[Bob R]

Jail locked down after officer's gun discharges

April 23 - The Spokane County Jail was placed in limited lock-down Friday morning after a corrections officer was wounded when his handgun discharged accidentally.

(AP) -- Corporal Dave Reagan says the 35-year-old officer, whose identity was being withheld, was wounded as he arrived for his shift about 8:40 am.

As the officer went through a doorway, a 9 millimeter semiautomatic handgun he was carrying in a gym bag discharged. The bullet went through one of the officer's legs and into the other.

He was taken to a hospital for treatment.Reagan says Spokane County sheriff's detectives will investigate the accidental shooting



I sure would like to get the whole story when things like this happen.

All I can deduce from this article is a "rogue" handgun, not wanting to go to work, decided to go off from inside a gym bag. So, you see, guns do "just go off on their own".

I think the real story will never come out, whatever it might be. And if it does, it won't get published.

bob

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4816692/

[ralphtt]

BS . . . :rolleyes:

[TrapperReady]

How much would you want to bet that the pistol either wasn't in a holster, or that the holster didn't cover the trigger-guard? Is this a new form of CCW? Perhaps BOB (Bottom of Bag) carry?

[ceetee]

It's the gym bag's fault! Did he do a background check on that gym bag? Maybe the gym bag had been in trouble before... Maybe we should do thread identification testing of that gym bag, and compare it to other gym bags that have been involved in shootings.

Since the officer was just arriving for work, was the gym bag on-duty? Or off? Either way, the insurance company is gonna have a fit! Why was the officer allowed to have a rogue gym bag like that anyway? Or was it a department-issued gym bag?




When good gym bags go bad... tonight on The Channel Ten News...

[P95Carry]

Funning aside (re the ''recalcitrant'' gym bag!! :D ) ..........

Only way I could see this happening apparently so easily (and heck .. much more info needed here to make any real judgement!) .... imagine a BHP ... cocked but NOT locked. Incomplete/faulty hammer/sear engagement could allow a bump or object in bag to act on trigger with minimal poundage.

Gun fault? Operator fault? ... maybe both? Who knows.

[keyhole]

Yeah, right.

OM- operator malfunction. poor carry?

[LynnMassGuy]

Smart guy. Loaded handgun loose in a gym bag. Sounds perfectly safe to me. Was he running with scissors when it happened. :uhoh:

[N3rday]

Whatever. I think it was a Glock. All that is mentioned is '9mm semiautomatic handgun'. Since 60% of cops use Glocks, its probably a Glock. Anyway, thats about as likely as my car's parking brake going off by itself and running someone over. Albeit possible, but unlikely. I would be more likely to believe P95's image...a gun thats was cocked and unlocked, like a S&W auto or something. Even then, its unlikely that it was anything but operator error.

[oldgold]

Guns do go off by themselves!! Guy I used to ride motorcycles with keep a .32 colt pocket model in his leather jacket. He got home hung the jacket up and turned on the tube. About an hour later there was a muffled bang. Pistol went off in his jacket pocket and blew a hole in the wall. Gunsmith said the sear sheared off and let the hammer fall. Nobody has ever heard of this before or since. Just a reminder that if it's mechanical it can fail. :eek:

[Sunray]

"...It's the gym bag's fault!..." Yep. Let's ban them. This is another classic example of a guy who is supposed to be trained in the use of firearms totally disregarding the safe handling of them and Nature trying to clean out the gene pool.

[Kentucky Rifle]

Guys I know of two times a gun went off on it's own. The first was a .22 bolt action rifle I had as a kid. One day I closed the bolt and walked into the garden. Ten minutes lates--BANG! I was holding the muzzle down and the bullet went into the ground.
The second time happened to my gunsmith.
He was riding his motorcycle with a 1911 in the trunk. He told me that the 1911 was not cocked & locked, however the hammer was down on a loaded chamber. He heard a boom and pulled to the side of the road to check on it. The .45 had gone off, shot his lunch, and the bullet continued on out the side of the trunk. He thinks it happened due to an unstable primer.

KR

[killermarmot]

While im completely into the whole rogue gun bag scenario because I picture this ticked off gun bag that he threw into the corner after work instead of setting him down nicely....ok
i'll stop.

oh and N3rday it's funny you should mention the parking brake thing because the parking brake on my car was full engaged when I left the car and when I came back to it.....smashed into a car 35 feet away. It was a brand new car too =) Scary thing is the kids next door had chosen that moment to run down the street to get ice cream if they hadn't they would have been playing directly behind it.

But anyway this reminds me of all the hunter safety stuff of why you don't jump fences, climb tree stands and stuff like that with a chambered round. Just like you don't toss a pistol into a bag with no holster or othe means of keeping the trigger clear. Also reminds me of why you leave the cylinder under the hammer on a revolver empty. Maybe I'm just paranoid about safety but then against a phantom gun demon has never gotten into my pistol and shot someone in the leg.

...I agree million...person...march...to ban gym bags...but only those that can do harm to children...damn you ballistic nylon that stuff sounds too dangerous for civilians. :D

[Pendragon]

I am sure it happens.

But most LEO types use DA or DAO guns where I would think the hammer is resting and the trigger pull too much to just get pulled in a bag...

[killermarmot]

Seems the media has failed us again:rolleyes: with not nearly enough information to make any kind of judgment

[Bob R]

Whenever I hear about this I think Glock.

I used to work with a doc who carried her Glock in her purse. More than once she had something end up through the trigger guard (mascara, lipstick, pen..etc.). Used to worry the bejessus out of me. I was always worried about her snagging the purse just right and putting pressure on something through the trigger guard. Maybe I was just paranoid, but I still don't like the Glock safety trigger thing.

I finally broke down and bought her a carry purse, which she loves, and still uses to this day.

bob

[ssteven1]

I bet it was an EVIL BLACK gym bag. :D :D :D

[Braz]

Glocks require attention,

Must use a holster that covers the trigger guard. Must use care when reholstering to a avoid shirt tail or other objects getting inside the guard. I don't mind those caviats, and I want a pistol quick on the draw.

[clipse]

My hunters ed. instructor said that her husband got her a black powder rifle and when she was at the range she picked it up by the fore arm and it just "went off". Luckily she had it pointed down range. She went on to say that she hunts with it now. I asked her what the gunsmith said after she had it checked out. She never took it to a gunsmith. :banghead: That hunters education course was one instance where I got what I paid for. (it was free and manditory in order to legally hunt)


clipse

[Standing Wolf]

See? That proves it! Only cops need guns!

[sturmruger]

Don't they sell gym bags on the MMM website!! Maybe they should rethink selling gym bags that might possible hurt the children.

[TallPine]

Anyway, thats about as likely as my car's parking brake going off by itself and running someone over.
My pickup parking brake did that and I had to chase it down before it went through a fence. Now I only warm it up on flat ground or with me sitting inside. Otherwise it has to be shut off and in low gear or reverse.

Our fire dept rule is that all trucks have to be chocked before the driver gets out.

[XLMiguel]

Hmmmmm. Gun in poor state of repair, bad gunsmithing, etc, could conceivebly result in a random discharge, but still, some owner negligence would be required. More likely poor storage and sloppy handling (i.e. ignorance of design/operating characteristics, chambered round, no safety, no holster, thrown about) was contributory factor. Kinda like smoking while you gas-up :rolleyes:

Yeah, blame the gun, not the operator . . . :uhoh:

[benEzra]

I'm sure the gun wasn't the only thing in the bag. Any object with a narrow extension that can get in the gun's trigger guard, if it's just thrown loose in there . . .

[magsnubby]

Come on guys, don't blame the gym bag. Everybody knows guns are possessed by evil spirits. This on was just miffed because it was in a ole dark bag. It wasn't really the guns fault either. Poor thing just had issues. Beside why do you think gun shops have bars on the windows? So the guns can't get out and wonder around the streets at night.

[Parker Dean]

Seems the media has failed us again with not nearly enough information to make any kind of judgment



Now why would the media want to give you enough info so that you could draw any other conclusion than the one they want you to draw?

In this case, guns=dangerous beyond reason

[Tamara]

Also reminds me of why you leave the cylinder under the hammer on a revolver empty.

Only on old SAA's or three-screw Rugers and their ilk.

Leaving an empty chamber under the hammer of a modern DA wheelgun crosses the line from prudence into superstitious paranoia. :uhoh:

[artherd]

This is why I like Glocks.

They don't CONTAIN enough energy to fire a primer of their own accord, in any condition (including 'cocked'.)

YOU HAVE TO PULL THE TRIGGER, OR IT WON'T GO OFF.

No malfunction could make the gun go off, because at the absolute worst the malfunction would cause the part-cocked striker to fall on the primer. Result = NOTHING HAPPENS!


Now, other stuff than your finger can pull the trigger (though it's hard with the trigger-mounted safety. Has to be a very clever stick.)

So, if it was a Glock, then this guy MUST have mis-handled it somehow for it to go boom.

PS: remind me to stay away from cheap .32s (or any fully-cockable gun with questionable mechanics/sear-wear, both in design and in the specific model.)

[Soap]

I'm betting that it just didn't "go off". Negligence in securing it in a proper holster or case means that this is most likely an ND.

[c_yeager]

But most LEO types use DA or DAO guns where I would think the hammer is resting and the trigger pull too much to just get pulled in a bag...

The factory trigger pull on a glock is SIGNIFICANTLY less than that on a traditional DA/SA or DAO pistol. The thing with Glocks though is that you really do have to PULL THE TRIGGER for them to fire. Even with the worst kind of mechanical malfuntion there isnt enough energy in the "half-cocked" stryker to dicharge a round. Also in order for the "safety trigger" to be pulled by something in the bag it would have to be done in such a way as to pull the little safety thingie on the trigger. Not an impossible thing by any means really.

[artherd]

Leaving an empty chamber under the hammer of a modern DA wheelgun crosses the line from prudence into superstitious paranoia.


I confess to being a revolver neophyte.

Do modern revolvers have a drop-safety for the exposed hammer? What's to prevent it from going off?

If so, I'd see absolutely no reason not to leave a revolver fully loaded.


If not, I don't chamber non-drop-safe weapons. (and that means I'll probally keep not owning any revolvers :P)




I really should know this. No time like the present to learn I guess!

[Tamara]

Do modern revolvers have a drop-safety for the exposed hammer?

Yes. Some brands have had that for quite some time, as a matter of fact. I think it was Iver Johnson that had their quasi-famous "Hammer the hammer" adverts in the early days of the previous century.

Some used transfer bars, and some use sliding hammer blocks, but either way, there's no way for the hammer to hit the firing pin on a modern (post WWII) DA revolver unless the trigger is pulled.

[webley455]

It was in fact Iver Johnson who first had the patent on the transfer bar and used it in its revolvers. Hence "hammer the Hammer" Score another one for Tamara. ;)