Gun Accidents.....how safe are you? really?

[W7LPNRICK]

Please! Please! Please!? If you are out of practice, make some notes before handling a firearm, especially if ammo is/has been in the vicinity. I don't care if you've handle guns since you were 6, been an Army rifleman for 2 tours, law enforcement veteran, blah blah blah.....It makes the gun grabbers slobber & get all amped up with fodder for another round of "Logical Reasons" why we can't have guns. A good friend who lives a block away shot off his left pinky finger, & got 3rd deg burns to his #4 digit close to the palm from mishandling a Glock. This can be a very dangerous pistol because to remove the slide, one must pull the trigger, so the firing mechanism will drop out of the way and the slide will slide forward off the frame. Failing to Visualize the empty chamber, with the clip removed, before pulling the trigger, WILL result in an accidental discharge sooner or later. He was lucky. His wife was behind him, he was pointed in a relatively safe direction, splattered blood all over his wall, the bed, soaked 2 rolls of Kerlix gauze, & 2 blue plastic chucks before the paramedics got the bleeding stopped. 3 cops arrive <2 minutes, fire truck & paramedics in 3 min, wife traumatized, friend wants all guns out of his house, 2 hours of surgery & he might keep the fingers, nerve severed, skin graft might take, it will never work right again, will always be in the way. Only good thing, Left hand & he's right handed. Every gun you handle IS LOADED unless you look into the chamber. NEVER EVER handle a gun someone else hands you without visualizing the chamber. We only have 10 finger & toes, there is only one you, no matter who you are. Don't get a Darwin Award. Stick around and watch other people get it! or try to stop them too. 

[homersipes]

dang that sucks my mom has a matching set of .44 mag revolvers, and when she first got it she put her left pointer finger by over the cylinder and when she shot, she got major powder burns.  Luckily it didnt blow her finger open.  A friend of mine had a freak accident with his match rife.  He had loaded up about a hundred rounds for a weekend match and was checking each round in the chanber for tight ones.  He had his gun in a vice pointed toward the door of his garage, which across the street is a house.  He had went through about 30 rounds just putting them in the chamber and closing the bolt then ejecting them.  He said he didn't know why but he decided to drop the barrel down in the vice so it was pointed down towards the desk, 3 rounds later he closed the bolt on a semi-tight round and he said it just went off.  I believe what he says when he said he didnt pull the trigger, as he is very safety minded.  He said he didnt know what happened it just went off.  If he had been loading hunting ammo, the bullet would have went through the desk drawer, which is where the match bullet just blew apart, probably would have hit the garage floor and either blew up or ricocheted and went to the house across the street.  since then he always drops the barrel downwards when he does this, and so do I.  ALWAYS be careful with guns and ammo.

[GScholz]

Yeah, that sucks. An uncle of mine forgot to clear his shotgun coming home from a hunting trip. Carried the shotgun in front of him in one hand while walking down the stairs to the basement where he stored his hunting gear/guns. Buttstock hit one of the steps and he accidentally blew his face off, killing himself instantly. Safety is the alpha and omega when it comes to handling firearms.

[ink]

Yeah, that sucks. An uncle of mine forgot to clear his shotgun coming home from a hunting trip. Carried the shotgun in front of him in one hand while walking down the stairs to the basement where he stored his hunting gear/guns. Buttstock hit one of the steps and he accidentally blew his face off, killing himself instantly. Safety is the alpha and omega when it comes to handling firearms.

Damn thats rough

[homersipes]

Yeah, that sucks. An uncle of mine forgot to clear his shotgun coming home from a hunting trip. Carried the shotgun in front of him in one hand while walking down the stairs to the basement where he stored his hunting gear/guns. Buttstock hit one of the steps and he accidentally blew his face off, killing himself instantly. Safety is the alpha and omega when it comes to handling firearms.

that made me think of a near miss my father had when I was 3.  Something happened with the bolt and he was inside the cab of my grandpas truck tried to open bolt and blew a hole in the floorboard.  He usually put the end of the barrel on his toe to keep it out of the dirt.  luckily he didnt put it on his toe.  That was on christmas vacation, and that year I got a BB gun for a present and I didnt want anything to do with it, scared me lol.

[Tank-Ace]

Great, now I'm going to be paranoied about handling the glock now  .

But seriously, gun safety is quite possibly the most important thing when around or handling firearms. I actually lost my father when I was only one. He was cleaning his gun, accidently shot himself in the head.

[Stellaris]

A weapon has three safety mechanisms.  The trigger safety, your finger, and your mind.  Dirt simple.  I've never had an ND.  However I've had to knock on the door of a soldier's mom because someone else did.  Not a good day out for anyone.

[coombz]

But seriously, gun safety is quite possibly the most important thing when around or handling firearms. I actually lost my father when I was only one. He was cleaning his gun, accidently shot himself in the head.

Damn

That explains a lot

[ToeTag]

do not treat a gun like a gun...treat it like a bomb...there are countless occasions where I have to tell people to put their freaking gun down while there are people going down range...seems simple enough but some folks just get complacent when handling a firearm.  I was in college and I thought that I had shot all the rounds from a .22 pistol and upon checking the gun I got the last round to go off...the outcome was scary and to this day I get chills and am glad that my buddy was uninjured and still alive from that discharge....He was nowhere near the muzzle but he could have been.

[MarineUS]

Damn

That explains a lot

.....

[Condor11]

My father taught me many moons ago, 1)treat every weapon as if its always loaded, 2) never point it at anything you dont intend to shoot, 3) never place your finger on the trigger until your about to shoot.

Its part of every brm class i teach, i use it in and outta my uniforms,  and ive been lucky that ive never had an nd. That being said was almost shot (on more the one occaision purely by mistake) because someone failed to follow simple common sense. But yes accidents are bad. Be careful

[nrshida]

This can be a very dangerous pistol because to remove the slide, one must pull the trigger,

This is a profoundly stupid design feature. The trigger should do one thing only.

[zack1234]

It is not just guns

You should be careful with all mechanical device, Benchdrills, Bandsaws and drills require safe handling at all times

Its easy to let your guard down

[SmokinLoon]

There is a reason there are 10 rules in firearms safety.  If you screw up in one the others should take care things. 

I watched a deputy perform the "gun take down" drill on the firing line and she did everything right except double check that the gun was loaded.  So when she pulled the trigger so that she may disassemble her Glock it fired.  Luckily, the gun was pointed downrange and nothing was in front of the muzzle.  We all got our butts chewed by the chief firearms instructor over firearms safety and the importance of double checking everything all the time when handling a firearm.

It is one touch lesson to learn when an injury is involved. 

Anyone ever see that video of  big tough ATF agent shoot himself in the leg while teaching a class??? 

[Grayeagle]

Useda work with some guys who thought 'hunting' was drivin their Blazer to a good spot,
setting up a 'blind' near a game trail, and blasting anything that moved anywhere near them
after drinking heavily all afternoon.

It always surprised me that they returned intact.
Their 'kills' were epic .. 4 of them unloading into a 60lb white-tail deer
to the point where just makin a sandwich out of the meat would be questionable.

They were laughin about one of 'em tossin their gun over a fence before climbin over it themselves..
..because when it hit the ground on the other side it went off.
Big fun you bet!

I refused their invitation to be part of that scene.
Dad taught me much the same as has been stated already.
Always treat a gun as if it was loaded.
Never point it at anyone unless you intend to shoot them right then and there.
..among many other things.

-Frank (gun control is being able to hit your target, period)