Musket Accident Kills 4 in Ghana

The anti-gunners are always telling us that handguns are dangerous and muskets are safe. Well, as we can see from this African story, that is not the case at all.

 

Jan 13, 2014 at 7:01am
Four shot dead as chief’s outdooring turns bloody
Comments ( 0 )
Nana Essel sitting in palanquin at his outdooring
Four persons were shot dead while a fifth is in critical condition after a musketry went off accidentally during the outdooring of a new chief for Ekumfi Esarkyir in the Central region on Saturday.

Sad, tearful faces replaced the joyous countenances that had greeted the colourful procession of Nana Essel VI sitting in a palanquin and responding to excited subjects when one Anthony Forson, said to be an experienced and popular musketry shooter in the community tried to fire a musketry. It failed to fire.

 

The Daily Graphic learned that after the gun failed to shoot, Forson adjusted and reloaded it, however, before he could pull the trigger, the gun went off killing four persons and injuring one.

He is in custody with the Saltpond police and could face the charge of either murder or manslaughter.

A 10-year-old boy, Paa Kwesi; Kwadwo, a shop assistant, 20; Paa Joe, a student and another person from a nearby community who had come to witness the outdooring were all killed while Maame Araba, a student who was also injured is on admission at the Saltpond Government Hospital.

The bodies have been deposited at the hospital.
Forson, a citizen of Ekumfi Esarkyir is popular in the town for his skills at firing of musketry on festive occasions was said to have travelled home from Accra where he is based to spice the outdooring with his skills, a feat he is said to have performed for many years.

The incident caused the people to rush through the outdooring ceremony at the community centre after which they retreated to their homes, with others discussing the incident on the streets.

Meanwhile the Saltpond Police Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) David Ashong said Forson’s gun was registered and that he had a permit to use the gun.

However, he said a docket would be sent to the Attorney General’s for advice on the case before he would be put before court.

Source: http://www.citifmonline.com/index.php?id=1.1659982

The article does not say, but one can assume the gun was not pointed in a safe direction after it didn’t fire.  We also see that the registration and gun permit did not protect anyone either. As for charging the man with manslaughter, well, that’s not gonna bring the victims back, is it?

Either way, this is why we can’t make laws based on isolated incidents. The shooter was experienced and well-respected, maybe he was overconfident and forgot what he was dealing with.

Either way, muskets aren’t dangerous, handguns aren’t dangerous, PEOPLE are either dangerous or safe according to individual prerogatives, and that is something you can’t legislate for or against.