As a teenager in the late ‘70s, Jamie Cap loved two things: Hunting and football. So when a nasty tackle broke his neck in Nov. 1979, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down, he had to forget about hunting. There was no such thing as an adapted way to shoot a rifle, especially for people with disabilities. He couldn’t pull the trigger. End of story.
But now, oh now, things are looking much brighter for Jamie Cap. He’s now hunting again, using a 12-gauge shotgun fired with his mouth (and breathing tube), with the assistance of a battery-powered machine. The rifle cost Cap $1,600. That’s a pretty penny more than what a middle-of-the-line 12-gauge costs, which is about $250.
Be Adaptive Equipment, a company in Indiana, makes and sells adapted gun technology. Their main seller are wheelchair gun mounts. Oooooh I wonder if they come in iridescent purple?!
Sometimes I can’t help but laugh over all this adapted gun technology. I’m mot interested in hunting myself, and am fine with other people doing it. It’s just fascinating to see how TOP humans have become in the food chain. Even if we can’t move anything from the neck down, we can still kill animals, by God! Oh yes, nothing gets in our way.
I remember when Bill Maher pissed a bunch of people off a few years back after he criticized Ted Nugent for inviting people who use their mouths to hunt to come and hunt on his property. Maher said it was wrong for these guys to hunt, saying if they can’t pull a trigger, they shouldn’t be allowed to use a gun. WTF Bill.
Oh - and not surprisingly, Jamie ran into some problems getting his gun license, which you can read about here. It was a near 3 year-long legal battle, stymied by the local police department. Ignorance abounds with adapted gun technology.
So now, Jamie hunts, but will always need an aide with him when he does. Not a bad trade off though for having not hunted in 30 years. One of the hobbies I had to forget about (when I got hurt) was the clarinet. I wonder if there will ever be something invented to help me reignite that passion again in 20 or so years? If so, that would be one impressive piece of technology. Have you seen all the keys on one?
Sorry, rambling. Anyways, congrats Jamie! Can you make me some venison jerky?
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