They are perceived to be 'more dangerous' than a break open gun, obviously this perception comes from those who do not own an auto. In 17 years of running a shooting ground the few incidents that did occur were ALL involving break open guns. The favourite being, closing the gun with a finger on the trigger. We had a few 'mole hunters' (and it was nearly always the same people) amongst the regulars ! The funniest incident, and it could have been a lot worse, involved an experienced DTL shooter. He had inherited a Remmie 1100 auto and brought it to the ground to 'try'. He was on peg 1 from the start, so I went and stood behind him, just in case. I had already gone through the closing and loading routine off range. All was going well and by the third 'change', I went and sat down again. After the next change 'Remmie Man', fired his first shot, waited until the next gun had shot, reloaded the auto, then stuck the barrel on his right foot ! I did not want to rush forward, in case it made him jump and pull the trigger, I had to wait until it was his turn to shoot. When he had shouldered the gun I was able to stop the line, take the gun from him, unload it and then point out his error. It was only then that he realized what he had done. I never saw that Remmie again !
