There is no knowing what may happen when a man ignorant of firearms, has one in his hands, even if it only has blank ammunition.
A very favourite attitude with actors is to bang the butt of their rifle on the ground and then put both hands over the muzzle, but in this case if the rifle “explodes,” it is only their own hands that they injure.
For the safety of others this is the best thing they can do, before someone else gets hurt.
Before being allowed to fire blank ammunition on the stage, a man should be properly instructed in the safe handling of firearms.
Shooting blank ammunition on the stage is always a risky job. People are so huddled up, that it is difficult to appear to shoot at a man without shooting close enough to him to injure him.
If the gun is fired over the man’s head, it may set the flies on fire, burn the eyes of someone in a grand tier box, or the limelight man.
It is a case of “save me from my friends” when a writer who is ignorant of shooting matters tries to extol someone’s marksmanship.
We read “the anti-aircraft guns at once began to bellow forth defiance. The shooting was wonderful and it was only the hardest luck that they did not wing an enemy.”
As the number of shots is not mentioned and the element of luck introduced, it is not possible to analyse this shooting, but another writer is clearer. He says “he got within fifty yards, well within point blank range, and fired 117 shots and the enemy was then observed to be leaning forward, so it was apparent that he had been winged.”
Now here we have all the facts necessary to work out a simple rule of three problem.