Gun Control for Dogs

Forget the leash laws, we need gun control for our dogs. A background check may have exposed the dogs inability to to control their animal instincts.

The recent story of Gregory Lane Lanier, 35, who told police he thought the 9mm Beretta semi-automatic handgun on the floor of his pickup truck was unloaded when the black and tan English bulldog kicked it and caused it to fire.

Lanier was hit in his left leg and the bullet wound, patched up at a local hospital, was not serious.

This is not the first instance either. In 2011 a Utah bird hunter was shot in the butt after his dog stepped on a shotgun laid across the bow of a boat.

Box Elder County Sheriff’s Deputy Kevin Potter says the 46-year-old Brigham City man was duck hunting with a friend when he climbed out of the boat to move decoys.

Then in December 2011 a Florida man became the second hunter in the past two weeks to be shot by his own pooch when his bulldog, Eli, discharged a rifle into his leg.

In 2010 a hunter in California was shot by his dog. The victim was about 15 yards away, retrieving his decoys, when his female black Labrador retriever stepped on the gun.

Authorities said the dog disengaged the safety and hit the trigger at the same time, firing a shell with #2 shot. The man was struck in on the left side of his upper back. Accident, eh?

In 2008 in Tillamook Bay, Ore. at the start of duck-hunting trip a man’s dog jumped into the boat, setting off a 12-gauge shotgun.

The blast blew a hole in the aluminum boat before hitting Marcum, who is recovering from injuries to his legs and buttocks at Portland’s Legacy Emanuel Hospital.

In 2007 a dog accidentally shot a Memphis man in the back. According to witnesses, the dog, a Great Dane, was playing in a front room when the "dog" knocked a gun off of a table. The gun discharged and the bullet ended up hitting the owner in the back.

The dogs seem to have a fondness for legs, butts and backs.