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Back in the 60s, I knew an elderly woman who was convinced that if she stopped at a red light she would be set upon and robbed, so her solution was to drive through all red lights and stop signs. Through some miracle she was not killed, nor did she kill anyone, but no one would get in a car with her.

Similarly there are some shooters and hunters who are unsafe and will always be unsafe. Whether it’s through stupidity or short attention span or an agitated disposition doesn’t matter. If you find yourself in their presence, leave. Right away. You don’t need to make excuses, although if you explain the reason for your departure it may do some good, but go elsewhere smartly, in a military manner.

I think I’ve done this three or four times. One was at a non-registered trap shoot where a brand-new shooter was put next to me on an experienced squad. He came unglued and sent a charge of shot into the ground a foot in front of me. I walked off the squad. Two was at a quail hunt in South Texas where about a dozen hunters were shooting all at once and in all directions and very close together. Three was on a nilgai hunt in South Texas (!?) where the halfwit outfitter ordered six of us hunters to stand in a mob and fire at a fleeing herd of the animals. There was a guy standing behind me shooting past my head. Four was on a whitetail drive in eastern Montana where one hunter’s mindless offspring were racing around out of control.

In the best of all possible worlds everyone who handles a gun would be safe, but this is not the best of all possible worlds. Leave. Now.