A Missouri man shot himself in his leg when he set down his backpack, which was carrying a handgun, on a rock at Emerald Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park/NPS
A hiker carrying a handgun in his pack shot himself at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado when the gun discharged when he set the pack down on a rock at Emerald Lake.
The 70-year-old, from Missouri, took a bullet to a leg Sunday and received initial care from bystanders before rangers arrived and provided advanced medical care. The unidentified man "was carried out via a wheeled litter to the Bear Lake Trailhead, where he was taken by Estes Health Ambulance to a meadow in the Glacier Basin Campground" and flown by an air ambulance to the Medical Center of the Rockies in Estes Park.
The round did not exit the man's leg, a park release said Tuesday.
"There were numerous visitors in the Emerald Lake area when this incident occurred, the release added.
A Missouri man who shot himself in his leg when he set down his backpack, which was carrying a handgun, on a rock at Emerald Lake had to be airlifted out of the park to medical care/Courtesy Roger Wolfe via NPS
"It is the responsibility of visitors to understand and comply with all applicable state, local, and federal firearm laws before entering the park. Open carry of handguns and rifles, and transport of the same in vehicles, is permitted," the park staff said. "Concealed carry is allowed pursuant to a legal Colorado concealed carry permit and applicable state reciprocity laws. Federal law prohibits firearms in certain facilities (visitor centers, ranger stations, government offices); places that are marked with signs at all public entrances.
"Recreational target shooting or discharge of a firearm is not allowed in Rocky Mountain National Park. Firearms should not be considered a wildlife protection strategy. Bear spray and other safety precautions are the proven methods for preventing bear and other wildlife interactions."
No further information as to the man's condition was available.
Comments
I guess someone from MO didn't quite understand that he didn't be afraid on a three mile hike with a ton of other tourists.
Mountain lion everywhere in Colorado..
Don't own a gun if you don't know how to handle it safely.
Well, if I understand the story correctly, I can't figure what he thought he was going to be defending himself against. It doesn't seem like he was really prepared to defend against wildlife if the gun was in his pack when it went off. First, by the time he got out of his pack, turned it around, set it down, and rummaged around to get out the gun, a mountain lion intent on taking him down would already have him in pretty bad shape. Second, if the caliber and load were such that the round couldn't even exit his leg from that kind of pointblank range, was he really thinking it would reliably stop a mountain lion quickly enough to do him any good? Third, I don't know what kind of handgun he was carrying; but, if it just randomly fired when he put his pack down, he must have had a live round in the chamber with the hammer cocked and no safety. Finally, I don't know if you can smell or taste the flavor of stupidity in a piece of meat fom a distance; but, if you can, the only mountain lions he would have needed to fear would have been the ones who liked that flavor and I'm not sure how large a proportion of the population that would be.
"Bear" spray also works on mountain lions
No Sympathy, "Stupid is as stupid does".
Perhaps he didn't want to leave the pistol in his car at the trailhead. Good thinking. But, yeah....
Caliber could have been literally anything. Who knows what the round passed through on it's way out of the pack, slowing it's travel and possibly expanding the projectile, before it ever reached his leg.