"Accident" or "Gross Negligence"?????

[HK4U]

The four rules I stated where instilled in me at a young age by my father. They are ment as a guide line to prevent unfotunate mishaps. They are not ment to be take literally. Obviously I would expect an individule to have enough sence to double and triple check to make sure a gun is unloaded before cleaning or dry fireing. That's the trouble with todays sociaty, they seem to be a little short on comon scence.These rules are ment as a guide. If you pick up a gun concider it loaded. Don't point it at something your not willing to destroy. Keep your finger off the triger untill your ready to fire. Know were the bullet is going.

Exactly. The first rule means that you consider the gun loaded until you have proven other wise. It is not rocket science. No matter how simple there will always be someone that will ignore the obvious.

[Ektarr]

"Accident" or "Gross Negligence" only addresses 2 of the 3 possibilities at work here. Sad to say, the third is far too prevalent among our LEO's.

[TSOL]

I was at an outdoor range about a month ago when I heard the range office yelling at some guy that he can't load his firearm on the bench behind the people shooting. He then yelled please tell me that pistol that you have pointed at your son (perhaps 6 or 7 years old) doesn't have one in the pipe. As I was leaving I went to throw my trash away and had to walk past this guy it was then that I noticed he was wearing an official jacket that said XYZ Sheriff's Dept. I assume and hope that this guy is just a jail deputy and not out patrolling the roads. He had a loaded gun lying on the bench pointing directly at his son's chest not to mention that there were a also about 15 - 20 people down range from where his gun was pointed. Dumb.

I have since gone back to using only a local indoor range that is policed very well and any safety violations result in a very quick trip out the door.

[hunter won]

Not many police are trained properly.The small agencies in rural parts are the worst trained truth be told.

[Daugherty16]

Since this thread already contains some splitting of hairs, let me point out that accidental discharges do occasionally happen. There was a thread about this recently - seems the sear wore down on some older pistol and it not only fired itself while lying on the bench, but it went auto and emptied the mag, shooting the hand off the owner as he tried to grab it and stop it. So maybe allowing the wearing of the sear was negligence, but even i won't take on that argument.

But in general i agree that there are no accidental discharges, only negligent ones. If you obey rule # 2, even a ND doesn't have to have somber consequences.

Guns are inherently dangerous tools. They are made to kill or destroy. If we never get complacent about that, we will never relax the rules for safe handlng.

What was going through this cop's mind (i mean, before the bullet) when he was pointing the muzzle at his own face? I can't even imagine.

Very sad, and totally avoidable. My heart goes out to his family and colleagues.

[jtg452]

N.J. Officer Accidently Shoots, Kills Self: Top News Stories at Officer.com



There are several things wrong with this story. First question that comes to mind is why was this officer attempting to install a rubber sleeve onto his duty gun in the field? Wouldn't it be more appropriate to be doing this in a "secure" location such as the department arms room, his home, or maybe some other location where he would be somewhat "safe". What if there was an incident while he was in the process of doing this modification and needed the immediate use of his firearm? Not good!

Second is in the reporting. Does the Atlantic City Police Department issue officers M1 Garand pistols? I can't think of any semi-auto pistol that uses a "clip". If there was a "bullet" in the chamber of the gun, then it should be taken in to have the obstruction cleared. I have never heard of a "bullet" firing.

Third is what was the officer doing pointing the muzzle of the gun at his face? What part of "Keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction" did he not understand?

This is a graphic reminder of why it's critical that people handling firearms not be careless, and follow safe firearms handling procedures AT ALL TIMES!

Something doesn't smell right about this incident. There are a lot of unanswered questions, and I'm sure that there's more to this story than whats' being reported.



gf

If the gun broke or failed to work as intended, it's an accident. If the gun worked as it was meant to, it's negligence.

It sounds harsh but it's the truth. Guns don't decide when to work. They just work when humans decide to make them to.

I won't pick up a gun without verifying its' status first. Even when I lived alone during college, if I picked up a gun, I dropped the mag and checked the chamber or opened the cylinder. Every time with out fail. Same way at a gun shop. If they won't clear it, then I won't take it and I find someplace else to shop.

[ccbricker]

Newbie on this board but feel compelled to reply. My grandfather owned a gun shop and after receiving his course of instruction would allow us to handle his inventory. However, if you picked up a slide operated pistol and did not drop the magazine and pull the slide back immediately you received a knuckle on top of your head. It taught is a great lesson because to this day when I pull a gun out of the safe I start ducking as I try to make sure the weapon is cleared.

[Ropadope]

I'm beginning to wonder if this wasn't a suicide covered up by "Accidental discharge"

Find a way to compel the manufacturer that the firearm was somehow negligent in it's operation and you have a "suicide policy" payment to the family.

Just thinking out loud.