I don't have any strong opinons on spearfishing, except that I enjoy harvesting myself. Since I usually bring a camera, that's enough for me to handle, so I'm quite happy to use just my catch bag and my dive knife for the harvesting I do. Several of my buddies spearfish, though.
I do, however, have very strong opinions on the topic of unsafe gun handling, and negligent discharges - especially if they lead to someone getting hurt. Regardless of the type of gun.
Scubaboard is a strange place. If I said that a diver who bolted to the surface and received a significant lung expansion injury was an "idiot" or a "moron" (for making this kind of mistake), I would probably be back in trouble again. But a moderator can make those comments about a spearfisherman's accident which results in devastating injuries and "all is well".
I'm all for calling calling out idiotic mistakes and more relaxed moderation, but it is difficult for me to determine when it will be allowed.
Based on your failure to confirm that you have EVER shot a speargun (after repeated inquiries) I will go on the assumption that you have never shot a speargun. Which is fine.. of course, but it seems unusual for someone to develop such strong opinions and give out safety advice for an activity (using a speargun) that they have never actually participated in (or possibly even observed).
You have made, what I consider a very dangerous and mistaken comment about the potential consequences of an accidental or unwanted discharge of a speargun.
Based on your comments, it appears that your advice is that if the gun is pointed in a safe direction, should an accidental (or unintentional) discharge occur, then the consequences (at worst) will be embarrassment.
This is absolutely WRONG and is very dangerous advice to be giving out on a forum.
If/when a powerful speargun is discharged, there is a huge amount of energy released. All the momentum delivered to the spearshaft moving forward is generated by the momentum of the gun moving backwards. This is an incredibly important issue and is SUPER DANGEROUS to the SHOOTER. The recoil is a killer.
It does not matter, even a tiny bit, what the speargun happens to be pointing toward.
An accidental discharge and failure to control recoil of a speargun can literally kill a person; it happened a few years ago to a gentlemen. Many. many people have lost front teeth from a speargun coming back (unexpectedly) into their mouth. The amount of smaller injuries, broken noses, chipped teeth, busted lips, smashed dive masks, etc. is legendary and is more significant than "a brusied ego". To be ignorant of this very important safety consideration lead me to suspect that you do not know anything about spearguns, their safety, or how they work. It is the most basic knowledge that must be instilled into someone, BEFORE they pull the trigger.
"This gun is gonna come backwards and try to knock your teeth out" - keep your wrist tight and straight and you probably should lock your elbow until you understand how it feels. You need a tight grip. when I teach children to shoot a speargun, I make them hold the gun out front (tightly) and then I grab the muzzle and try to slam the gun back into their face. They need to be aware of and prepared for the recoil and know how control it. Obviously, you want to match the strength of the gun with the strength and skill of the shooter. Maybe it is not so different than a powerful handgun or riffle?
The consequences of an accidental discharge need to be considered when handling the loaded gun. I for one, am hesitant to clip off a loaded gun to my chest d-ring, because I fear an accidental discharge could knock me out - which could be fatal underwater.
Recoil issues are critically important, but it should also be recognized that a speargun can go off - simply by looking at it wrong or bumping it. Spearguns can discharge "by themselves"- even when the safety is on and functional. The mechanism is nothing like a firearm.
A speagun, when loaded, is subject to a tremendous amount of tension, and corrosion or cracking or wear of the shaft or the mechanism iteself (or other components) can cause the gun to just fire randomly. These realities (in addition to recoil) seem to make handling a speargun quite different than handling a "gun". I don't want to extend the analogies or comparisons with "real guns" any further because I am quite ignorant about firearms and guns.
Spearguns need to be held tightly, should not be shot out of the water and it is best to assume that it may fire at any time.
