It wasn’t his fault. He was just a dad trying to get his son excited about shooting.

The boy was wearing hearing protection and shooting glasses — it was obvious dad was promoting safety. The gun was just too long. The length of the stock and height of the scope prevented the boy from getting a good cheek weld. He couldn’t see properly through the scope and when his finger hammered the trigger, the recoil of the .30-06 rocked him back.

“I hate this gun,” the boy...