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firearms safety 101
Txs
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I was involved in an incident recently that provided me with fresh material for the firearms safety portion of my training sessions. This incident was a good example of a lack of respect for the power you control when handling a firearm.
A young man acquired himself a new but used and abused pistol in a purchase from an individual. This was a striker fired POS 9mm that in my opinion was only useful as a trotline weight. This fella took his new toy, which had a round of ball ammunition in the chamber, and stuffed it down the front of his pants without benefit of any type of holster. The pistol then discharged by some means. This resulted in his giving himself half of a ballistic castration and a complete vasectomy. The round then exited his pants at about the inseam and went straight down to the ground, barely missing kneecapping him in the process.
This guy was fully concious and very aware of the extent of his wound. You'd have to see for yourself the look on a young man's face who has just done this to himself. It's an image that speaks volumes, but you just can't properly describe it.
I teach a simple and easy to remember rule when it comes to handling firearms-never point a gun at anything you can't live with putting a hole in. When handling a gun you basically have to come up with a priority list of your surroundings and choose the least critical locations for the muzzle to sweep. For example, the floor or ceiling are usually the top two items that can be holed without causing too much grief. Speaking for myself, my boys are nowhere on this list.
Let's be careful out there.
A young man acquired himself a new but used and abused pistol in a purchase from an individual. This was a striker fired POS 9mm that in my opinion was only useful as a trotline weight. This fella took his new toy, which had a round of ball ammunition in the chamber, and stuffed it down the front of his pants without benefit of any type of holster. The pistol then discharged by some means. This resulted in his giving himself half of a ballistic castration and a complete vasectomy. The round then exited his pants at about the inseam and went straight down to the ground, barely missing kneecapping him in the process.
This guy was fully concious and very aware of the extent of his wound. You'd have to see for yourself the look on a young man's face who has just done this to himself. It's an image that speaks volumes, but you just can't properly describe it.
I teach a simple and easy to remember rule when it comes to handling firearms-never point a gun at anything you can't live with putting a hole in. When handling a gun you basically have to come up with a priority list of your surroundings and choose the least critical locations for the muzzle to sweep. For example, the floor or ceiling are usually the top two items that can be holed without causing too much grief. Speaking for myself, my boys are nowhere on this list.
Let's be careful out there.
Comments
On the pointing up, we should add that this can be bad too. Have had a couple of conversations with indoor range owners who have had the pully system knocked out of whack by a inadvertent round.
Same thought on pointing at a wall, what's behind or inside it? No place is a good place for an acidental discharge, but down and away is best I would think.
Other opinions?
The pistol I'm referring to definitely falls in the Saturday Night Special category. Even when new this thing doesn't sell for what a decent holster is worth.
The pistol discharged because he either inadvertantly pulled the trigger or dropped the hammer on a defective POS.
He needs more lessons before he handles a live firearm.
I have a gunsmith friend who was shot through the hand by a partially disassembled 25 auto a lady brought into his shop. He said it hurt like heck, and he never felt so stupid by the mistake. He had been gunsmithing for over 40 years and said he knew better--just made a mistake. Luckily, the wound was no more serious.
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