The Phenomenon
of "Accidental" Discharges
(Why "accidents" don't have to happen)
It seems like every couple of months there is a story on the
nightly news about an accidental discharge of a gun or
rifle. In all too many of these incidents, an innocent bystander
is injured or killed. Saddest of all, some of these
innocents were children of the person handling the weapon. But
the worst part about perhaps 99% of these incidents is that
they never had to happen in the first place.
The way the story often goes is that someone was either
transporting or cleaning a gun and it mysteriously went off. I
find it amusing that in most cases, the details of exactly
what happened usually are seemingly deliberately obscured by the
responsible individual or they say outright that they don't
know how it happened. I say I find it amusing because in most
cases, by the way they state their version of events, there's
usually a pretty good hint that they know it was their fault
but are trying to avoid admitting it.
To me, the term "accidental discharge" is not
the correct term to apply to these instances. Rather, they
should really be termed a "negligent discharge." To
call such events an accident implies that the outcome could
not be foreseen or prevented through reasonable caution. In
truth, virtually every one of these discharges could have and
should have been prevented.
As gun owners, we should already be aware of the The Ten
Commandments of Firearms Safety. The very first of these
states that you should treat all guns as if they are loaded
all the time. That means that if you don't know, you
don't guess. When you walk into a shop and ask to examine one
of the guns on display, have you noticed that the person at
the counter will always – and I mean always
– clear the gun before they hand it to you and in most
cases, leave it open so you can see for yourself? They're
following the implied sub-clause in this first rule: never
take anyone's word for it, especially if it has been out of
your immediate control; if you haven't checked it yourself,
it's still loaded. I would bet that no dealer ever finds a
loaded gun in their display case and as long as they keep
doing this check every single time, it is unlikely they ever
will.
This rule also implies other rules in that list. Among these
are that you never point the gun at anything you don't intend
to shoot. When I get home from the range and sit down to clean
up, I point my guns at a solid wall behind which sits my gun
safe in one spot and my water heater in another while I clear
the chambers. At no time during this process does my finger
ever touch the trigger. Only when I know the gun is clear will
I start disassembly and cleaning. I clean one at a time and
only one at a time. Those not in my hands remain in their
cases, not out on the table. Once done, each is returned to
the safe where it belongs before I start on the next one.
In September of 2007, there was an instance in town
where a man set about cleaning a rifle (I believe it was a .308 or
at least something similarly powerful) that I found
particularly tragic. To make a long
story short, the rifle discharged, the round went through the
window, outside, through the window of a tow truck, killing
the driver instantly.
In January of 2009, a young man was showing his gun to friends
in his condo. Apparently, at some point, he pulled the trigger
thinking it was empty. It went off, the bullet ricochetted off
a wall and struck his downstairs neighbor's bed while they
slept, missing the head of one person by less than ten inches.
In May of 2009, (and yes, despite the way it sounds, this
really happened) there was an incident in Sierra Vista,
Arizona where a young man was teaching a somewhat older couple
firearms safety of all things when he apparently attempted to
demonstrate how some people would joke about by putting a
seemingly unloaded gun to their hear and pull the trigger. So
he demonstrated this action with a gun he apparently thought
was unloaded... and killed himself while the horrified couple
looked on. He violated these rules and now he's dead. I do not
wish to make light of this tragic incident but it does
dramatically illustrate the consequences of reckless handling
of guns.
All of these incidents resulted from careless handling of
firearms and could have been prevented. Guns do not just
go off because they got bumped or dropped. There are very
strict regulations in place regarding the manufacture and
importation of guns
intended to prevent just that. If a gun went off, it was
either a serious malfunction (it does happen but it is
exceedingly rare) or something came into contact with the
trigger.
The only exception to this involves revolvers since
many designs, especially older designs, have the firing pin
either in contact with or able to contact the cartridge when
the hammer is down. But here, too, a discharge can be
considered to be negligence since proper
handling for a revolver dictates that even in a
modern gun with safety mechanisms galore, you should
always carry the gun with the hammer resting on an empty
chamber. (If you always observe this and suddenly find
yourself with one that doesn't have those safeties, you
already have the habit and don't have to figure it out the
hard way.) If there's not a round under the hammer, that
hammer cannot cause a round to discharge. It's just that
simple.
Lest you think that this is confined just to the ignorant, let
me tell you a brief story. When I first took an interest in
guns, I took one trip out to
the desert with an acquaintence for a bit of plinking. It was
just a way to spend an enjoyable Saturday afternoon. When I
got home and began cleaning my guns, I was horrified to find
that in one of my higher powered rifles there was still a live
round in the
chamber. I was already careful enough to make sure that I kept
my finger away from the trigger while checking these but it
made me realize that I had failed in my own efforts at firearms
safety and that could well have resulted in someone being
killed. What I should have done then – and what I always
do now – is I should have checked each weapon personally
as it was placed back into the trunk of my car once we were
done. I failed to observe that first rule, I took someone
else's word for it. That incident was enough for me to go from being
conscious about safety to more correctly being paranoid about
safety.
Any injury, incapacitation, or loss of life due to the
mishandling of firearms is unacceptable. It is your
responsibility as a gun owner to ensure that this does not
happen. If you are the cause of a negligent discharge, you may
even face criminal and civil penalties (including the loss of
your guns, loss of your right to own a gun, or even your right
to vote), not to mention the considerable burden on your
conscience. Safety is about layers of caution. Check it, check
it again, and even when you're sure, have a healthy amount of
doubt.
Further, carelessness on the part of any of us impacts the
entire community of gun
owners. Each time an incident like this occurs, it throws more
fuel on the fires of the anti-gun lobby. You could well find
that you yourself are their best ally in the fight to strip
this nation of our second ammentment rights. That is not a
position any of us want to find ourselves in.
So for Heaven's sake, be careful! Remember, gun safety
starts with you. No mechanical device can compensate for
recklessness, no innovation can prevent carelessness. The best
safety mechanism you can have sits on your shoulders. Use your
head. Safety will only be had through your own diligence and
attentiveness. Lets all do our part to make sure that events
such as those above never happen again.
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