Accident #1
Veteran Detective Chester Kurdyla, 49, wounded himself late Sunday night at the county jail in Morris Township after transporting a prisoner to the lockup, said Rochford.Accident #2
Kurdyla stored his gun when he entered the jail. When he completed his duties at 11:50 p.m., he retrieved the gun, a .40 caliber Glock, and was putting it back in his holster when it discharged, sending a bullet into his right thigh.
On Friday afternoon, 33-year-old Sheriff's Officer Wilman Diaz, also shot himself in the leg. Diaz was in an office adjacent to the front-door security post at the county courthouse in Morristown and was about to turn in his .40 caliber Glock for a bi-annual weapons inspection when it discharged as he removed it from his holster, said authorities.
The article goes on to report that this department is scheduling more firearms safety training for it's officers. Read the whole article here.
This is the perfect opportunity to go over the four rules of handing a firearm. If these officers had followed these four rules, they would be home with their families, bandage free.
Rule #1 - Every firearm is loaded. Notice that I did not say "Treat every firearm as if it were loaded". NO, every firearm is loaded. Do not act like a firearm is loaded, believe it. Until you check personally, visually and by feel, that a firearm is unloaded, it has a round in the chamber and is ready to fire.
Rule #2 - Never let the muzzle of a firearm point at anything you are not willing to destroy. This is probably the rule I see broken the most at gun shows and shops. Never, ever, cross a person with the barrel of a firearm. Never, ever, cross a part of your own body with the barrel of a firearm. Accidental shootings would not happen if this were followed 100% of the time.
Rule #3 - Keep your finger off the trigger unless your sights are on the target. Do not place your finger on the trigger until you are ready to fire your firearm. Sights on the target means you have the firearm aimed at the target/bad guy/whatever and are ready to fire. You gain no speed by putting your finger on the trigger as you unholster your firearm. (hint, hint to the above officers). Negligent discharges would never happen if this rule was followed 100% of the time.
Rule #4 - Be sure of your target and what is behind it. Be aware of your surroundings. Be sure of your target. Never shoot at sounds or at objects that you can not positively identify. Know what surrounds your target, and what is behind it. Again, be aware of your surroundings whether on a range, in the woods, or in a potentially lethal conflict.
If the officers had followed these four rules, they would not have ended up in the hospital. The fact that there were two incidents in the same department indicates that have a very poor overall philosophy in regards to firearms safety and general handling. For each accident, there had to be dozens of times when safety rules were broken. If you broke a rule at my range, there are plenty of folks that would let you know right away.
If you own a firearm, make these four rules a matter of habit, teach them to your children and loved ones. You teach your kids the rules of the road, teach them the rules of handling firearms.
For more information on firearm safety, go to Fr. Frogs Pad.
14 comments:
In the 52 years I've handled firearms both as a child and adult I've experianced on accident. It was a result of not following what my father had tought me..........use the safty and keep your finger off the triger until your ready to fire. Fortunaly the 410 I was carrying at me side discharged into the ground and missed my right foot. I was 12 at the time, and have never forgot the sickness I felt at what could have be a life crippling event.
I own many firearms and hold them in the highest respect....people be carefull out there.
The rules make utter sense. The problem is that teens can be irresponsible.
Sounds like bad holsters--there was a spate of accidental discharges with a particular brand of holster and Glocks because of a stiff piece of plastic in the holster that pushed the trigger as the weapon was holstered.
Mr. Bruce; Do you know which holsters? I don't keep up on Glock news much and had not heard that.
MudKitty; Yes, teen not only can be irresponsible, they often are. Yet, we still give them keys and set them out on our highways to drive at high speeds around innocent families.
In 2004 there were 661 accidental deaths due to firearms. There were 43,947 accidental deaths due to automobiles. If you add the 11,250 homicides by firearm, the number of deaths is still much less than by automobile.
Why is there not an anti-automobile lobby? Why are politicians not speaking out about the need for further automobile control laws?
Oops, sorry. Forgot to include the link to my statistics:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr54/nvsr54_19.pdf
You'd be surprised at what people can let their guard down. I was next to a Coast Guard vet shooting a 1911 one day, and he reeled off a couple of shots and turned around, observing everyone else...with the muzzle following his head movements, and his finger off the trigger. I ducked and corrected him..."finger off the trigger, finger off the trigger!"...and fortunately nothing came out of it, and it didn't happen again while I was there...
and his finger off the trigger.
that was supposed to read, "his finger ON the trigger"...
Back in the 70's while my Mom and Dad were at hunt camp, a Marine had a negligent discharge due to poor gun handling. He shot the dirt between my Mom's feet. I hear that he was well educated by Dad on the importance of gun safety.
Putting a finger on the trigger seems to be a natural thing for folks that are not familiar with firearms. Many photo's of folks with firearms show people with their fingers on the triggers, and television, geeze. I think my Sweetie might be getting a bit tired of all my commentary on piss poor firearm safety being shown on CSI and the like. It is common to see them crossing each other with the muzzles of their pistols, with fingers on the triggers, while they are clearing rooms. (we won't get started on the tactics they use, that's a whole other story)
It's just so obvious that we all agree on firearm safety. If the lack of safty that we have to worry about.
"...the lack of safty that we have to worry about."
Very true, and education is one way to improve safety practices.
I'm all for education, but not only when it's for gun safety.
Thanks for the reminder on the safety rules. I heard they are engraved in granite somewhere...(lol)
My biggest regret for my children is they have not been able to have the firearms experience that I had as a child. My dad grew up a hunter. And, I grew up where you could go hunting in the afternoon after school (dropped my first dove with a 410 single shot). My kids don't have that benefit.
Yes, it is a shame that it is harder to pass on a love for hunting and an enjoyment of firearms these days. It can be especially tough living in an urban area.
My first dove was with a .410 also, I was seven.
My number 2 daughter is a shooter. I think she will always remember the day she out shot me in a long distance .22 silhouette match. I blame it on my eyes :) getting harder to see those rams at 200 yards.
Several of these holsering ND's with Glocks are because something went into the holster with the gun...
...like a pull cord from a jacket or such.
Additionally, anything, even bits of the holster, that can apply ressure to the trigger of a Glock can set them off.
The problem with not having a positive manual safety.
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