Normally, we’re a site that encourages the DIY mentality, tinkering with everything, and perhaps even harnessing powers mankind cannot fully understand. However, this is more of a cautionary tale from Potrero, California where a woman was tragically killed from an accident involving her husband and a homemade cannon. This is why Mythbusters says, “don’t try this at home.”
According to the Associated Press, the deceased woman’s husband and a friend were working on a homemade cannon near their mobile home. Details are slim, but the cannon somehow went off and sent a “projectile” into the mobile home where the woman was presumably engaged in non-cannon activities. The woman was pronounced dead at 12:15 A.M.. Whether it was caused by the projectile or the force of the cannon blast was not disclosed. It was, however, cannon-related.
As it stands, very little is known about this case. The first question on my mind is why, if you’re going to have a homemade cannon, would you point it at your home? Even if you didn’t intend to fire the thing, it seems like an incredible risk. Also: What were they doing firing a cannon in the dead of night?
Personally, I can completely understand the desire to own and operate a homemade cannon. However, I beg of you cannon owners: Please use some common sense.
(AP via Jezebel, unrelated image via Gene Wilburn)
- Even the Mythbusters had some cannon trouble recently
- A less tragic accident, involving someone’s brain and a nail gun
