Post by goomba on Mar 24, 2011 6:28:44 GMT -5
Skill Set: THE Rules
by Rich Grassi
There was an accidental shooting in roll call at a major American police agency, an outfit that's quite good. In the news story, presented by the Associated Press, the report was summarized as "Officer Thought Gun Was Empty." Apparently, there was a "weekly firearms inspection," and, according to the story, the officer was trying to unload his sidearm - the story just says "gun," so I suppose it could have been a shotgun or patrol rifle. It "discharged" wounding the handler and another officer.
The story goes on to relate that the officer, thinking the gun was empty, "pulled the trigger to release its tension." A round was in the chamber, as they usually are, and it "discharged."
I'm not making light of the negligent discharge nor of the officer's injury. It seems we need to get the language right before we solve the problem, so here goes:
Guns don't "discharge." They are fired. By people. People who touch the trigger and put pressure on it. Now, let's analyze the process. There was probably a shift briefing/roll call and a supervisor decided to inspect firearms. I won't address the issue of who is responsible to ensure the weapon and its ammo supply are in proper order - not presently. It's the "officer thought the gun was empty" and "pulling the trigger to release its tension" that immediately grates on the nerves. First, a pop quiz:
Which Rules were violated? Ah, someone said Rule One. Rule One is "All guns are loaded." Someone else said that Rule One is demonstrably not true - sometimes guns are unloaded. I can say this, without fear of significant argument: nearly every case of negligent discharge is quickly followed by the phrase, "But, it was unloaded!" That is usually accompanied by, "It just went off!"
www.thetacticalwire.com/features/224187
by Rich Grassi
There was an accidental shooting in roll call at a major American police agency, an outfit that's quite good. In the news story, presented by the Associated Press, the report was summarized as "Officer Thought Gun Was Empty." Apparently, there was a "weekly firearms inspection," and, according to the story, the officer was trying to unload his sidearm - the story just says "gun," so I suppose it could have been a shotgun or patrol rifle. It "discharged" wounding the handler and another officer.
The story goes on to relate that the officer, thinking the gun was empty, "pulled the trigger to release its tension." A round was in the chamber, as they usually are, and it "discharged."
I'm not making light of the negligent discharge nor of the officer's injury. It seems we need to get the language right before we solve the problem, so here goes:
Guns don't "discharge." They are fired. By people. People who touch the trigger and put pressure on it. Now, let's analyze the process. There was probably a shift briefing/roll call and a supervisor decided to inspect firearms. I won't address the issue of who is responsible to ensure the weapon and its ammo supply are in proper order - not presently. It's the "officer thought the gun was empty" and "pulling the trigger to release its tension" that immediately grates on the nerves. First, a pop quiz:
Which Rules were violated? Ah, someone said Rule One. Rule One is "All guns are loaded." Someone else said that Rule One is demonstrably not true - sometimes guns are unloaded. I can say this, without fear of significant argument: nearly every case of negligent discharge is quickly followed by the phrase, "But, it was unloaded!" That is usually accompanied by, "It just went off!"
www.thetacticalwire.com/features/224187