Negligent Discharge at Home

[Hollowdweller]

I was taught to never click a gun. So far I have never had one go off on me.

However last weekend my wife was shooting my M1 and the bolt closed instead of locking open and she pulled the trigger and it went off before she handed it back to me Luckily it was up in the air but I read her the riot act about dry firing

 

[Colonel]

RULE II: NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY

Not to niggle, but IMHO, this is "RULE I" ... if you follow this one rule absolutely religiously, there's just about no way anyone can ever get hurt...unless the gun blows up. It's not always easy to obey absolutely, especially with handguns and CCW, but definitely worth striving for 100%.

Glad everyone is OK, and thanks for sharing this embarrassing episode with the board.

 

[Atticus]

I would also welcome posts from folks who had NDs at home and how you moved on from it.

To be honest, I'm not sure that you ever do...which is not all bad. Mishaps with guns are not at all like mishaps with other tools. Most folks won't tell you to get back on the horse and ride....they will tell you to give up horse riding period. And those riders who have not fallen from the horse will think you a fool. You (and I) endangered other people's lives as well as our own. That's not something that is acceptable or entirely forgivable. In my case, I permanently injured my hand, and likely my ears. Our credibility is forever damaged...so accept that, and ensure that it will never happen again. That's about all you can do. Your future actions are your only defense against the past.

 

[GRB]

dk-corriveau,

Thanks for posting. It is always nice to see people who care enough about the shooting community to post not just about their great shooting, or gunsmith skills but, also about their bad experiences, specially when caused by themselves, such as NDs.

I am also quite happy that you brought up one of the CARDINAL rules of safe gun handling, albeit without quite saying it exactly:

Gunpowder and alcohol (and mind altering drugs) do not mix.

I call BS on anyone who wishes to say otherwise by saying 'hey I took an aspirin, or I took my blood pressure meds, or I took this or that and it did not effect me. You guys should be mature enough, even any kids reading this, to understand what I mean; I won't argue the point that I know is right.

For as long as I can remember, not mixing alcohol or other mind altering drugs that would likely impair mental and or physical functioning (such as prescription barbituates, prescription stimulants, other prescription meds, or illicit drugs) with firearms has been chisled in stone. It is a real pity that in today's world, where most of us have to have it however we want it, such rules were changed to be more liberal. If anything, firearms safety rules should be conservative to the extreme when it comes safety.

I'll admit to not always following that rule myself over the years, but in recent years I decided to follow it almost religiously. Not because I have ever had an ND while under the influence of alcohol, just because I prefer never to do so and I figure to have tempted fate too many times in the past.

Good to see you pass on this information to the rest of us. maybe some others will see the light too.

Thanks,
Glenn B

 

[pythonguy]

I feel bad for you over what happened, dk-corriveau, but I think you are handling it very well. Even better, the forums members, while sympathetic, didn't just pass it off like its a natural occurrence if you handle firearms. Its a sobering experience for dk-corriveau, and all the rest of us, no pun intended. Most importantly, no one was hurt, although I'm sure your nerves must be shattered.

 

[thatguy]

Another thought: What are the legalities of drinking while packing in your state? Some states flat ban alcohol consumption while carrying. At the very least I would question the wisdom of five drinks while carrying.

Also, packing at a Christmas party? Really necessary? Is this a high risk environment?

 

[CAPTAIN MIKE]

Been There, Done That --- But Without Drinking

A negligent discharge CAN and probably WILL happen to everyone who feesl confident about his or her familiarity with guns. It is just statistically likely.
HOWEVER, by being absolutely a Creature of Habit when it comes to our firearms, we can usually reduce the chances.

It is interesting that with two exceptions you did what you always do. The two exceptions are that you racked the slide BEFORE dropping the magazine and even more importantly, that you DRANK while carrying. That was dumb and led directly to the other mistake.

Thank God your spouse and child are safe, and that no pet or friend or family member was in the bulllet's path. The other good news is that you will NEVER forget this incident, and because of your paranoia of it ever happening again, it probably won't.

Good luck !!!

 

[sherpa]

ND'S/AD'S

after i go to the range i field strip clean and reload as soon as possible, i will not have an unloaded gun in my house. my guns are loaded until the last round has been fired and i have to reload. i work at have a loaded round in the chamber and ready to fire. therefore no mistakes, no ad or nd. 66 years old very cautious a gun is always loaded even when i have checked the chamber, always booger picker off the trigger unless you want something to dissapear or bleed.works for me, so far.

 

[CGofMP]

First and MOST importantly, I am glad you and all your household is uninjured and safe. You learned a valuable and potentially deadly lesson today the HARD way. There is happiness to be had here in that nobody got hurt and nobody died.

Having said that it MUST be said:

I had ~5 drinks, 4 beers and a mixed drink to be exact

FIVE drinks.

I know you expressed not wanting to be beat up over the alcohol, but the fact of the matter is that you were flat out stupid.

Check this out please: http://www.beerboozebooks.com/bal.htm That chart gives you an idea of how much your BAL is affected by the number of drinks you consumed. Subtract .01% from the Drink/Weight Index for each hour from the start of
the drinking period to the point in time you want to measure the BAL. I guarantee you that unless you had been out a lot of hours you were over the top. Legally you are under the influence at .10 USUALLY - of course this varies from state to state Colorado, for instance you are legally impaired if your alcohol level is .05 percent

If you are going to carry a firearm or if you are even going to have one available to you, you MUST act like you are the 87 pound designated driver. That means NOT ONE DRINK when you are doing ANYTHING with firearms. I know this will offend some of the folks around here, but the price of having the slightest edge taken off of your common sense by any substance is unaceptable. This is gonna be infinitely more important should the need present itself to clear leather and point the weapon at a suspect. If you have been drinking you are going to make stupid decissions and maybe shoot someone that does not need to be morgue material. Spouse, kids, loudmouth, another harmless drunk? No, I am sorry there is NO place for alcohol around firearms.

Knowing when to keep the goods locked in the safe is critical, whether alcohol, temper, argument time, or ANY other time when you are not 100 percent is the time to spin the dial to LOCKED.

The chances of doing something stupid are greater than your chances of getting attacked when you have been doing drugs or drinking.

Things like this can give us all a bad name.

I am sorry to be so rough on you, you did the right thing by fessing up like a man and taking the blame solely on yourself, questioning your qualifications and 'confessing' to your 'friends'. My hope is not to make you walk away from guns or to make you feel like an a-h, but instead to be bluntly honest about how seriously you screwed up when you figuratively mixed nitro and glycerine...

So what did your wife have to say? What about the sitter?
Any police involvement?

 

[mbt2001]

Then you will forgive me if I give you another reason?

There is a little thing called setback that occurs when a semi-auto loads a cartridge into the chamber. The bullet gets seated deeper into it's case each time. Repeated chambering of the same round is not a good thing. At the least it will affect the internal pressure enough to change your point of aim. At the worst it could blow your gun up.

My biggest worry about my negligent discharge was that my loved ones would be afraid to be around me. I felt that losing their trust would be as bad as having shot them. They know me better though and it wasn't an issue (thank goodness) but I did keep guns out of sight for a while help lessen the issue.

I have never heard this before.... Every time I turn around, there are more and more reasons to not use an auto as a carry gun.... Have to rotate clips, choose between condition 1 or condition 3...

Guns don't care about mistakes. They don't feel sorry afterword. Be careful out there. Everytime you hold a gun, you are holding the power of death in your hand.

 

[pythonguy]

CAPTAIN MIKE said:

A negligent discharge CAN and probably WILL happen to everyone who feels confident about his or her familiarity with guns. It is just statistically likely.

Exactly what statistic's are you referring to? If it was so likely as you say then I think we'd have read about it from the anti's as well as the NRA. Not to say it doesn't happen, obviously it does, but likely? I don't think so.

 

[strambo]

MBT2001, You don't have to rotate magazines if they are good quality. Set back isn't a problem if you don't load/unload your gun excessively (like every day). My carry guns stay loaded unless I go to the range or dry fire. I don't do either of those things as much as I should so they stay loaded for weeks.

Set back CAN occur especially if the same round is repeatedly chambered. It doesn't usually happen after few times though, especially with well-crimped factory ammo. Certain calibers are more prone to it like .357 SIG. This is because of the really short neck, less surface area to hold the bullet. You can visually see if a bullet has been set back, just compare it to another that hasn't been chambered.

 

[AVESguy]

dk

You've gotten some very good comments. It brings up many aspects of carry that I think about constantly and am in continual learning mode, which is a good thing. In addition to the others berating you about drinking and carrying (very bad idea, but enough said), and about constant loading and unloading and bullet setback (great comments), I can only add one thing.

Now that you have seen the light about constant loading and unloading, and its inherent risks. Get a small bedisde safe like a GunVault or mini-Ft. Knox, that will hold your pistol in the holster. This will enable you to keep a loaded pistol in your house safely and securely, yet accessible, and minimize handling other than range time. I try to handle the loaded carry gun as little as possible, keep it in the holster, and put it in a bedside safe when not being carried. If I have to load or unload the chambered carry round more than two times, I put it in the pile to be fired at the range and swap it for a new one. I don't mess with the loaded carry mags, they are separate from range mags. I am a nut about gun safety and minmal handling of the carry gun. For the very reasons you have been given by the other members here on THR.

Good thread, lots to think about, thanks for 'fessing up.

AVESGUY

 

[Jeff Timm]

A gentleman of my acquaintance kept a backup bucket of kitty litter in his bedroom. He used it as a clearance barrel, as he was a Federal Agent for one of the Alphabet agencies. I asked him about it, he said it beat a hole in the floor all the way to the basement.

Geoff
Who is thinking seriously about it and rethinking his opinion of chamber blocks.

 

[mterick]

I heard of this sort of thing happening at a firearms retailer near me. Someone went into this store with his rifle and a round in the pipe from deer hunting the previous year. The man had the rifle on the counter and intended to dry fire, but BANG!!!. No one was hurt.

Thanks for this post! You may have saved someone's life by telling your story.
Mark Erickson

 

[coylh]

The inside of a gun safe makes a great "safe direction".