Have you ever had an accidental discharge?

Status
Not open for further replies.
K

Kali

Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2010
Messages
52
Location
San Diego, Ca
Title says it all. I'de like to learn from others mistakes and avoid making my own. Specify what happened and if it was a machine or human error.

Never happened to me but I am relatively young, pretty careful and only owned 3 guns.

Thanks,
Ryan

EDIT: If you know a story of a friend or what not feel free to contribute.
 
kali: use search to find this kind of post--it's been done numerous times. once you've found it, put a 'bump' post in to move it back up to the forum top, and the discussion will continue.

Jim H.
 
I don't believe in AD's. In every instance I've ever heard, seen, or read about someone pulls the trigger, improperly holstered, improperly pulled their gun. And for every "accidental" shooting someone screwed up. That's not accidental.
 
i seriously did search and came up blank but ok ill try it again..

edit: found a ton now, search thing was buggin out a minute ago.

my fault, disregard
 
Hi Kali, and welcome...

I'm also of the mindset that the idea of an "AD" is fundamentally flawed.

Yes, guns are mechanical devices and can malfunction, but with a major manufacturer, maintained properly, do you know how rare the chances of a gun having a catastrophic enough failure to discharge on its own would be?

Which leads us to the idea of a "ND", or negligent discharge. And no, I've never had one, and I believe that it is entirely possible for a person to never have one. If you can go one minute without a ND, you can go one hour. And one day, and one week...you get the idea.

Guns are like any other tool. You have to follow the proper safety precautions each and every time you handle them. There can be no lapses, there can be no forgetfulness. It's no different from working with a table saw, or a drill press, or a router. The one time that you say, "I don't need to bother with the guard, it's just a quick one piece job..." is the time you lose fingers. The one time you neglect to follow the 4 Rules is the time when you or someone else gets hurt.

I'd like to believe my guns have personalities, but they don't. They are inanimate mechanical objects, and they can only do what I tell them to do.

-Mark
 
Well said

Mark:

I am in total agreement with what you have to say and thank you for posting it.

WCW:
 
Have I? Not yet, thank God, but it happens. :what:

I don't consider myself a cop-basher (some of my best friends, blah, blah, blah), but I have met a few who think they are the only ones that should even be able to possess a firearm.

Stories like the linked one make me :evil:
 
No. Despite handling firearms on nearly a daily basis for over a decade, I have yet to have an AD or ND.

Follow The Four Rules without fail, every time you handle a firearm and you will not have an ND.

Any time someone hands you a firearm, check the chamber and if possible, lock the action open. If you hand a weapon to someone else, drop the magazine and lock the action open before handing it to them.
 
Same as Justin, only I've been at it for over 40 yrs.

I am always surprised to see the number of people who have experienced an AD/ND though. The polls are pretty telling.
 
Follow The Four Rules without fail, every time you handle a firearm and you will not have an ND.
Click to expand...

No kidding. Everybody's probably seen this thread by now. Didn't want to hijack the OP's thread, but this is where I'd like to comment on it. Question: How did the OP get shot in the knee by his friend?

If his friend had been following rule 2, an accidental or negligent discharge would not have led to a hospital stay. And this accident was probably violating all 4 rules. In thinking about this accident, a fifth rule occurred to me: "Do not allow anyone to handle a loaded weapon in your home." This would mean friends, visitors, etc. Someone comes to my house with a loaded gun, I'll politely but firmly ask them to unload it. If I hand someone a gun in my home, I'll demonstrate first (most importantly to myself) that it is unloaded. If someone hands me a gun in their house, I will ensure that it is unloaded by having the owner verify this before giving it to me.

This is a simple policy that would have prevented the tragedy linked to above. If you are CCW and visiting a friend, would you respect a request to make the weapon safe before bringing it in or would you refuse to enter unless it was loaded? Seems to me that if you're a guest, the homeowner has the right to make that request.
 
My neighbour's son, 18 at the time, was rabbit hunting. When negotiating his way thru a thicket, his rifle (a 22) became snagged in the bramble. He tugged it by the barrel, the rifle discharged and he was shot thru the armpit. He died right there.

This was a stupid death. He should have known better. He should have done better. He didn't.

J
 
Once when i was a kid, me and a good friend were hunting for rabbits and squirrels. we had been walkng for quite a while and decided to sit down on the bank of a creek. i had a mossberg 12ga, the safety was on and sat down actually more like plopped down. i was holding the gun with finger near the trigger and when the butt hit the ground, barrel was pointing up it fired. i have never been able to get the gun to fire with safety on since. and have tried a few different times.
 
I am of the school that there are two kinds of shooters -- those that HAVE had a AD and those that WILL have a AD.

Drive long enough and you WILL get a speeding ticket/fender bender etc. --- shoot/own firearms long enough and you WILL have a AD/NG.

The best you can hope/pray for is the gun is pointing at something you don't mind a hole in !!!
 
I have been discussing this issue with my son who is now visiting us. He is a trauma surgeon in a hospital in a large metropolitan area and is regularly called upon to treat gunshot wounds. His take on it is that stupidity injures more people than intent.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top