Eric

I don’t know how big this event was but it’s not uncommon for me to fire my rifle and see someone fall across the way. We are reenacting a battle and soldiers “take hits” during battle. A similar thing happened at Gettysburg during the 145th reenactment.

Now, who is to blame? Obviously the yahoo who brought the loaded weapon but also the First Sergeant and Company Commander of the group he fell in with. They should’ve inspected all the weapons in their command before anyone took the field. That’s common sense and a matter of policy in my unit and anyone who falls in with us. If the weapon is dirty or in anyway deemed unsafe by our Orderly or Captain, the soldier doesn’t take the field with us…end of discussion.

So, he should be prosecuted for assault/attempted murder and being a moron should be added to the charges.

Now, “being a moron” is not currently actionable. I suppose if it were the courts would be entirely overburdened with moron cases.

This part is amazing, “Asked why Mr. Silva had not turned himself in after the shooting, Sheriff Phelps said: ‘He wasn’t sure he did it. He didn’t know he’d shot anyone.’” Let’s see loaded weapon, shooting of loaded weapon, yankee reenactor seriously wounded by bullet from loaded weapon. Seems an easy connection to make. But, this fellow didn’t “know that he’d shot someone”.

So, in this case, I’d think assault and being a moron would be reasonable charges. In addition, this person should also be made to clean up all the graffiti vandalism at Gettysburg!