SAWN-OFF RIFLES.
A VERY DANGEROUS WEAPON. COMMENT BY A CORONER. (Per Press Association.) ;~d? BLENHEIM, This Day.;: The danger of '.a. sawii-dff rifle • EJi 4n ‘incftiest fit Picton yesterday- afternoon -into the death of Alan Steele Bunt at Endeavour Inlet. Returning a verdict that deceased died from the effects of a bullet wound in the neck as a result of a shot accidentally fired? by a companion, on a pigshooting trip-, the Coroner said that too much emphasis could not be placedupoii the danger of the practice of .some shooters of using sawn-off rifles, reduced to pistol size. Two such weapons had been recently the. cause of fatalities in Marlborough. A warning should he issued as to the menace of such weapons. In the present case the’pistol was an amateur construction. According to a report by a Government arms expert there was no trigger guard. The safety catch had been removed aiid the trigger pull was very light. The weapon was extremely clumsy and awkward to load. Even with considerable care the operation of loading would be dangerous. Evidence by deceased’s companions showed that shots had been fired at a pig. One man was reloading when the pistol went off, the bullet striking Bunt, who was in-front, in the neck.
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Ashburton Guardian, Volume 59, Issue 38, 24 November 1938, Page 5
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210SAWN-OFF RIFLES. Ashburton Guardian, Volume 59, Issue 38, 24 November 1938, Page 5
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