BILLINGS -- The superintendent of a rural school district in Montana says he was showing students his black powder muzzleloader gun when he accidentally fired the weapon into a classroom wall during a history lesson.
Dwain Haggard, who used to be a Civil War re-enactor, was showing the gun to five students in Reed Point High School's American history class Friday when it fired.
No one was injured, and Haggard says he can't explain how the weapon was loaded.
He says he usually fires a cap during the demonstration, but this time there was a loud bang and the room filled with smoke.
The ball shot through the "o'' in the word "North" on a wall map.
Haggard says none of the students' parents was upset with him. He described the incident as "bitter irony" because he has tried to increase safety in the school district.
18720 posted at 4:05 pm on Wed, Mar 10, 2010.
This is hilarious! Only in small town Montana! And there are no fired-up parents? Just crazy stuff... I'm very glad no one was hurt.
cowgirlmedic posted at 4:53 pm on Tue, Mar 9, 2010.
"Haggard says none of the students' parents was upset with him." You bet your biscuit they would have been if someone got hurt. He would have been sued, the school would have been sued, etc. Some rules need to be put into place if they are going to be showing guns in school. Trigger locks for one, properly clearing the weapon before transporting and entering school grounds, keeping finger outside the trigger guard until ready to shoot, etc. One different variable and this could have been a tragic story. On that note, I'd like to thank Haggard for being creative and adding some life to his class by showing artifacts like that. These are the techniques that keep kids interested in History.