think I might have to find a sporting clay range. It looks like fun and I’ve got a few hundred pounds of shotgun shells.
Must be nice! I was so busy stockpiling the tactical stuff that I’m low on sporting / trap ammo. I’m now in Minden, NV and work in the Lake Tahoe area if you are ever nearby.
There’s a Texas governor who has experience with falling trees.
LKB,
I am really happy to hear that someone pulled you out of the way without a second to spare! Given the absolute freak nature of that event, I think that was God giving you a serious wake-up call.
What you just experienced is just one of the many potential scenarios that I pray about for God’s divine protection. Specifically, I try to remember to pray every day that God protect my family and me from any calamity that would otherwise occur. And I use that specific word, “calamity.”
I have to think that a dead tree falling on you in such a freak manner definitely qualifies as a calamity.
There’s a horrifying video from China where a box truck experiences a brake failure. A bunch of people on mopeds flee but the truck hire a light pole which came down on top of one of the moped drivers. Dude exploded like a guy in a LEGO video game.
This could have been bad
I love the 2nd Amendment and Constitutional Carry. With that said, there are a number of things more likely to get you dead than a gun fight. Glad your friend had your 6 in a big way. If it was on video I’m sure it would be much bigger news, the way the world is today.
Stay in shape, mind your surroundings, and carry on, sir.
I have a friend who had an improperly installed palm tree fall on him that resulted in major damage to his ankle. It took a few surgeries and years to heal so he talked to two different lawyers who told him he didn’t have a case. The third took his case and the jury awarded him $850,000. Who could have guessed FL had a law regulating how palm trees are installed.
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