Or “negligent”, which is the term I’ve used in incidents like this. (usually abbreviated to ND, as opposed to AD (“Accidental Discharge”), which implies there is a critical mechanical malfunction of the firearm as opposed to the operator.)
We travel in the same circle, then; the one of “person who owns a firearm and treats it with the respect and attention to detail that it demands”.
Go for the high score- add “possession of a firearm within a school zone/prohibited area” as well- Most states have something like that on the books, IIRC.
I’ve found that for all the guns in this country many Americans can’t tell the fundamental difference between say a semi-automatic .45 pistol and a .22 revolver.
In this case, the gun had to be a) loaded, b) a round in a chamber, and either c) double-action and he pulled the trigger (a long hard pull, usually), or cocked and readily discharged.
In any case, this instance goes to what I argue: time to degun the police.
The design of the gun usually dictates how the safety parts are designed. The two main ones are double action striker fired, like Glocks, and single action hammer fired like 1911s, or internal hammer like the Shield EZ. (There are also double action/single action hammer fired guns like revolvers, the Beretta 92, and Sig P226)
Double action striker fired guns have longer pulls and the part that strikes the bullet, when at rest, is not “cocked”. It can’t go off because it hasn’t been pulled back to the point that it can strike the primer and fire. Pulling the trigger pulls the striker back as well as moves the firing pin block (another anti-drop safety device on most modern firearms.)
Single action guns have a hammer and a sear and it is cocked back and ready to strike the pin and primer while at rest. Thus single action guns almost always have a thumb safety and some times a grip safety as well. A drop could cause the hammer to slip off the sear with out one.
You’re right, safeties mostly exist to ensure the gun won’t go off if dropped, vs yanking on the trigger unintentionally. Personally for something I would carry and use, I want a physical safety. Not that I don’t trust myself to not pull the trigger unintentionally, but because snags can happen. People who appendix carry with a Glock give me the heebejeebies.
Absolutely. Even shown clear you treat it as if it was loaded and keep it pointed in a safe direction. This is the cardinal rule and if you fuck up everything else, you at least won’t hurt anyone one.
The word is “negligent”. It was a negligent discharge.
An accidental discharge would be if something happened mechanically and the gun fired, or the gun was dropped or snagged in the field. Nearly all “accidental” discharges reported in the news by cops are actually negligent ones. (ETA - oops, shoulda scrolled more, that was already pointed out. Still, it’s true!)
The gun culture consists of an acceptance of guns as tools for control, status symbols, symbols of “manliness” perceived safety and so on. It is not based on any knowledge or lack thereof about guns themselves. That’s like saying America can’t be a car focused country because most Americans can’t tell you how an automobile works in detail. Or that person couldn’t possibly love chocolate because they don’t know a cocoa pod when they see one. Which gun matters much less in any given event than the fact that the gun was there. When a 16 year old friend shot himself that he used his dad’s rifle instead of his handgun was immaterial.
This officer (hopefully soon to be ex-officer) thought it was hunky-dory to use a live weapon in a demonstration at a school. That’s the gun culture at work.
Yes, now imagine living here. I work at a college. Ever since the Virginia Tech massacre, I’ve been having recurring dreams about active shooter situations. In my dreams, over and over, I lose my fear and become the stalker of the shooter, arming myself with ready-at-hand office supplies (scissors, heavyweight stapler, and once, a fire extinguisher), and either sneaking up on the shooter or hiding behind a door waiting for them to come through. And I always get them, by clubbing or stabbing. I have since begun to surround my desk area with objects that can easily be used as projectile or blunt force weapons, as well as a few carefully concealed bladed things. If it ever happens, will I do the smart thing and hide like I’m supposed to, or will my dreams guide my actions? I hope I never need to find out. But one thing for sure, the only time active shooters are stopped it’s because an unarmed citizen attacked.
I always say an accident is when you’re shooting in the woods and a branch falls on your arm, causing an unintentional discharge. Almost all unintentional discharges, however, don’t fit the definition, as you’re both (Rusty and Mister44) noting here.
Thank you so much for your response and sharing your experience.
As a musician I have been shaped by African American music as well as much of your culture.
I guess what prompted my comment was a true sadness that for good or bad I love what you guys have given me but there is an overriding frustration with the political landscape that is also infecting the rest of us.
Thank you for responding from a truly personal experience and making it real again for me.
If anything, cops should have harsher penalties for this kind of thing than other people. They have greater responsibility, greater power and (supposedly) better training than some rando off the street. We should be holding them to the highest possible standards and punishing abuse of their power harshly, instead of letting them literally get away with murder pretty much whenever they feel like it.
I spent some time working at a hospital not far from there during med school. The ER staff referred Friday & Saturday nights as, “Get ready for Gun & Knife Club.”
Incidentally, this is just a few miles down the road from what was once a storage facility for is military produced VX: One of the most lethal nerve agents known, about 6mg on the skin will kill; The same amount burned will kill everyone in the room. The storage tanks in Vermillion County, IN, held over 1,200 tons. I once drove by there and saw the signs on the fences around it pocked with bullet holes.
