PADs in the news

Ow!

He could have been using a pneumatic nail gun and not a PAD. No permit just like a hybrid. :-)

This was most likely a pneumatic nailer. I don't think even the cordless nailers with the fuel cells would be considered PADS.

The Remington/Hilti fastening devices that use powder charges are PADS, but I highly doubt the victim was using one as the nailer double fired and Remingtom/Hilti devices can only trigger once before needing a reload.

Brian Elfert

Agreed. And since they shoot straight out the gun, why did he point it at himself even if it was to go through a piece of wood? We may have a Darwin mention here.

Chuck

Laugh all you want, but where I live, in the province of Ontario, Canada, the government came within inches of passing legislation requiring that every who wanted to buy a chainsaw in this province would have to pass a safety course, and be issued a (renewable) chainsaw operators certificate. Not just for commercial loggers, but for *everyone* who might want to use a chainsaw.

might be a recoil reflex. some shooters shoot and the gun lifts up.

he must have had his mouth wide open in shock and awe, and when the first shot went, the recoil lifted the gun up and the second shot went into his mouth.

Perhaps not in this case, but many nail gun accidents involve falls. In some cases the safetys had been bypassed.

Brian Elfert

Point.

Hence shreadvector

It probably bounced off a nail head.

Jerry the former finish carpenter.

Every nail gun I've seen has a safety requiring the nose of the gun be pressed hard against a solid object before it will fire. Makes it impossible to shoot a nail through the air at someone, or yourself, or other stupid things.

Kind of makes you wonder what REALLY happened.

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

It's easy to defeat those safety mechanisms and shoot nails across the room. It's also easy to get a glancing blow when nailing near the edge of a board and have it bounce back at it. I have a hard time believing that it went through the roof of his mouth and into his brain without him noticing.

Mario Perdue NAR #22012 Sr. L2 for email drop the planet

Well, according to the news story, he was in pain, but just didn't realize what it was until he had a dental clinic x-ray him for the "toothache" he thought he had.

-dave w

I think he knew, and was trying to avoid notice. Maybe he thought the dentist could pull it out. It did say he did not have insurance. Hospital bill over 80K... sheesh.

... but who knows...

~ Duane Phillips.

When was that?

Yeah, six days later!

Didn't he wonder why there was a nail head in his mouth? (maybe He thought it was a new tooth!)

I find it interesting how many of us (me included) are against stupid regulations for personal use, but have become subconsciously accepting of them for corporate/commercial victims. For example, in Marcus' words "Not just for commercial loggers", I read:

"It bad enough that they want this for commercial users, but now they actually want it for *real* prople..."

We all need to me very mindful of our level of acceptance for this kind of crap at all levels. First, they pass the regs easily because JohnQ Public could care less about commercial regs, then they come back later (after memories fade) and say: "If a professional XYZ'er needs training/certification, then surely an amateur like JohnQ needs to be protected as well"

And the masses nod and mutter "That makes sense to me...."

Sincerely, Philip Doolittle

Alot of construction guys tie off the trigger so the gun is activated by just by bumping the tip. This allows one to run a line of nails (flooring, decking, roofing) very quickly along a chalk line. The tip trigger is nothing but a sleeve (or pin) that is moved rearward to activate the gun. If dropped from a height, it is quite possible that the gun fired on impact. And since most of these guns are very top heavy, the probability of a vertical shot is excellent.

It is also a possibility is that the tip-trigger/safety was tied out. It can be somewhat cumbersome for tight quarters framing, and I have been known to lock mine open. With only a single firing action required, it is possible that the gun fired on impact with the ground.

Finally, you cannot ignore the possibility that he was shot by a co-worker (accident or horseplay). Fearing termination for himself or his friend, he took 6 days seek medical attention and discover that he'd gotten a but more than a smack in the teeth...

Sincerely, Philip Doolittle

Well, if you ever used MY chainsaw, you might agree...

Tis a fearsome beast. It ate one fella's leg back in the 60s, and I am always afraid it's not satiated yet.

Safety features consist of "Use your brain and be careful...or I'll have your leg".