The slide was "a little sluggish."

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Omaha World Herald carried a story this morning of a Douglas County deputy accidentally discharging his service weapon in the courthouse. The only casualty was the x-ray machine. What would the officer have noticed that led him to believe that the slide was "a little sluggish?" Would he have noticed that the slide was not fully extended or maybe the bolt had not fully seated the cartridge in the receiver? Apparently, whatever the deputy was doing " to clear his weapon" was not the correct procedure because the x-ray machine had holes in both sides of the enclosure.And the Douglas County Attorney's Office would have had a hole in the wall if it had not been for a concrete wall. I think maybe the Sheriff's Captain was not giving an accurate account to the OWH on what actually happened. How does one determine if an action is "sluggish" without actually pulling the slide back? I've never owned an an automatic because I was concerned that I might
accidentally shoot myself. With my S&W Model 10 and Model 18, I always know the weapons' status, and the built in safety features prevent accidental discharge when loading. You really have to be "fiddling" with a revolver to accidentally discharge it.
 
Originally Posted By: CT8
How about finger on the trigger.
You mean the deputy was pulling the trigger when he was attempting to rack the action? ?????
 
Originally Posted By: HosteenJorje
Originally Posted By: CT8
How about finger on the trigger.
You mean the deputy was pulling the trigger when he was attempting to rack the action? ?????


Ive seen that happen.

UD
 
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Originally Posted By: HosteenJorje
Originally Posted By: CT8
How about finger on the trigger.
You mean the deputy was pulling the trigger when he was attempting to rack the action? ?????
Yes. It is easy to do. That is why Semis with out decock have more Negligent discharges
 
Originally Posted By: CT8
Originally Posted By: HosteenJorje
Originally Posted By: CT8
How about finger on the trigger.
You mean the deputy was pulling the trigger when he was attempting to rack the action? ?????
Yes. It is easy to do. That is why Semis with out decock have more Negligent discharges
I,m not familiar with "decock." Is that a feature that allows an automatic to be unloaded without the possibility of a discharge.? Apparently the officers service weapon didn't have that feature. Wonder who is going to pay to have the x-ray machine repaired.
 
Decock, another lever to let the hammer down without one having to try and hold the hammer and pull the trigger. Works very well on my Sig
 
Never have your finger on the trigger. I follow that rule. All my handguns are carried chambered and no safety on if equipped, unless I had a 1911
 
Safe direction. Finger off trigger. Drop the magazine, cycle the slide. Visual check of empty chamber. Weapon unloaded. Should never have unholstered in that environment. Hopefully Douglas County is looking for another deputy with some gun handling skills. Negligent discharge, not accidental discharge.

Not sure what's to be afraid of with semi-autos (I've never owned an automatic pistol). As always the problem is the operator not the firearm.
 
Its possible to occurr on a 1911 withour finger on the trigger..but not with a striker fired pistol. Don't know about tthe type 3913 whick "decocks"
 
Originally Posted By: bioburner
Decock, another lever to let the hammer down without one having to try and hold the hammer and pull the trigger. Works very well on my Sig


And on the sig if I recall its a fairly quiet affair.

On my Ruger P85 it sounds like a dry fire, which is the last thing you want if you are in a situation you wish to de-escalate.

UD
 
Originally Posted By: HosteenJorje
Originally Posted By: CT8
Originally Posted By: HosteenJorje
Originally Posted By: CT8
How about finger on the trigger.
You mean the deputy was pulling the trigger when he was attempting to rack the action? ?????
Yes. It is easy to do. That is why Semis with out decock have more Negligent discharges
I,m not familiar with "decock." Is that a feature that allows an automatic to be unloaded without the possibility of a discharge.? Apparently the officers service weapon didn't have that feature. Wonder who is going to pay to have the x-ray machine repaired.
Taxpayers
 
Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Safe direction. Finger off trigger. Drop the magazine, cycle the slide. Visual check of empty chamber. Weapon unloaded. Should never have unholstered in that environment. Hopefully Douglas County is looking for another deputy with some gun handling skills. Negligent discharge, not accidental discharge.

Not sure what's to be afraid of with semi-autos (I've never owned an automatic pistol). As always the problem is the operator not the firearm.
You mentioned the basic safe handling skills. Guns are fairly simple devices.
 
Originally Posted By: CT8
You mentioned the basic safe handling skills. Guns are fairly simple devices.


Unfortunately so are some of the people carrying them. I know a guy who shot a hole in the floor of the job site trailer he was sitting in while employed as a security guard. He was "looking at his pistol and it went off".
 
doesn't matter if it's the pope himself...Negligent Discharge.

Whether it's a 5 day or a 30 day rip; eat it and be glad your mistake didn't cost a life or serious injury. Doesn't get much simpler. And blaming the trigger pull requirement to remove the slide is the same argument that the fork is responsible for Rosie O'Donnel being fat. LE Firearms Instructor for 15 years...same standard applies to me. I own every bullet I'm issued.
 
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Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Originally Posted By: CT8
You mentioned the basic safe handling skills. Guns are fairly simple devices.


Unfortunately so are some of the people carrying them. I know a guy who shot a hole in the floor of the job site trailer he was sitting in while employed as a security guard. He was "looking at his pistol and it went off".


I think the gun can make a difference. My father told me a couple of people in his unit were killed by a dropped Sten, (which is a simple, but also pretty poor quality, device) and accidents with that weapon were much commoner than with anything else.
 
It's only obsolete designs that discharge accidentally. Anything modern needs to have the trigger pulled in order to fire.
 
Originally Posted By: Al
Its possible to occurr on a 1911 withour finger on the trigger..but not with a striker fired pistol. Don't know about tthe type 3913 whick "decocks"


Only on series 70 or older, right?

Doesn't change the need to unload and wait for verification...
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: Al
Its possible to occurr on a 1911 withour finger on the trigger..but not with a striker fired pistol. Don't know about tthe type 3913 whick "decocks"


Only on series 70 or older, right?

Doesn't change the need to unload and wait for verification...


I honestly don't think theres enough mass in the firing pin to overcome the weight of the firing pin spring and still strike the primer with enough energy to go bang.

99.99999% of the time someone says "i dropped the gun and it went off" what they actually mean is "i tried to catch a falling gun and pulled the trigger"
 
Still don't understand the "sluggish slide" bit. Did the deputy see something that was not right with the weapon and attempt to clear the problem while also pulling the trigger, or was he just playing around with the gun?My question is what did the deputy see about the gun that caused him to move to a little used entrance where he attempted to correct the problem? How do you see "sluggish"?
confused.gif
 
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