NY Hunting Accident Man Pleads Guilty

The Livingston County News reports that a Rochester, New York, man pleaded guilty to one county of criminally negligent homicide.

The incident took place in November 2016 while they pair were out hunting. John Lander, 50, plea bargained and is expected to serve four months of weekends in jail.

In November, Lander was with a group that included his sister-in-law, Sharon Lander. The group was participating in a deer drive. The report says another member of the hunting party fired their gun and John began to run toward the sound. While running he removed his shotgun from over his shoulder and the gun fired, striking Sharon in the abdomen. She was declared dead at a nearby hospital.

According to the District Attorney’s Office, “Lander’s failure to adhere to the tenets of firearm safety and his negligent actions, including carrying a loaded firearm with the safety off and running with a loaded firearm, resulted in Sharon Lander’s death.”

The article goes on to remind people of the basic firearm safety rules, so we’ll do that here too:

1. Treat every firearm as if it’s loaded.

2. Always keep your muzzle pointed in a safe direction.

3. Never point your firearm at anything you don’t wish to kill.

4. Keep your finger off of the trigger and outside the trigger guard of your firearm until you make the conscious decision to shoot.

5. Be sure of your target and what lies beyond it to prevent shooting something unintentionally.

It’s so true…if gun owners and users would adhere to the very spirit and letter of these rules, accidents like this would be a lot less likely to happen.