Stupid Gun Tricks-Negligent Discharges

[Hitoru]

This thread is intended to be only about stupid things done by people with guns. This is not to be a gun bashing thread, it is only for actual incidents you come across and feel the willingness to share.
I will delete any RKBA statements/debate as soon as I see it.

I'm promoting the position that there is no such thing as an accidental discharge, what do you have to say ?


HOUSTON -- A woman was accidentally shot at a Kingwood restaurant on Thursday.

Raffa's

# WATCH IT: Gun Discharges, Injures Woman

Houston police said a 66-year-old man was dining at Raffa's restaurant in the 1600 block of West Lake Houston Parkway at about 9 p.m. when a gun fell out of his coat pocket.

When the Derringer hit the ground, it fired and a bullet wounded a 71-year-old woman in the buttocks.

The woman was taken to Ben Taub Hospital and is expected to recover. She was in fair condition Friday.

Houston police said the man has a concealed handgun license.

No charges have been filed against the man, but police said it's an ongoing investigation, so that could change.

The case will be considered by a grand jury.

HOUSTON -- A 16-year-old boy is in critical condition at Ben Taub Hospital after being shot in the head by his best friend. It happened on the 7600 block of Teesdale Drive in northeast Houston.

Tyson Hufstedler of the Houston Police Department's Homicide Division said the other 16-year-old thought he had emptied the gun completely before it went off.

Police said four teens were hanging out as one of their parents slept in another room; two of them had brought over guns. One of the boys held a gun within a few feet of his best friend's head and jokingly pulled the trigger. Police said he didn't know there was still a shell inside the gun.

"These two individuals were best friends and I can tell you that the individual who's responsible for this is very upset about it right now," Hufstedler said. "Something he's gonna have to live with the rest of his life."

Police said they are referring the case to a grand jury to decide if any charges will be filed. The three other teens in the room were taken to HPD headquarters for questioning but no charges have been filed at this time.

[Sri Lanky]

My father's cousin got shot through the head while deer hunting. Sometimes the shooter will lean out across the cab of the truck for a steady shot. Well, you guessed it. My Dad's cousin popped his head up from the inside of the cab just as the shooter pulled the trigger. I think booze was involved.

I wonder how many times that's happened?

[suwon fish]

I heard this story second-hand but believe it to be true...

Two young paras were on guard duty and each had a Browning pistol. One para came to realise that if you put a pencil down the barrel and dry fire the weapon, you can shoot your buddy in the ass with great comedy effect. This he did a few times.

The other guy wanted in on the action, hell it was fun! He popped a pencil in the barrel, cocked the hammer and nothing... Bollocks, magazine safety! No worries, with pencil in, he inserted the mag, operated the slide and, yup...

A pencil hilariously hit his friend in the chest, followed a nonosecond later by a 9 mm bullet.

[Woodsman]

I heard this story second-hand but believe it to be true...

Two young paras were on guard duty and each had a Browning pistol. One para came to realise that if you put a pencil down the barrel and dry fire the weapon, you can shoot your buddy in the ass with great comedy effect. This he did a few times.

The other guy wanted in on the action, hell it was fun! He popped a pencil in the barrel, cocked the hammer and nothing... Bollocks, magazine safety! No worries, with pencil in, he inserted the mag, operated the slide and, yup...

A pencil hilariously hit his friend in the chest, followed a nonosecond later by a 9 mm bullet.

I don't think so. However, if you prime a case and leave it empty (no powder or bullet) this most definitely would work.

A while ago I put a bullet through a window while I was sleeping. It was a negligent discharge. I quickly realized my error of keeping the gun where I could grab it while I was sleeping and apparently click the safety off (1911) and fire it all during a dream state. $130 = replacement sash cost = my price for that lesson. I consider that a good value. LOTS of folks in America keep their loaded guns within sleeping reach - and wouldn't consider adjusting that habit. They probably were thinking the same thing I was - it's not possible - but in fact, it is. Took me over 10 years to do it - Long story short I don't keep my pistol within reaching distance while I am sleeping anymore.

[JamesInTheWorld]

I don't know what RTBA is so don’t get panties all in a wad if this post is in violation of your post rules

In my opinion states should require a minimum of 80 hours of initial firearms training with 4 more hours of training every 3 months to qualify for a concealed handgun permit

Way too many people who took an afternoon NRA handgun safety class with concealed weapon permits - they should also require a bond in case you do something like this and are broke


~JITW

[Woodsman]

I'm not sure what RTBA is either, but my guess is that was a good example of it.

[rickshaw92]

Guns don't kill people, idiots kill people?

[suwon fish]

I don't think so. However, if you prime a case and leave it empty (no powder or bullet) this most definitely would work.

A while ago I put a bullet through a window while I was sleeping. It was a negligent discharge. I quickly realized my error of keeping the gun where I could grab it while I was sleeping and apparently click the safety off (1911) and fire it all during a dream state. $130 = replacement sash cost = my price for that lesson. I consider that a good value. LOTS of folks in America keep their loaded guns within sleeping reach - and wouldn't consider adjusting that habit. They probably were thinking the same thing I was - it's not possible - but in fact, it is. Took me over 10 years to do it - Long story short I don't keep my pistol within reaching distance while I am sleeping anymore.

Damn, that's a scary story... $130 is cheap for that lesson.

As to pencils from pistols I found this

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=15099

It seems the outcome varies from less than a foot to ten feet plus, the best being from a 1911.

It may have been a cautionary tale for young red arses. There were more, the guy doing pull ups with his head going over the parapet while butt marking on a 300M range, the mortar team in a competition who managed to load so fast they put two in the tube, both stories with the obvious outcome.

Damn, I'm smiling thinking about those days...

[Hitoru]

I was sitting on top of a M 113 APC in Germany at a rail head in Fulda or Grafenwöhr when a solider from another unit was fooling around with a ma-duce .(50 Bmg) Somehow he discharged the weapon, the projectile went through the side of an adjacent 113, though a troopers throat, severing his head. The projectile ricocheted once and then went through another troopers stomach and out his back killing him instantly.

He said "I was just clearing the weapon".

[Hitoru]

I don't know what RTBA is so don’t get panties all in a wad if this post is in violation of your post rules



~JITW

My bad, I meant RKBA. You know, the right to keep and arm bears.

[Hitoru]

Gun-mounted flashlight blamed in fatal Plano police shooting


By SCOTT GOLDSTEIN and MATTHEW HAAG / The Dallas Morning Newssgoldstein@dallasnews.com; mhaag@dallasnews.com

Published 19 November 2010 11:17 AM
More on this story

A Plano narcotics sergeant intended to activate a flashlight affixed to his service weapon when he accidentally pulled the trigger, fatally shooting a drug suspect in a Far North Dallas parking lot last month, the officer told investigators.

"I never intended to fire my weapon," the sergeant said in a statement to Dallas police detectives following the Oct. 13 shooting of suspected drug dealer Michael Anthony Alcala, 25. "I never intended to have my finger on the trigger. I was only attempting to operate the flashlight mechanism."

The sergeant's written statement was among more than 200 pages of documents released to The Dallas Morning News in response to a Public Information Act request. The documents pertain to the Dallas police criminal investigation of the shooting.

A Collin County grand jury that was considering manslaughter charges took no action in the case against the sergeant earlier this month. The officer, who remains on administrative leave, is not being identified because he works undercover.

Attorney Bob Gorsky is representing the Plano officer.

"The incident is currently under administrative review by the Plano Police Department," Gorsky said in an e-mail. "We believe that upon completion of its investigation the police department will agree with the findings of the criminal investigation that this was an accidental discharge."

The sergeant specifically blamed the placement of a light switch under the trigger guard on his .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol. He said he had in the past carried a "Surefire brand X200 flashlight with pressure switches on each side of the grip of the gun; however this summer the Plano Police Department issued me a Surefire brand X300 flashlight with the pressure switch under the trigger guard and no pressure switch on the grip."

"This was the only light I was allowed to have affixed to my weapon," the officer said. "I was attempting to squeeze the light mechanism when my weapon fired and the suspect fell to the ground."

A call to Surefire was not returned late Thursday. The company website describes it as having "the world's finest illumination tools and tactical products."

Officer Rick McDonald, a Plano police spokesman, said the department does not believe there is a problem with the flashlight in question or the way it is activated.

"We have researched them thoroughly," McDonald said. "Right now, we are standing by these lights."

The X300 flashlights will be issued to patrol officers soon, McDonald said. Plano officers in the narcotics, intelligence and canine divisions have been using the X200 model or other pistol lights for years.

The patrol officers won't be given the new lights until they go through training at the gun range. They won't be issued until next year, and the lights aren't mandatory, McDonald said.

McDonald said officers should attend training when they receive the new lights. It is unclear whether the officer in the shooting was put through any training when he received the new light.

The newer models have a brighter light and can illuminate a larger area. Most officers who use them leave them on the handguns all the time, McDonald said.

"It doesn't take the place of a flashlight," he said. "You don't draw a weapon to use a flashlight."

McDonald said that the department wasn't conducting an internal investigation into the "general use of flashlights."

On the night of the shooting, undercover Plano police narcotics officers had arranged to meet with Alcala to buy black tar heroin from him, according to police documents.

The undercover officers ultimately agreed to meet him at a Jack in the Box parking lot along the Dallas North Tollway near Frankford Road, where they planned to arrest him.

Shortly before 11 p.m. Alcala, dressed in a red T-shirt, denim shorts and black and blue athletic shoes, walked toward an undercover officer's vehicle.

The officer who shot him said he drew his weapon as they moved in to arrest Alcala because he was believed to be a felony suspect and the officer was not sure whether he was armed.

"In an effort to illuminate the suspect, while maintaining an armed position, I intended to activate the light on my pistol," the officer wrote.

He fired once. Alcala fell to the ground.

"Did you shoot?" Someone asked, according to the officer.

A chaotic scene then unfolded as the officers rushed to Alcala's aid, according to their statements. They applied pressure to the wound near his right collarbone and administered CPR.

"Stay with me," an officer said.

Alcala "gasped one long breath and Dallas Fire Department medics arrived and took over," an officer wrote. "The suspect was never conscious by my observations and did not say anything."

[rickshaw92]

[quote the projectile went through the side of an adjacent 113][/quote]

Gotta hate it when kit is made by the lowest bidder.

[Woodsman]

[size=150]Gun-mounted flashlight blamed in fatal Plano police shooting

Oh boy...Sounds like the "Oh, that Glock just went off by itself" defense.

Very, very, very, unlikely.

I can see how easy it would be to pull the trigger on a 3# crisp single action trigger if your digit was between the trigger and the light switch.

It's not possible for the gun to go off however, if the safety was on - and difficult on a double action or Glock action if the triggers pull distance wasn't modified.

Humans err...and some blame it on idiotic stuff so they don't get in trouble.

[Hitoru]

That leads right into the Remington 700 controversy.
http://www.drinnonlaw.com/Texas-Defective-Remington700.php

[Woodsman]

Point 1 says it all: Remington (essentially) admits it.