Quoted: I took my 10 year old sister shooting with me a few years ago (she's 14 now).  She had never shot before, and I handed her my Colt Officer's Model, after explaining to her to gun safety, to take a good stance, to tense up her arms to prepare for recoil, etc.   Well, on her first shot out of that .45, the hammer hit her right between the eyes.  Even after my little talk, she had been completely unprepared for it.  She didn't drop the weapon, thank goodness, although I thought she would. But she never shot another firearm again, no matter how many times I offered to take her, or showed her my new .22.

This is why you start people off with a .22!  Little girls for the most part don't like the recoil of a large bore hand cannon.

Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas...

I started this thread and posted the article (and link) from the Lexington Leader.  I found out about this incident from a post at The High Road

The thread at The High Road started out with a report of this incident being mentioned on Dr. Laura's radio program, "A woman called in just before 10:00am to ask about a problem. She claims her husband and young son (about 5?) were standing next to another father and (slightly older?) boy who were firing a handgun of some sort, supposedly a "powerful" one. The father was helping his son hold the pistol and held his hand over it to help control it. Well they fired it and according to the lady the gun came back, hit the father's hand and then recoiled into the son, killing him. And according to her, her son took off running because "stuff" (from the wound?) splattered all over her son, causing him to freak out and start running away, trying to tear off his clothes.  She was not concerned about the so-called accident, but rather was concerned about whether her son should attend the funeral."
This sounded like an urban legend or some other BS.  However, one of the posters at The High Road provided the link to the article in the Lexington Leader, lending credibility to the story.

I truly wish that someone can prove that this story is BS and the Lexington Leader article is a hoax.  Sadly, I don't think that's the case.  

Prayers for the boy and his family.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Upon arrival at the scene, Deputy York radioed to dispatch to cancel the call for an ambulance and to send out a Justice of the Peace. Why would he do that? My thoughts too. Around here a Dr. is the only one who can pronounce. Paramedics can't even do it.

In Texas a JP can pronounce death.  So they always call a JP first in the county.

Quoted: Bad instruction here, you may not be able to stop the recoil but should have instructed the boy how to direct it.  IMHO, negligence. Tj

+1 there is a wayTO and NOT TO handle the big bore's.
Imo 12 is a bit on the smallish side.

With proper technique and instruction the boy could have easily handled it.  He might not have found it a pleasent experience. But he would most certainly be alive to tell about it.

 I've been shooting big bore handguns since I was seven or eight years old...HOWEVER I come from a family of handloaders and I started with light to medium 44 mag loads.  Currently I do a lot a loading for the old 44 Auto mag and I can tell you that even with the lightest loads I wouldn't let a neophyte touch a 44 AMP...EVER, let alone a .454 Casull or 50 AE.   It sure as hell sounds like the loads discussed ( if the incident is real ) were factory loads or hot handloads.  How utterly foolish to allow a child to handle a weapon that most men cannot properly handle.

What kind of a moron lets a little kid fire a 454 Casull?  

Amateurs, neophytes, girls, small women, and little boys should never be allowed to fire any type of hand cannon!

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Upon arrival at the scene, Deputy York radioed to dispatch to cancel the call for an ambulance and to send out a Justice of the Peace. Why would he do that? I also wondered that.

If you are not in an area covered by a "Medical Examiner" district in Texas, the Justice Of the Peace for that Precinct (or the on-call one for the county if there is an interlocal agreement) is responsible for doing the death investigation. EMS may respond to run a "strip," and local LE will do the criminal investigation, but nobody else is supposed to touch the body until the JP arrives. The JP is the only one who can "pronounce" death and order an autopsy if the death is not attended by a physician.

that sucks
I don't think I'd shoot a 454, but I've never liked recoil