WHEN THE WHAM-O MEETS THE EYE.

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Back in 1952 I was the proud owner of a Wham-O Slingshot. Yep, it was about the best on the market at least to a twelve-year-old.

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I did something with that special slingshot that I haven't done since and am I glad of that. What I did was shoot another boy in the eye. We were playing army in a vacant lot near our house. We had our fox holes dug and a wooden crate in front of them. We were shooting at each other with slingshots. You might ask, what were we thinking, but the fact is that we were not thinking about what we were doing.

I shot a rock just as Eugene stuck up his head. I heard him yell, "Ouch," from 30 feet away. He grabbed his eye and screamed, "Oh my God, I am blind."

Eugene went home and told his mother that he had run into a tree branch.

I threw that Wham-O away and said I'd never shoot again. The next day I found out that Eugene had come out with only a scratched eyeball. Boy, were we both lucky. Since he was okay I thought it would be fine to go back and look for my Wham-O. Sure enough there it was.

By Ivan Glenn

Editor's Comment:

Both Ivan and I realize the importance of safety when shooting a slingshot, air rifle, bow & arrow, and other similar items. We have both made it a part of our slingshot shooting to teach others the safety part of our sport. His story shows how easy it is to make a mistake and hurt someone. I will be telling you about a couple of instances in my life that impels me to teach and stress slingshot safety.