Shot Myself/ Negligent Discharge

1858...
That is why it is an "Negligent" situation

Regards

Harley Quinn said:

That is why it is an "Negligent" situation

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Oh OK ... I'm still trying to get my brain around the concept of unloading a pistol by racking the slide BEFORE dropping the magazine ...

Time for a group hug perhaps!

The last ND I had was from sheer stupidity ! I knew the correct way to unload my pistol, but refused to practice it.

When I dropped the hammer-striker the "UNLOADED PISTOL" fired! Shot a hole through the wall of my mobile home,it ricocheted off the black top driveway and through the wall of a rental unit across the street from my trailer.Just so happened it was vacant.

I could have taken someones life, for no other reason, other than my lapse in saftey, makes me ill every time I recall the memory, darn near kept me from persuing the hobby I enjoy so much.

Hope you heal quick,thanks for the humility lesson.

Dammit, now we have a thread with an AD fatality.
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=563448

BE MORE CAREFUL!

I remember one time at the range, was watching through the window behind all who were shooting...

You could tell it was an accidental shoot or ND...Guy was loading and unloading his weapon, but for some reason he pulled the trigger... Not aiming just a quick pull and total surprise

Good thing he was at a range, otherwise he would have shot his computer

I know a person who was practicing with his draw with a new holster...Had an empty revolver, over and over again he drew and pulled the trigger...
Then he reloaded it and for some reason, drew and shot the coffee machine

True story

Quite a surprise for all in the room

Regards

WinchesterAA said:

What is the obsession with dropping the hammer?

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Disassembling the firearm aside, more than a few folks seem to have a habit of pulling the trigger to drop the hammer/striker every time they unload. Personally, I only pull the trigger to fire or dry-fire (for practice), and other reasons for pulling the trigger are not immediately apparent to me. So I asked somebody (who is very knowledgeable and experienced with firearms) about it, and was told that he learned to do this as part of a safety procedure (ironically) in competition, where people are expected at times to show that their guns are both unloaded and uncocked. He acknowledged that pulling the trigger when unloading was unnecessary in general and was merely a longstanding habit he had formed.

I may not be an expert, but for what it's worth I would suggest preventing such a habit from forming in the first place, or breaking it if it does. Triggers are for shooting. Everything else that they're ever used for (e.g. disassembly, dry-fire practice) must be done with mindful deliberation, as opposed to a force of habit. Safe habits are what, if anything, will save us from NDs when we let our guard down (and we're all only fallible humans), while unsafe habits will often be the direct cause of NDs.

To pull the trigger is the thing you do in taking a Glock slide off, might be to complicated for some

Regards

Around here all the cops & security guards carry Glocks.
They came up with that term when one of them would shoot himself pushing the gun in his hoster & not taking his finger off the trigger.
It appears you don't like it but it happens.

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So these folks were in the habit of holstering their guns with their fingers on the trigger? Not smart.

It's not a Glock problem. Somebody who holsters with his finger on the trigger is an accident waiting to happen. Manual safety, you say? Great--what happens that one time when he forgets to apply it?

If you rack the slide on a semi-auto with a magazine inserted and the slide doesn't lock back, doesn't that tell you something?!! I don't own a Glock but I've shot a bunch, and as far as I can remember, the slide always locked back if the magazine was empty. Am I missing something here?

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I think the point here is that before disassembling the Glock, you need to release the slide and let it come forward, then pull the trigger. You end up with the slide forward on an empty, uncocked gun. He thought his was in this condition. He was wrong. He was wrong because he hadn't followed the sequence of procedures necessary to get his gun into that condition. Operator error.

He would have gotten away with this error if he had pointed his gun in a safe direction before pulling the trigger. That's the bottom line.

I'm having trouble understanding how constantly berating the original poster is contributing to an adult discussion of firearms safety. He very obviously is aware of his carelessness. What does repeatedly emphasing this help?

I'm having trouble understanding how constantly berating the original poster is contributing to an adult discussion of firearms safety. He very obviously is aware of his carelessness. What does repeatedly emphasing this help?

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(emphasis added)

It helps others feel superior to him by spouting off the proper procedure.

What (some) people are failing to realize, he KNOWS the right procedure. He just didnt follow it that time.


The point of the thread is not to discuss the what is the correct procedure... but.... to reinforce following the proper procedure EVERY SINGLE TIME.

Russ, between you or the OP, I would go shooting with the OP any day of the week. You, not likely. If you do not accept that this can happen to anyone, then you are the more dangerous to yourself and others. A wise man once said " let he that thinks he stands take head lest he fall".

Actually, that was God.

It helps others feel superior to him by spouting off the proper procedure.

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It is also suggestive of how much experience and/or training someone ACTUALLY has.

In my experience, ACTUAL high volume shooters have an extremely humble opinion of their firearm accumin, and any instructor/trainer worth his salt emphasises often that temporary, instantaneus lapses in judgement can AND DO happen to everyone. Sometimes, like with our OP, with painful or tragic result.

This could NEVER happen to me

Famous last words for some...

Thank you for having the guts to post this. There was a great article in G & A last month too. Heal quickly and learn, don't stop shooting. The shooting community as a whole needs more people like you who take responsibility for their actions and can TEACH others.

I have had one negligent discharge. I fortunately had the muzzle of the shotgun pointed away from everyone because if I hadn't, I would have shot a hunting buddy in the back. My shotgun froze and when I closed it-BANG!

Grunt Medic TXARNG said:

An important lesson for all Glock shooters. This is the same sequence that caused a Federal agent to shoot himself in the leg in front of a classroom of children(!) that went viral video some time ago. Especially with Glocks, where pulling the trigger is part of the diasassembly sequence, visually verify the chamber is empty before doing so!

I've had one ND also - a .22 AR I had unloaded the magazine from and then worked the bolt - which failed to extract and eject the round, so it fired when I dropped the hammer. No injuries, thank the Lord, but scared the Hell out of my brother and me!

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Any less likely to happen with a 1911, or with any gun for that manor? Sigmas also require the person disassembling the pistol to pull the trigger. Most 1911 shooters won't ride the hammer down and are coached to pull the trigger to put the hammer down. The owners manual for my pistol says NOT to ride the hammer down, but instead pull the trigger to put the hammer down.

Not flaming you, just making an observation.

I love 1911's and have a few, so I am not criticizing one or the other.

Here is the video of the shoot

http://www.google.com/search?q=agen...&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&ie=utf8&oe=utf8&rlz=

I felt it was a phony situation, but not according to this:

http://www.snopes.com/photos/accident/gunsafety.asp

Not much excitement nor smoke

Oh well, still hard to believe it was 5 years ago and it is still up on u-tube

Regards

ND can happen to the best of us. My advice is to always rack the slide twice in any gun clearing procedure.
1. Remove mag first. (As many have already stated.)
2. Rack the slide twice.
3. While visually verifying that the chamber is empty. (Even if I visually verified that the chamber is empty, I always rack the slide twice.....sometimes 3x.)

The multiple racking of the slide habit serves as an overlapping safety habit... just in case...

I'm having trouble understanding how constantly berating the original poster is contributing to an adult discussion of firearms safety. He very obviously is aware of his carelessness. What does repeatedly emphasing this help?

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I don't think most of the posts on here are berating him. I'm not. He has a lot of guts for coming on here and owning up to what happened, for the benefit of others. I think the argument is coming from the fact that some people seem to want to blame the gun. "Glock? It figures..." That kind of thing.

The message I get from his experience is that it isn't enough to know the rules. As you say, he was aware of them, and pretty much everyone on here is. The key is to be focused on what you're doing. No grogginess or "multi-tasking" when dealing with firearms.

The multiple racking of the slide habit serves as an overlapping safety habit... just in case...

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Yes, yes, and yes. Do it three times.

Sorry for your misshap, and glad you didn't take someone else out!!

But.....

Why the Creed song, about a guy learning his Wife is pregnant, on your vidio??

Thank G-d you made it through and thanks for posting this. I've had my "almost" years ago and it woke me up that this can happen to anyone and constant diligence is required with firearms at all times.

Quote:
What is the obsession with dropping the hammer?

I mean, really.. How would you have an ND if you never drop the hammer on an "empty" chamber?

What do you gain by dropping the hammer? Is there ANY reason for it (aside from putting the glock back in its OEM case, which does require the hammer be dropped, which, IMO, is stupid...)

you need to pull the trigger to take the gun down with Glocks, stupid design IMHO.
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Yeah, I have to shut my car engine off in order to remove the transmission or the radiator, stupid design IMHO.

Russ wrote "Sitting at your computer wearing underwear while playing with your Glock between your legs? Then you decide to rack back the loaded gun with your finger on the trigger? Then the thing puts a bullet all the way through your foot, leaving permanent damage to yourself. Sorry, but this is amateur hour and while I feel for your pain I think it would be smart for you not to handle firearms. I would love to hear what your father had to say about it. Posting the video of you and your mother holding your hand was a nice touch, however the method you used handling a gun is way beyond acceptable. Anyone who would think about handling in this method SHOULD NOT OWN A GUN. You are going to kill someone....Russ"
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Dude, breathe deeply, then switch to decaff... It's gonna be all right, you don't have to continue flagellating the deceased equine.

Toivo, I definitely didn't mean the majority. I was mostly responding to a particularly unfriendly post on this page. Sorry to lump y'all in as one. My particular favorite gun safety quote was from someone on this forum "keep your booger hook off the bang switch and you will be alright."

Glad nothing more serious happened.

Thanks for posting about something that must be very embarrassing.

I will make sure my safety procedures are never automated, unconscious habits. My safety efforts will always be consciously applied.

Get well and I hope there's no permanent damage.

To the original poster - get well soon, and sorry for the pain. I was in a motorcycle crash in June and my ankle is still healing, so be patient during the healing process. If you tore up any tendons or ligaments it can take quite a long time to get back to normal.

When field stripping a semi-auto handgun, here's what I do:

While holding in a safe direction with finger off the trigger:

#1: Remove Magazine

#2: Lock slide back.

#3: Look through magazine well (if possible on that design, otherwise get in the habit of putting a finger in to the well to feel if it's empty - tactile feedback will almost always cause your brain to go "WHOA STOP!").

#4: Visually inspect and (if possible on that design) feel the empty chamber. This is in case a round was chambered, and fails to extract. I've had a round stick in the chamber once when clearing a weapon - the extractor had broke, causing the malfunction I was clearing. If I hadn't visually inspected the chamber I wouldn't have caught it.

#5: ALWAYS double check.

I was clearing my late-Uncle's firearms out at my aunt's request last night - he died of an AD on Wednesday. I was unloading the firearms in the house, and as I went, I was writing down make/model/caliber of each one on a list. When I finished making the list, and started bagging up the firearms I re-checked each of them a second time. One of the 9mm's ejected a round when I checked it. It still had a hot pipe. On the first pass, I'd dropped the mag, put it down to write the information down, but failed to eject the round in the chamber.

Yeah, it was an emotional time, but still, my uncle had just died of an AD the night before, and even being conscious of safe handling, I still messed up checking one - even with it still so fresh.

So, once again...

#5: ALWAYS double check.


I like the design of the Ruger P95, as far as disassembly goes - the design actually forces you to LOOK and reach in to the chamber / magazine well to flip the little plate down.

Don't mean to sound preachy here, just reiterating stuff for any other readers. Proper weapon handling means a hell of a lot more to me today, than it did before, since I just lost someone I loved due to mishandling a firearm on Wednesday.

Get well soon, and if you get a physical therapy order, stick to it!!!