What is Digg?103 Comments
- dshPls, on 10/12/2007, -11/+63I guess it's his fault and not the dick who gave them the shell in the first place.
- christoscamaro, on 10/12/2007, -8/+56Well, that's one way to keep the kids off your lawn.
- AllenS, on 10/12/2007, -9/+51Follow up article: "Judge sentences man to play with that same 40 mm shell"
- trik, on 10/12/2007, -18/+57well in general this is the reason red-necks shouldn't reproduce....
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+29I remember back when I was around 6 or 7 years old - My uncle gave me some high caliber bullets to "play with". I started throwing them at the concrete steps really hard, trying to make them go off. My mom walked outside and freaked out, tookt hem away from me...
Hmm...that was the same uncle who threw a huge hook, made of solid steel, up into an apple tree to try and knock down an apple ... yes, the hook came down and hit me in the head.
...***** maybe he was trying to kill me! - Rikkochet, on 10/12/2007, -5/+32I'm sure when you were 12 you were already leaping rooftop to rooftop fighting crime, eh? Nitwit.
- chocobomog, on 10/12/2007, -8/+26Well I was going to mention that the term "rednecks" shouldn't apply here because this happened in California and rednecks are stereotypically in the South or the Appalachian mountains.
But as it turns out, a special exception for rednecks occurs in Bakersfield, California where this incident took place.
"There are also several areas where large groups of rednecks live outside of their normal ranges. One is Bakersfield, California and the surrounding area, which experienced mass migration by Arkansans (Arkies) and Oklahomans (Okies) during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl era of the 1930s, by people seeking to leave poverty and crop failures behind them." (from Wikipedia)
You learn something new every day. - iomegaboy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17What 12 year old do you know that has "common sense"?
- shoover, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16If you read the article, he was thinking that the firing pin and gunpowder had been removed, so it was safe. What he didn't know was that it was an explosive round.
- mc4_a, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15WHAT?
This is tragic for everyone. Obviously everyone thought the shell had been disabled. I'm sure the kids and the owner of the shell thought it was completely harmless. There are plenty of these relics floating around America. I hope people take an extra look at these pieces they have to make sure they are truly harmless or dispose of them properly. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14Leave it to the kids to find some way to detonate it.
- Rocksea24, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13Hell when I was a kid I used to have all kinds of Navy decomissioned surplus as toys, not to mention a couple dummy mortar shells. And what was the first thing I did with that dummy explosive? I threw it at my little sister in my backyard (I didnt' hit her) playing like I was GI-Joe. I can imagine that is exactly how this happened. The kids were just having fun, and the adult was just trying to be friendly, it was an honest mistake that ended in tragedy.
- RH78, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1540mm? I bet they are refering to a M203 round. Although he said that he removed the "primer" and "gun powder"...that isn't what makes it explode. That is just the propellant to send the round out of the barrel. And after 13m (or 72 revolutions) the warhead is armed. I bet with all of the handling this is what caused it. What an idiot. It's messed up that you take a live explosive like that, but even worse if you don't even know what it is and how it works. Then to give it to kids?!?! This guy should be hung out to dry.
- gmillerd, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15At 12 year old might not have done it by himself, but in a group things change. Its a crummy story that should have never happened. The charges the guy will suffered are likely to be few as well.
- mogus, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12I think what exploded was the warhead itself, not the propellant charge, which supposedly had been removed (towards the end of the article). Either way, really, really stupid. Criminally negligent.
- kundalini, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11At least they didn't use a sledge hammer.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10If it did in fact have the powder and pin removed like he thought then it would have in fact been harmless. If it was an explosive round ... then hot damn what an accident. I hope nobody gets blamed for that crap.
- Tiemmothi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9A bullet and a shell are indeed two different things. But the term shell is used in the proper context for this article. It's not a bullet from a rifle. It was a 40mm shell from a large cannon, or recoiless rifle as they are sometimes called. One of the largest made is a 50mm howitzer and that shell weighs allot.
- 0siris, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9I feel bad for this guy. When i was little my uncle showed me a 40mm shell, that was disarmed (a suvonier from my great grandfather durring ww2). My uncle was a good guy, i cant imagine how messed up hed be if it went off in my hands.
what a tragedy. - cheerio, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I don't know about you, but even as an adult i think i would be in shock after watching one of these -> http://www.militariacollecting.com/uploads/post-133-1121971442.jpg explode and kill 2, injure 5 kids. The government has long told people to turn in found munitions, live, dud, or else. Especially with old unstable shells, the slightest thing could set them off. Maybe i am aware of the possible outcomes due to living on a military base most of my life, but either way, bullets, rockets, grenades, mines, etc have all been known to explode after years of inactivity. They tell you as soon as you see it, slowly back away, and get out of there. Very tragic incident, although if what the man alleges is true, i wouldn't be upset with him. Would have been cool to have a DISABLED, EMPTY shell such as this to play with as a kid. Looks like it would make a killer shield for some good-old GI-Joe wars.
Another pic of a 40mm cartridge -> http://www.isoldmygun.com/_auction_images/781.jpg - sjm20k, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7When they say shell here they dont mean a bullet, they mean a shell-explosive that is usually fired from a granade launcher, etc.
- gmillerd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I was given a old disarmed grenade when I was young. The classic pineapple type with the screw in fuse and what not. It was completely empty and was just the metal pineapple shell. Still not harmless as it weighed a ton and easily crunched anything it hit, yelling incoming and tossing it often ended in disaster. A year or so I found it with my lawn mower at my mother's house. Instantly my son was 'cool can i have it.'
- scanman20, on 10/12/2007, -7/+13Sendejo told The Bakersfield Californian that he thought the shell was spent and often used it as a "conversation piece." He said the firing pin and bottom shell casing had been removed, along with the gun powder inside. "I thought it was harmless," he told the newspaper.
I think they misspelled his name. Should've been PENDEJO. - dtfinch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6The shell casing with the gunpowder used to fire it had been removed before he gave it to them. I guess he didn't realize that the tip explodes too, thinking it was some sort of oversized bullet or something. People hold onto those things and use them as paper weights, unaware that it's not some solid hunk of metal.
- ArchieAndrews, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I plead ignorance to artillery munition design. Does this mean that the projectile was inherently explosive and it was this that was "triggered"?
- ArchieAndrews, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Where do you live that the list of available pasttimes is exactly 2 entries long?
- Matic, on 10/12/2007, -6/+11This is horrible. Just so you know, a shell is not a bullet. A bullet is a bullet. The shell is the casing that you can pick up after letting off a round. This term is often used incorrectly.
- fnaqzna, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Most people have absolutely no idea how to recognize, let alone handle UXO.
- SelfAppointedMe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4When I was in 8th grade (i'm now 26) I was in my bedroom with a friend I was showing off a detonator out of a grenade that one of my uncles had brought home from his time in the service. It still had the pin in it so I should have known that it was a live core but being the stupid kid I was I said "check this out, here's how they do it in the movies" and pulled the pin out with my teeth. I then realized that the detonator was getting really hot in my hand so I threw it down on my water bed about 1 foot from both my friend and I. It exploded with such a loud bang that my grandparents came running into the room to see what happened but we couldn't hear what they were saying, our ears continued to ring for about an hour or so afterward. I was lucky in that neither one of us were injured and it didn't even bust my waterbed although it did burn through all my blankets and sheets.
looked like this....
http://www.martin-electronics.com/images/m213%20thumbnail.jpg - Wooism, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6@NinjAlt
Yes, because all of us parerents think "holy crap i better tech my kid all about bullets and what not to do with them!".
Well, at least we do now... - wicked9, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4this happened two blocks away from where i live, i heard it happen
- nazsco, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4this is really getting like /.
i think the colaboration sites just get the same according to the number of people that participate. The top 100 comments didn't read the article. and the 1000 people that moderated them also haven't.
The guy says it was empty and was a "conversation starter piece" so he probably had it in his home for some time, and he probably even showed it to the kids' parents before. who knows?
the fact is that even the reporter don't mention anything agains him, and for a reporter to do that, there must be a good reason. so, not apropriate, but: ***** happens.
no 'red necks' hamering tank cannon shells at a nail in the wall like bug bunnys(sic) and definetly not terrorist. geez why the hell i'm typing it? must... stop... drinking... alone. - knightblade2oo4, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5so... what happened to video games or hide and seek?
- mc7winkie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Notice the "Anti-Personal" Not anti-tank. Big difference.
- zombydog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Most people don't realize how potentially dangerous things like this are. I had a gentleman one day bring an old unexploded grenade into my police station to drop off. He found it, placed in in the trunk of his car and drove it to the station. Same thing when the "anthrax" scare was going on. People would bring items they thought might be contaminated to us instead of leaving it where it was and having us come out to check. We would have to explain to them, you have endangered/contaminated not only yourself, but everyone around you on your way to the station. Not to mention, shutting down the police department while the device/package is rendered safe.
- Geeshboy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Yeah, it's always a good idea to give kids ammo to play with...Damn, what happened to Pokemon?
- Henryflower, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3This happened a couple blocks away from where I live. When I first heard about it at work someone was saying they threw some shotgun shells into a barbecue pit and lit it... but today I read in the paper that he had given the shell to the kids because all the gun powder and firing pin was removed. I guess the boy was throwing it up in the air and banging it on a table and it exploded. The man didn't know that the tip of the shell was explosive as well... That's what the paper this morning read at least.
- upsilonh24, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3/////////////i hope the dumbass parents dont press charges//////////////
...and what would you do if your kid lost a leg because some idiot gave him a 40 mm shell to play with? - jcjdoss, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I live in Bakersfield. This was tragic. There were a few stories going around. A couple were
1. The kids were throwing shotgun shells in a BBQ pit
2. the kids were hitting shotgun shells with a hammer
It took them almost 12 hours to figure out that it was an artillery shell. The 12 year old was really freaked out because one of the kids were walking around with wood sticking out of their back. It shook the windows of surrounding houses.
(In defense of Bako) I moved to Bakersfield 7 years ago and agree it is full of Okies, not as much "Arkies". the nice thing about Bakersfield is we are two hours from the beach and 5 hours from Las Vegas. LA, San Fran, San Diego are just a short trip away. And skiing is also just couple of hours away. Big deal right, well no other place in California can you own a 10,000 Sq. ft. lot and a newly built mid sized house for less than $200,000. (translates to 1100 a month) There are people paying that for a studio apt. So I'll take my family friendly, affordable, "okie" Bakersfield any day. Sorry, I love this town.
I'm not sure what's worse, that a tragedy like this happens and people bash a whole town for one man's mistake, or that there are people who are so desensitized and disconnected they show no respect to a mourning city. - thewebguy, on 10/12/2007, -6/+9the only thing in the world less funny than carlos mencia is you
- batmanjr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Then leave.
If these collectors of war relics are the people that lived through "the worst that humanity has to offer" they probably aren't very young. If that is the case it's HIGHLY doubtful that they have the internet. And it would be even more doubtful that they would spend their time on the internet trying to convince idiots like you that this place you pity, cost people their lives, continues to cost people their lives, and in the future people will die for this place. - stonebear, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3What a tragedy for the unfortunate families of those children, and for the neighbor man as well. He probably picked UXO up off a downgraded bombing range that had formerly been live ordnance (they do this when development encroaches on the buffer zone), and he didn't know it. No doubt (in spite of all the signs) he thought it was a lead projectile, because dummy ordnance was all the range was using at the time.
I worked at such a downgraded range when I was in the service overseas. In spite of all our precautions and the remote location, groups of kids still snuck in to pick up inert lead and iron projectiles to sell as scrap. They didn't know the color coding for airframe mounted 40mm cannon rounds, and were occasionally killed by UXO from the old days. - loveandrockets, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6It's "per se" from the Latin for "in, of or by itself" or "in its own right.".
(When calling someone ignorant, make sure you use the right words.) - iceperson, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4"A bullet and a shell are indeed two different things. But the term shell is used in the proper context for this article. It's not a bullet from a rifle. It was a 40mm shell from a large cannon, or recoiless rifle as they are sometimes called. One of the largest made is a 50mm howitzer and that shell weighs allot."
Actually 50mm wouldn't be a very big cannon. You're probably thinking more like a 155mm Howitzer. The round in the story was most likely a "grenade" from a MK19. - iceperson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"I plead ignorance to artillery munition design. Does this mean that the projectile was inherently explosive and it was this that was "triggered"?"
My guess is it was a MK 19 shell http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mk_19
The rounds themselves aren't actually armed until fired from the launcher for safe handling, they arm using the centrifugal force caused by the rifling of the barrel (in laymens terms you spin it real fast), so the round was probably never armed. It's likely that the kids tossed it into the air with a finger roll action obviously unaware that this would arm the round. - iceperson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Here's a picture of the round. My guess is everything from the low pressure band back was removed.
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m430a1.JPG - stonebear, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You might be surprised to learn that cynicism is a far greater problem than exploding war relics.
- cheerio, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2And thats also what the article says. Everyone keeps pointing fingers. The man CLEARLY thought it was not live. I doubt a grown man would give a 12 year old kid a live 40mm shell KNOWING that it was live. Have you seen this thing? See if you you can find some practice rounds at a gun store/show, and ask him what you can do with this. The responce i got on .50 1 shot sniper rifle was "air planes, trains, automobiles", this shell is almost 4 times larger....
- RangerRuss, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3you ***** idiot, he's a kid, 12 years old and he will probably be traumatized for life.
- jcjdoss, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I am totally an 08'er of course, I live on the good side of the tracks
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