Oh man, Navy SEAL dies after accidentally shooting himself - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee Abner
Absolutely no criticism nor privacy invasion intended . . . but I'm curious as to why you posted this. Was it the specific fact of a SEAL behaving stupidly (would you have, if it had been a letter carrier or a school teacher), or a safety warning or . . . ?
I am not sure really. I know the military types in my family would never hold a gun to their heads without double checking the chamber to make sure it was empty, and even then there would be no reason to. I am interested in the study of firearms, as most of my life has been spent studying hand to hand combat, along with various martial arts associated weapons. Why would someone with elite military training do such a thing? Was it an accident? or perhaps not? Would I have posted if it had been a letter carrier or a teacher? I have no idea. Human travesty always intrigues me. Abner
Unfortunately, those of us who are around firearms all the time can have a tendency to get complacent. Add in the adult beverage factor, and it's a recipe for disaster, which is why my guns stay locked-up if I'm going to be imbibing barley water. Even when stone-sober, I'm extremely careful; after I clean my issued pistol (SIG-Sauer P-220) and reassemble it, I'm very deliberate in how I reload it, since it has a decocking lever. I've heard of more than one person racking the slide to insert a round into the chamber, then squeezing the trigger instead of the decocking lever, because they're next to each other and complacency can strike at any time. After I rack the slide, I stop, say to myself "Okay, decocking lever", decock the pistol, then put it back into the lockbox or into the holster if I'm on the way out.
The SEAL broke the first and second rules of firearm safety that EVERYONE who has handled a gun professionally has or should have had drilled into their brains. 1.) Treat every gun as if it were loaded, all the time. 2.) Never point a gun at something you are not willing to destroy. Like Bruce said, booze, plus complacentcy lead to this. The fact that it was a SEAL just demonstrates that no matter how good you are with a gun you still have to follow the basic safety rules. Nobody is exempt.
I've seen two different pistols on two different occasions get discharged accidentally. One of them blew a hold in the wall and the other was shot into the floor. Neither resulted in injury, but in both instances, it was believed that the guns were unloaded. In both cases, complacency was involved. Guns are lethal and should always be handled as such, even when they are unloaded.
Not to quibble but when it comes to firearms there are no accidents. Only negligence. Ignore the safety rules at your own peril. Play stupid games win stupid prizes, SEAL or not.
I've seen 3 negligent discharges. 1.) the gun was being cleared in a clearing chamber...no harm, no foul (at the range). 2.) Someone shot the roof of our gun range. With a shotgun...that was ugly. 3.) Someone shot a tree at the firing range talking about his gun. This taught me one thing for sure...shooting ranges are only as safe as the biggest dumbass out there...so keep both eyes WAY open and if someone starts waving guns around don't be polite.
Yeah, years ago I went over to a friends house. He comes from a law enforcement family Anyway, he showed me his brand new "Glock". It was back when they were the new kid on the block. I think originally, they only made one model. Anyway, he starts waving this thing around. I told him to stop that F***ng S**T, or I was going to beat his a**. He told me, "but it's unloaded". I said "Well, I haven't seen that it is unloaded, and after you have had several cervezas, I don't trust your judgement". He quickly put the gun down and put it away. Abner
We had a bad one during SOI at Camp Pendleton. There was a platoon stepping off for a patrol (movement to contact, live rounds, etc.) and the SAW gunner put the belt into the feed tray and when he slapped the cover down his finger was on the trigger (he claims it was not) and the weapon was not on safe. Anyway they were stepping off from our bivo site...the round went into the port-a-potty and the Marine stepped out yelling "I'm hit". The 5.56 round went into his right leg made mince meat of his knee bounced on the kneecap in his right knee and went into his left knee doing more damage. Effectively ending his military career before it began. As we ran over, my first thought was "man, it's a good thing he was not taking a dump, he would have taken that round to the abdomen or chest. Of course, being Marines our instructors were like "Now this is how you get out of training Devil Dog, don't tell me you are sick take a round like a man!". Stay way from people who do not know how to handle weapons.
That's terrible. I hope that Marine regained his ability to walk. The only thing worse than getting shot would be getting shot while in the john...
FIFY. "Accidental" discharges only occur when there is a mechanical defect in the firearm. A discharge resulting from someone squeezing the trigger means the firearm functioned properly, there was just a brain fart on the part of the person holding it. As friendorfoe mentioned, the number one rule of gun safety is to always treat a gun as if it's loaded. Just ask this dumbass; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmRN00KbCr8 While I love Glocks, one of their weak points is how you have to disassemble them; you have to drop the magazine, clear the chamber, squeeze the trigger on an empty chamber, then pull the slide back an inch or so while you depress the take-down levers on both sides of the slide, then push the slide forward, off the lower receiver. The problem is, complacency has led to many people racking the slide before dropping the magazine, which removes the round from the chamber, but also replaces it with another live round from the magazine. Then they squeeze the trigger in anticipation of depressing the take-down levers, and KA-BOOM!!!!! No, I prefer the barley water that's carbonated and comes in 12-ounce cans or bottles.
