Safe or unsafe?
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BigFame
Contributor
Oriskany, sweet site. I want to dive that carrier.
james croft
Contributor
More people are shot with "unloaded" guns than loaded ones. The fundamental rules of shooting is never point your gun at something you don't want to destroy and to be sure of your target and what is beyond it. There is no reason I am aware of to have a loaded speargun unless you are in the water preparing to hunt. Also there should be enough visibility so you know what is beyond your target. I would not spearfish in bad viz for safety and predator reasons.
I have seen sloppy handling of spearguns. Those folks need to be corrected and avoided. They are the same ones that would aim a firearm at you. I remember an incident on a dive boat off Virginia Beach at the Chesapeake Light Tower many years ago where a diver was shot in the ankle by an "unloaded" speargun while on the boat. Totally preventable and inexcusable.
I have seen sloppy handling of spearguns. Those folks need to be corrected and avoided. They are the same ones that would aim a firearm at you. I remember an incident on a dive boat off Virginia Beach at the Chesapeake Light Tower many years ago where a diver was shot in the ankle by an "unloaded" speargun while on the boat. Totally preventable and inexcusable.
I think a big part of the problem is that while "gun people" know the rules to the point of being simple laws of nature, many divers are not "gun people" . Someone who would never even consider picking up a Glock will pick up a speargun with the attitude that it's not really a gun and start playing with it as if it were a toy.
Education is what these people need. Politely remove the weapon from their posession, ensure that it is indeed safe and unloaded, explain why what they did was wrong from both a safety and etiquette standard, and then, if necessary, beat some sense into them...with the butt of course
Education is what these people need. Politely remove the weapon from their posession, ensure that it is indeed safe and unloaded, explain why what they did was wrong from both a safety and etiquette standard, and then, if necessary, beat some sense into them...with the butt of course
Scares me big time!
Most recently I had the girlfriend of a diver who had just won a speargun at a tournament nearly poke me and others while in a big crowd. She was obliviously waving the approx. 48" gun around horizontally while holding it in the middle with the point behind or beside her.
It's not cool to point in stores either... it's a sharp spear even when unloaded, and it's still capable of inflicting great injury.
I've seen guns dangerously displayed in stores and stored on boats, where people can fall on the points.
The general rule is keep the point down while in the water and up anywhere else, regardless of being loaded or not, and continue to keep an eye out for people or property. (Like ascending divers or Bimini tops!)
I've seen experienced weapons veterans make these speargun and powerhead mistakes too, although rarely. Some experienced spearos just get complacent and careless, but of course rookies are the worst.
Pneaumatic gun owners often are the offenders... too lazy to unload, because the gun can't retain the line and spear unloaded. They often transport and store them loaded.
Education is the key, but it's a hard thing to spread around. This is a good place to try.
Pic#1 is a clear Darwin candidate: Tethered loaded speargun pointed at this lobster diver's own a$$!
Pic#2 is obviously an experienced shooter, but his gun is still loaded even after returning inshore.
Chad
Most recently I had the girlfriend of a diver who had just won a speargun at a tournament nearly poke me and others while in a big crowd. She was obliviously waving the approx. 48" gun around horizontally while holding it in the middle with the point behind or beside her.
It's not cool to point in stores either... it's a sharp spear even when unloaded, and it's still capable of inflicting great injury.
I've seen guns dangerously displayed in stores and stored on boats, where people can fall on the points.
The general rule is keep the point down while in the water and up anywhere else, regardless of being loaded or not, and continue to keep an eye out for people or property. (Like ascending divers or Bimini tops!)
I've seen experienced weapons veterans make these speargun and powerhead mistakes too, although rarely. Some experienced spearos just get complacent and careless, but of course rookies are the worst.
Pneaumatic gun owners often are the offenders... too lazy to unload, because the gun can't retain the line and spear unloaded. They often transport and store them loaded.
Education is the key, but it's a hard thing to spread around. This is a good place to try.
Pic#1 is a clear Darwin candidate: Tethered loaded speargun pointed at this lobster diver's own a$$!
Pic#2 is obviously an experienced shooter, but his gun is still loaded even after returning inshore.
Chad
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dumpsterDiver
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I am fanatical about people not pointing loaded spearguns at me; it happens most often underwater when people become distracted. I am very careful how I swing my loaded gun around underwater and to be honest, there are times when the gun may get inadvertantly swung past another diver, especially if I am unaware of where the other diver is located. This is a very rare occasion and usually involves a diver swimming in front of my gun more than me swinging it past them.
I do not put my finger into the trigger guard until I see, or expect to see, my target.
However, with regard to a rubber powered speargun, it is not difficult to tell for sure whether it is loaded or not. So people often will handle an unloaded speargun on a boat or in a shop MUCH differently than they would a LOADED speargun; I know I do. I might pick a gun up off the deck and spin it around and make very litle consideration about someone who is 10 or 20 feet away. If I were handling a loaded gun, I will be aware of EXACTLY where the gun is pointing all the time. It becomes second nature.
In many regards, a speargun is MORE dangerous than a hand gun because a hand gun will not fire by iteself. A loaded speargun can fire at ANY time with no warning. The spear and trigger are under tremendous stress and if the shaft is not locked into the trigger perfectly or should the shaft and or trigger become too worn, damaged, corroded, or cloged with sand/silt the gun might just fire by itself. I've seen spearguns mis-fire a number of times. They are scary.
Carelessly pointing of an unloaded speargun at someone 15 feet away is probably not a safety issue, but it would certainly make me nervous.
I do not put my finger into the trigger guard until I see, or expect to see, my target.
However, with regard to a rubber powered speargun, it is not difficult to tell for sure whether it is loaded or not. So people often will handle an unloaded speargun on a boat or in a shop MUCH differently than they would a LOADED speargun; I know I do. I might pick a gun up off the deck and spin it around and make very litle consideration about someone who is 10 or 20 feet away. If I were handling a loaded gun, I will be aware of EXACTLY where the gun is pointing all the time. It becomes second nature.
In many regards, a speargun is MORE dangerous than a hand gun because a hand gun will not fire by iteself. A loaded speargun can fire at ANY time with no warning. The spear and trigger are under tremendous stress and if the shaft is not locked into the trigger perfectly or should the shaft and or trigger become too worn, damaged, corroded, or cloged with sand/silt the gun might just fire by itself. I've seen spearguns mis-fire a number of times. They are scary.
Carelessly pointing of an unloaded speargun at someone 15 feet away is probably not a safety issue, but it would certainly make me nervous.
alykitcat
Contributor
Another good point to mention is Habit. If a diver gets into the habit of handeling a speargun safely even when it's not loaded he/she is more likelyto handle it safely when it is loaded....If he/she handles it carelessly when unloaded they might handle a loaded speargun the same way just out of habit
F'in Mike
Registered
The gun should never be loaded outside the water anyway. Great care should be taken when handling, but I hope we can all accept the difference between a spear gun and a "regular gun". Above all, be careful with both of them.:no
Listen, likening a band powered speargun to a firearm is just inaccurate. It is best likened to a crossbow. Crossbows are loaded when an arrow is in it with tension applied. A speargun is "loaded" when a shaft is in it and the bands are pulled back and tension is applied. Now it is still very pointy as has been pointed out and should therefore be handled carefully and stored intelligently.
A pneumatic gun is a different story, as it is hard to tell when is is loaded. Obviously the default is to assume it is loaded and never point it at anything that you want to live for long.
Loaded spearguns are not aloud on my boats and any diver handing up a loaded speargun to me, either end, will have to retrieve it from the bottom as I will throw it off the boat immediately thereafter...... unloaded of course.
Spearfishing specialties guns (possibly others) are designed so that if anything fails the gun does not fire. So it may have once been true that guns can just fire at random due to worn parts or corrosion, improvements have been made so that this is not possible on more popular brands anymore.
A pneumatic gun is a different story, as it is hard to tell when is is loaded. Obviously the default is to assume it is loaded and never point it at anything that you want to live for long.
Loaded spearguns are not aloud on my boats and any diver handing up a loaded speargun to me, either end, will have to retrieve it from the bottom as I will throw it off the boat immediately thereafter...... unloaded of course.
Spearfishing specialties guns (possibly others) are designed so that if anything fails the gun does not fire. So it may have once been true that guns can just fire at random due to worn parts or corrosion, improvements have been made so that this is not possible on more popular brands anymore.
TishaDee
Registered
Whether you're spearfishing under water or target practicing on land, the rules are the same...Never point a gun at anyone you don't intend to kill whether it's loaded or not...period.
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