It’s true, somebody shot my truck.  It’s probably not what you think though…if you were thinking that:

• Andrew took a shortcut through the wrong part of town

• Andrew put one too many “I like small government” stickers on his car

• Andrew redeployed to the war zone

• Mrs. Jackson finally came to her senses

• One of the Jackson girls’ ex-boyfriends decided to give Andrew a taste of his own medicine

• Andrew inserted his foot in his mouth just one too many times in the wrong (socialist) company

While I admit that any of these any of these possible scenarios are plausible…what actually happened is my radiator was hit by a ricochet while it was parked.  My extra vehicle, a truck has been parked in front of the office for the past few weeks.  I’m not overly concerned about the $200 charge to have the radiator repaired but I am concerned that the parking lot that my employees and I use every day has .243 Winchester rounds flying in at 2,960 feet (902.21 m) per second.

Yes, my forensic mechanic actually identified the caliber of ammunition used after he pulled the round from the truck.  Well, maybe not quite 2,960 feet per second because most of the energy was clearly expended before it disabled my truck…but it still had enough energy to kill someone.  Forgot to mention that we knew it was a ricochet because of the angle it took when it lodged in the truck.

The most likely scenario is that at the end of deer season a few weeks ago someone took a pot shot at an animal standing on top of a ridge or tried to take out a crow in a tree outside of town (from a mile or more away).

On the off chance that the idiot who maimed my truck is a Prepography reader here’s a review of firearms safety rules. The National Rifle Association uses 3 Rules but I like these better:

1. Always treat the Gun as if it’s loaded
2. Never point the gun at anything that you are not prepared to destroy
3. Always be sure of your target and what is behind it (you could miss or the round could pass through your target…make sure there’s a safe backdrop behind your target)
4. Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target and you’re ready to shoot

Of course this is a self reliance and preparedness website so you know I learned some important preparedness lessons from this experience:

1. It doesn’t take much to disable a modern vehicle
2. It doesn’t take long for a radiator to empty when you start the car and there’s a bullet hole in it
3. Some people should but off shooting until they take a class in firearms safety and learn to shoot safely
4. Even a ricochet can kill
5. A good reminder that mass saves lives.  Whether it’s radioactivity, direct fire, blast or even a ricochet…if there’s enough mass between you and the forces of death and destruction…you will survive.
6. Always have a backup – in this case, if it was my only car I would have needed a buddy willing to drive me to where I need to go until mine could be fixed.  I have a few employees (and we only hire from the intelligent end of the labor pool) and you’d expect even non-preppers would have backup transportation plans…you wouldn’t believe how few do.
7. Expect the unexpected

I still can’t believe that somebody shot my truck!