Does this make the case for a loaded chamber indicator, or a magazine drop safety?
Loaded chamber indicator, no, because you could always check the chamber without one anyway, and you'd have to remember to check in any case. I suppose one could argue that a really obvious LCI, such as a large chunk of metal or plastic painted fluorescent orange sticking out of the top of the pistol, could alert even those who aren't paying attention, but then again people would eventually get used to it and ignore it if they're so inclined. The problem here was breaking two of the fundamental rules of firearms safety,
either of which would have prevented this tragedy on its own, and
neither of which require any superfluous indicator devices to heed.
Magazine drop safety (or disconnect)...I'd say yes, with the caveat that some trade-offs may be involved. While it doesn't help people follow the safety rules, I can't deny that it can avert tragedies that would have resulted from one of the more common classes of safety violations.
Not really, this guy apparently didn't understand that dropping the mag did not clear the weapon. His first impulse was correct, if he planned on drinking he should have left the gun in the safe.
But the fact is that he didn't do the right things, and that a magazine disconnect would have prevented this tragedy.
It irks me to admit this because I'm a big believer in the idea that safety starts between our ears, as well as in simplicity generally being the best way, but people keep getting shot--usually by others, undeservedly--because of the loaded-chamber issue.
I've heard there are three kinds of people: those who learn from others' experience,
This is known as wisdom, which is about as common as "common" sense, unfortunately.
those who learn from their own,
This is known as experience, and in terms of accidents, the less wisdom one has, the more varied experiences one will accumulate (provided that one avoids the experience of death).
and those who learn nothing.
These are technically known as idiots...just in case anybody was wondering.
I had the good fortune early in my shooting career to meet a guy with nine and a half fingers, which is to say: half his trigger finger was gone, so he used his second finger. He'd double-charged a cartridge case and blown up a gun. I've never seated a bullet without checking the case, nor will I ever forget the lesson he taught me.
That is wise, although even wisdom does not free one from the perils of human error, of course, which is why implementing multiple layers of safety is also wise. As much as I'm philosophically against the use of devices for implementing safety, obviously some devices are worthy, such as drop safeties (for when the whole gun is dropped, that is) and manual safeties (for some types of guns). Based on the experiences of all too many people, I'm becoming more and more convinced of the value of magazine disconnects, as controversial as this may be. No device should take the place of proper training and safe handling, of course, but when people falter, and they will, sometimes safety devices can literally save lives. In this case, it seems that a lot of people forget about the round in the chamber--just making an observation.
As far as I'm concerned, killing someone while fooling around with a gun and drinking counts as negligent homicide.
I agree. As much as I like guns, they are deadly devices and must be handled with the most serious level of care, not unlike an automobile. Those who fool around with guns with flagrant disregard for safety should be severely punished--that's the only way to confer some degree of wisdom on those who otherwise wouldn't have any.