Before this degrades into an argument about whether or not there is such a thing as a Negligent Discharge, I have to say there is. It can be intentional and still be negligent.
The definition of negligence is a failure to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in like circumstances.
So, now that we got that out of the way... This is a serious question.
I had one today. I'm really shaken up by it and I feel like I'm a really horrible and unsafe gun handler now.
Here's what happened: I was shooting at the handgun range with a friend, he gave me a magazine and said it had 4 rounds in it. I took the magazine, loaded the weapon, fired four shots and then had the gun held to my side as we approached the target to see how I did. As we were walking up, I pointed the gun at the ground and pulled the trigger because I had thought the slide just didn't lock back and I wanted to drop the hammer. Gun fires. We both stop and look at each other. Nothing happened, no one was hurt, no damage to anything, round just impacted the ground and didn't even ricochet (I think it hit some hay that was laying there).
A few things I know already and have learned:
1. Yes, I know I disobeyed the "all guns are always loaded" rule. I know this full well and am very upset with myself over it.
2. Yes, I know that you shouldn't trust anyone when they tell you how many rounds are in a magazine or that the gun is unloaded unless you check yourself.
3. Yes, I made the decision to pull the trigger and the gun was pointed in a safe direction. This was NOT an accidental discharge, I intended to fire the gun. However, it certainly was negligent.
I just had a momentary lapse of seriousness and concentration. It really scared me to the point that I'm actually afraid I shouldn't shoot guns anymore.
Those of you that have had this happen to you or something similar, how did you deal afterwords? Did you just let it go over time? Did it not bother you? How do you learn to trust yourself again?
I ask that you please don't troll me, I'm honestly asking for help and yes, this is a new account. I don't want anyone to know that it was me that did this, that's cowardly, I know, and I'm sorry for that. But I really need some advice. (Just so we're clear, I don't have another THR account, I do on other gun sites. So I'm not violating the rules by having multiple accounts)
I guess it really can happen to anyone if you let yourself get too comfortable just once. Up until now I never thought this would happen and I was always extremely safe. Even then, I thought I was being pretty safe. I'm glad that while I forgot one of the major rules I did remember the others and they saved me from a potentially terrible situation.
Thanks for your help.
The definition of negligence is a failure to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in like circumstances.
So, now that we got that out of the way... This is a serious question.
I had one today. I'm really shaken up by it and I feel like I'm a really horrible and unsafe gun handler now.
Here's what happened: I was shooting at the handgun range with a friend, he gave me a magazine and said it had 4 rounds in it. I took the magazine, loaded the weapon, fired four shots and then had the gun held to my side as we approached the target to see how I did. As we were walking up, I pointed the gun at the ground and pulled the trigger because I had thought the slide just didn't lock back and I wanted to drop the hammer. Gun fires. We both stop and look at each other. Nothing happened, no one was hurt, no damage to anything, round just impacted the ground and didn't even ricochet (I think it hit some hay that was laying there).
A few things I know already and have learned:
1. Yes, I know I disobeyed the "all guns are always loaded" rule. I know this full well and am very upset with myself over it.
2. Yes, I know that you shouldn't trust anyone when they tell you how many rounds are in a magazine or that the gun is unloaded unless you check yourself.
3. Yes, I made the decision to pull the trigger and the gun was pointed in a safe direction. This was NOT an accidental discharge, I intended to fire the gun. However, it certainly was negligent.
I just had a momentary lapse of seriousness and concentration. It really scared me to the point that I'm actually afraid I shouldn't shoot guns anymore.
Those of you that have had this happen to you or something similar, how did you deal afterwords? Did you just let it go over time? Did it not bother you? How do you learn to trust yourself again?
I ask that you please don't troll me, I'm honestly asking for help and yes, this is a new account. I don't want anyone to know that it was me that did this, that's cowardly, I know, and I'm sorry for that. But I really need some advice. (Just so we're clear, I don't have another THR account, I do on other gun sites. So I'm not violating the rules by having multiple accounts)
I guess it really can happen to anyone if you let yourself get too comfortable just once. Up until now I never thought this would happen and I was always extremely safe. Even then, I thought I was being pretty safe. I'm glad that while I forgot one of the major rules I did remember the others and they saved me from a potentially terrible situation.
Thanks for your help.