How do people shoot themselves in the head when cleaning their gun?

Status
Not open for further replies.
only time i look down the barrel is when the barrel has been removed from the slide and is sitting in my hand...
 
Probably usually suicide. With the gun cleaning gear sitting out, it can plausibly be called an accident which (as others said) saves some stigma for the family. Real gun cleaning accidents would generally be suffered lower on the body, since there aren't too many disassembly procedures that are simpler if the gun is pointed at the head; it is usually easier to take them down if they are pointed elsewhere.

As for the insurance, it depends on the policy. When I bought my life insurance policy, it said that the policy would have to be in effect for at year (I think that was the time limit) before they would pay out on a suicide. Others might not pay out on suicide at all, depending on who wrote the policy.
 
A shot to the leg and hitting the artery is an accident.

Everything else? Probably a suicide.

Kharn
 
Well, I'm going to go a step further and say that 95% of gun cleaning "accidents" are intentional, either suicide, with malice, or at the very minimum kooking around.

I dunno about anyone else, but I find it rather hard to clean a loaded gun :rolleyes:
 
When a gun is discharged by mistake, I have a hard time believing the "cleaning" excuse. If someone is knowledgeable enough to clean a gun, wouldn't they also have the knowledge to unload it? Maybe, maybe not.

Anyway, here's my addition...

In my hometown, back when I was a kid, there was a cop who fired his service revolver through the walls of his house and into his neighbor's house. This happened late at night. When his fellow officers responded to the 'shots fired' 911 call, he explained that he was cleaning this revolver and didn't know it was loaded.
My dad told me that the cop was probably quick-drawing in the mirror after having had a few beers that night, and inadvertently blew a hole in his house.
 
I don't know if anyone posted about it but I think you have to pull the trigger or something to strip down a Glock (I don't own one) so if they forget they had one in the tube things could go wrong.

But like many people have said, its just suicide and the cops say it was an "accident" so its not so harsh on the family. I have also hear that they explain that to kids because its hard for them to grasp the concept of suicide.
 
took the cowards way out
Click to expand...

Let's not be too quick to judge. I know if I get hammered with the herditary ALS and am looking at either death by very slow suffocation or a protracted dive ending in permanent locked in syndrome I'm checking out the fast way! Sometimes people have very good reasons for ending it all.
 
I don't know if anyone posted about it but I think you have to pull the trigger or something to strip down a Glock (I don't own one) so if they forget they had one in the tube things could go wrong.
Click to expand...

I don't own a Glock either, but does the manual say you have to look down the barrel while pulling the trigger to take the slide off? I have disassembled many airsoft Glocks (which I'm sure are similar) and I can't even see how you could get the slide off with the barrel pointed at your head.

I had never really heard or thought of the "suicide covered up" angle, but it makes a ton of sense.
 
this is the same as some hunting accidents

I agree with most of the people above, if you have cleaning gear out, especially if you've cleaned something else already and you have some more waiting to clean, then it's difficult for the official finding to be suicide.

I've also heard campfire talk that some of these hunting accidents while climbing over fences or brush is really the same type of thing.

May they all rest in peace.
 
my insurance pays for suicide. no delay on the first policy though if i make it look like an sccident double indemnity kicks in.


and as far as getting planted in a catholic cemetary my mom offed herself and is planted catholic. surprised me how they handled it. they nwent with not of sound mind thereby not responsible mfor actions. and the church steered us to it.

and i agree to an extent about accidents being suicides but i also wonder how many accidents were a result of a few cocktails before cleaning the gun
 
It’s the dang plastic guns I tell ya!
Once you put em in the washing machine leave the lid closed!
:what:
 
According to my insurance guy, all life insurance companies will payout a death benefit on suicides, but there is always a clause in the policy stating that payout in the case of suicide is delayed for a year (or longer) following the death. This is a) in recognition that most suicides are caused by mental illness and are often beyond the rational control of the person killing themselves; and b) to prevent people who are already in financial collapse from killing themselves to get an immediate death benefit whereby their survivors can bail out the financial mess. This has apparently been the industry standard for a long time now.
Click to expand...

The denial of benefits period due to suicide is dependent on state law. In many states it is 2 years from purchase, in others it is 1 year. This is in the case of an intentional suicide. In a case of unintentional suicide ocurring during this period there will be a death benefit. As an example of unintentional suicide (my life insurance class was baffled by this too) take an Alzheimer's patient. They may need to take a drug for whatever reason, forget that they took it, take another, and so on until they poison themselves. Clearly a suicide, but not one that the deceased meant to commit. Also highly unusual, which is why the actuaries have no problem paying benefits to the beneficiaries.

In general, "gun cleaning accidents" are usually suicides. It's just that the only party involved in the whole mess who really wants to make it an official suicide is the insurance company (and by that I mean the board and shareholders).
 
I took out an extra life insurance policy when my kid started college to help with expenses if I bought it while she was in school. The broker (a friend, an ex-cop) said that it wouldn't pay for suicide until two years after it was in force. So I asked, if I should put Suicide Day on my calendar. Gallow humour and in bad taste but I was a touch taken aback by the notion. Hadn't thought of it.
 
From personal experience responding to "the scene".

The majority of this type of situation is either a suicide, or involves a lot of alcohol and severely impaired judgment and motor skills. Both of this type tend to get called an accident for a variety of diplomatic reasons.

The minority involves sheer bad luck and often a family pet, typically a big dog, distracting or jumping up on the person handling the firearm. (I -wish- this was a joke, sadly I've seen this more than once).

Another variant of this sort of thing is when a bad guy tries a mass killing and then "commits suicide". Many times he (the bad guy) didn't, but saying so protects the cop or citizen who ended the threat from the endless civil litigation that would surely follow.
 
Just two days ago I was talking to a girl who told me that her step-father would check a gun of his and would then show how confident he was that it was empty, that every time would put it up to his head and pull the trigger.

Some habits are best never picked up.
 
I'd say that while most are suicides, there are probably still many that are accidents. There was a post about a guy that shot himself in the leg (with pictures yay) a few weeks ago.

I inspect my barrels every time I clean my firearms, but I always remove the bolts, barrels, etc before looking at it with a bore light.
 
The most dangerous mistake people make is dropping the magazine and not racking the slide, thereby ejecting the round out of the chamber. If you have to pull the trigger to field strip the gun, well then you've just shot yourself.:eek: Fortunately, on my XD, the slide must be locked back before the disassembly lever can be turned, increased margin of safety.
 
I've also heard campfire talk that some of these hunting accidents while climbing over fences or brush is really the same type of thing.
Click to expand...
That reminds me of a young man that died after falling on the ice which caused his 30-30 to go off and kill him. I suppose it's possible but suicide was my first thought.
I'll occasionally look down the muzzle of one of my semi-autos when cleaning them but like someone said, it's pretty hard to clean a loaded gun.
 
Do people really look down the barrel of their firearms while they're cleaning, or how does this all work?
Click to expand...

Okay, maybe I am dense, but doesn't everybody look down the barrel of their gun while cleaning? I mean, I ran a couple patches through it all ready, there is no magazine in the gun and (since I ran the cleaning patches through) there is obviously no bullet in the chamber. How else are you going to see if the barrel is clean, or leaded, or anything else unless you look down the barrel?
 
XD-40 is so right. I caught a shooter about to do that in a match when he was clearing the gun to holster.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

N
  • Locked
How do people shoot themselves?
2 3 4
Replies
91
Views
4K
HuntAndFish
H
T
  • Locked
Negligent discharge while cleaning gun
2
Replies
25
Views
2K
Jorg Nysgerrig
J
S
  • Locked
Clean your gun loaded, How?
2 3
Replies
50
Views
3K
thexrayboy
T
E
  • Locked
Gun Cleaning: Field vs Detail Stripping
2
Replies
43
Views
5K
moooose102
M
W
  • Locked
Man Shoots Self In Head Accidently
Replies
21
Views
1K
Justin
Justin
Back
Top