Stupid!

[sniper]

I have posted this on some other forums as a warning against complacency,carelessness, and stupidity. If it is in the wrong place, moderator, please feel free to move it.

I was loading some CB ammo for my revolver, and decided to check a few rounds at random, to insure proper fit.

About a week before, I had done the same thing. I opened the cylinder, to find ONE round remaining! WHERE did that come from?

I absolutely KNEW I had cleared the weapon before I put it away the last time.

Obviously, I had not!

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!

I KNEW that gun was unloaded. It is just a good thing I didn't do some dry firing!

Like they told me in Journalism school, NEVER ASSUME NOTHIN!

I know this will receive least several well-deserved "aw ****!" comments, but NOBODY can say anything I haven't said to myself multiple times. Turns my insides to water, just thinking about it.

BE CAREFUL! Be Safe! It co$t$ nothing to re- check.

I might have injured someone, or worse!

Thanks for allowing me to rant at myself!

[WARD O]

While it was a serious mistake to leave the round in the gun, proper gun handling technique, which is apparantly part of your routine, caused you to check every gun when you first touch it to be sure it is unloaded. It is this system of checks and rechecks that helps avert problems. This was a cheap reminder.

Ward

[madcaster]

Safety can NEVER be overdone,especially if you lose a loved one to a gun accident!Lost my brother,Steve in 1989...

[fourarmed]

Every time I teach the NRA Basic Pistol course, I show the clip from the movie "Tremors" where Bert Gummer hands Melvin-the-punk-kid his Ruger Redhawk to get him to run from the trailer to the "residual boulders." When they get there, Melvin says "Bert, you a$$hole, there's no bullets in this gun." The first thing Bert does is flip open the cylinder and check it. I emphasize that Bert knew the gun was empty when he gave it to Melvin, Melvin said it was empty when he gave it back, but Bert still checked.

[leftiye]

I DID "dry fire a .45 colt that way once. Went through two walls, and lodged in the roofing boards. The only REAL safety on any gun is WHERE THE MUZZLE POINTS being in a safe direction.

[XBT]

This incident happened last Saturday, just a few miles from my home.


Accidental shooting leaves one man dead
By Lindsay Whitehurst
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 06/09/2008 09:28:35 AM MDT


A Herriman man is dead after an acquaintance accidently shot him in the back Saturday, police said.
At about 9:30 p.m., four men were working on a yard in Rush Valley for an upcoming wedding when the conversation turned to guns, Tooele County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Jason Sparks said. The homeowner has an extensive gun collection, Sparks said, and he brought out a .45-caliber Springfield model 1911 handgun.
A 66-year-old guest from out of state slid the rack back as he looked at the weapon. The guest, who holds a concealed weapons permit, checked if the gun was loaded, Sparks said, but did not see a bullet in the magazine. Sliding the rack raised the hammer, and to drop it, the man had to pull the trigger. When he did, the bullet shot from the gun and hit the 41-year-old Herriman man in the back. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police did not release the name of either man, and are investigating to decide whether charges should be filed.
The two men knew each other, Sparks said. Their children are friends. Rush Valley is located about 10 miles south of Tooele.

[Boerrancher]

Since my injuries I suffer badly from CRS. I always was a stickler for safety, but now I have to pay twice as much attention. I do keep a couple of handguns and rifles that I use on a daily basis loaded. The wife and I never know when we will have to run out and blast a coyote or a wild dog attacking the livestock, but these are still kept out of reach of the children. The rest of the guns when taken out of the safe are always treated as they are loaded.

Best wishes from the Boer Ranch

Joe

[9.3X62AL]

All guns are always loaded until you PROVE otherwise to yourself.

[gon2shoot]

All guns are always loaded until you PROVE otherwise to yourself.

+1 I raised my kids to think every gun you pick up is loaded untill you check it twice.
Sneaking in a blank for dry fire practice is an eye opener.

[WineMan]

One of my coworkers has a Tec-9 9mm (handgun?). He brings it in and starts to hand it to me and of course I ask "is it loaded?" His reply is of course "no!". These *** do not have a handle but you stick your finger into a hole in the bolt and pull it back. Well you know where this is going. Yep a 9mm JHP comes flying out when I (as my dad alway taught me: "Every gun is loaded, never point a gun at someone unless you intend to shoot them") proceed to just make sure.

One of my best friends was sitting in his living room with a S&W Model 29 44 mag (he is a big Clint Eastwood fan). He has a round in the cylinder. For some reason he thinks the cylinder will rotate in the opposite direction when he D/A's the gun. Of course he had to discard his pants when he put a round into the slab floor of his living room!

Just yesterday we were at our "lunch time" range at work and the shooter chambers a round and then realizes the target has blown over in the wind. The rifle is sitting loaded on the bench pointing down range and he takes off to fix the target. I of course warn him and then pointing the rifle away try to unload it. It was a bit of a pain as these rounds were for fireforming cases and the boolit jammed in the rifling and powder and PSB was everywhere.

Sometimes I am amazed I have lived this long with all of the stupid stuff that we manage to do.

Be safe!

Wineman

[randyrat]

Happened to me at the range i was in a hurry. I shot my G22 figured it was empty and put it in the case. Someone, on my way out, wanted to see what i was shooting and i pulled it out of the case cleared the weapon and shazzzamm a bullet was in the chamber... Wow!!!!! thank God i had safe gun handling habits that have stuck with me since i was very young. I think it was my father who taught me to clear a gun every time you pick it up and make it a habit.

[Tom Herman]

I've heard my share of horror stories over the years.
The local gun show has an inspection table just inside the door for folks that bring guns in. The security staff checks the gun to make SURE it's empty, seals the action, and tags the gun around the tie wrap with one of their sticky lables.
Last gun show, there was a jar sitting there on the table with about a dozen or so 9mm rounds in it.
Of course, I had to ask... The guys shared how this idiot came up and insisted that his gun didn't have to be checked 'cause it's empty.
They fortunately wouldn't let him in until they checked it out.
That's where the rounds came from: Out of the "unloaded" gun... They actually gave the guy the choice of giving up the ammo, or getting bounced out of the show.
You can't check a gun too many times...
Happy Shootin'! -Tom

[Southern Son]

Two incidents, both with pump action shotguns. First one happened with I went shooting with a mate in Western NSW. We had been giving some feral goats a bit of curry and after we lost them, we went back to the car. I had my 94 30/30, my mate had my Bentley Pump action 12ga (the 5 round one, not the 8). Before we got into the car we both turned away from the car. I removed the rounds from the 30/30 while my mate "unloaded" the shotgun. My mate was in the navy and had completed all the weapons training required of him so I did not pay attention to what he was doing. Turns out he did what they taught him with the SLR, mag off, open the bolt, check chamber, close bolt, fire action. Unfortunately, the magazine on the Bentley was part of the gun and he did not look into the feed area of the gun, just the chamber. Gazza, my mate then declares in a loud clear voice "Weapon Clear", just like on the navy range, he points the gun in a safe direction (thank Christ for that), and pulls the trigger.... BOOM. Him standing there with a stupid look on his face and me with lumpy undies, we never made that mistake again.

The second incident happened on a range. I was in a section that used Rem. 870 Wingmasters with 20 inch barrels for most of the work. At the beggining of the shoot, before we started shooting, we would do an exercise that was load the gun, take it to the point of one in the chamber and the safe off, then we would unload (I think that is was an exercise to make sure that if something happened, we would be able to unload the guns without instructor assistance). We got the command "Load." So we all put 4 rounds in the magazine. We got the command "Instant", so we all racked a round into the chamber, the safe is off. At this point the instructor calls "Unload", whereapon you engage the safety, remove the round from the chamger then empty the magazine, everyone except the *** who goes BOOM. Instructors were a little cross, because it was only the unload exercise, none of them had their earmuffs on.

[jmabbott888]

I have 2 boys, both have been around guns since they were very young. Everytime they asked to look at a gun I'd take it from the cabinet or safe, check it in front of them then hand it to the with the action open so they could look at it. I guess doing this sunk into them because 2 years ago at our Sheriffs day for the scouts the gang unit & swat team had their guns out on display & the kids could look at them. Well my oldest asks to look at an ak, the officer says ok & the first thing my son does is open the action & check it. The officer looks at him with this funny look on his face. Next my youngest who was 7 at the time asks to look at a sniper rifle, the officer says ok, my son puts the rifle on the table with the bipods down & pulls the bolt back to check it, the cops jaw hits the floor!!! He couldn't believe a kid would even think of checking it, I was a proud dad that day.

[10-x]

Way back when I was an NRA instructor I always asked (and taught), whats the most important thing about firearms? The usual replys were, different brand names, types of cartridges on and on.
SAFETY was and still is the answer.
I taught both my kids from an early age safety first just as I have drilled it into my grandsons head.
Nothing makes me prouder than when he ask to see a certain firearm and see him open the cylinder or action and check to see if its clear!
There may be hope for us after all!:-D

[selmerfan]

I'm glad I re-read this thread! I was out shooting two days ago at the range in my in-law's town and had a cast boolit stick in my .260 barrel because I apparently forgot to charge the case. This thread reminded me of it. I need to go drive it out before I can clean it OR shoot it and blow up the gun, or maybe me! THANK YOU!!!!
Selmerfan

[willwork4ww]

You found one cartridge remaining in the cylinder? OMG, what happened to the other five? Damn tweakers are stealing our cartridges for scrap now? Keep all the holes filled, you'll know it's loaded.

[miestro_jerry]

I always say Safety First, Safety Last, Safety Always. Some times I tripe check a weapon before putting it away.

But Willwork4ww's has it right, who stole the other five rounds. :)

Jerry

[Shooter973]

Last winter I went to a local indoor range with my youngest son(26). When we were done shooting we went to the counter and retrieved our drivers licenses and were chatting with the guy behind the counter about a surpressed 10/22 they had for rent on the wall. Teh counter guy handed it to my son, who then opened the action to check, and out popped a Loaded 22lr. The guy behind the counter never checked it before handing it over. Good thing my son was taught correctly! Guy says ' I guess I should have checked that". NO, HE SHOULD HAVE CHECKED IT WHEN IT CAME BACK FROM BEING SHOT ON THEIR RANGE!!! And again before he handed it to us! And these guys are one of the biggest gundealers in the area and on the Net.

[3006guns]

We turn the clock back to about 1970 when my friend Dave and myself had just started reloading. After a few sessions of casting, sizing and reloading .38 special every night for weeks....we were hot stuff. Took our hundreds of rounds to the local range and had a ball because of all the money we were saving. Returned to my house and quickly washed all the cases in hot water and dishsoap, then into the oven on low to dry. Cracked a couple of beers and were swapping lies when there was a healthy "pow!" from the stove. The silence was deafening. I opened the oven door and saw a .25 bullet spinning on the bottom. Evidently an unseen .25 auto round had "migrated" to the inside of a .38 special case, survived the hot water and cooked off in the oven. No damage except a dent in the aluminum collander we were using. Red faces and more deliberate caution after that.

Then there was the premature discharge of a Savage .32 auto that JUST missed my ex-wife in the next room....but that's another story entirely.....[smilie=1:

Wonder why she left me???

[uncle joe]

All guns are always loaded until you PROVE otherwise to yourself.

I know first hand this can happen to anybody and I did "dry fire" mine
BOOM
lucky that my Dear old Dad beat me all about the head about NEVER pointing any gun at anything you did not want to put a hole through. True safetys usually have redundancy

thus my signature

[waksupi]

When you stop in to visit, don't bother checking to see if my guns are loaded. They are!

[Maximilian225]

The things that I started drilling into my kids head as soon as they were old enough

"All guns are loaded, All the time."

"I don't care if you just watched me clear it, clear it again when I hand it to you. Remember, There are no unloaded guns."

"The only real safety is the one between your ears"

[725]

Actions open, safety on (actually a safety is just a mechanical thing, made by man, and destined to fail at some point), look, look away, and look again. All these stories are so familiar and common. WE are all human, and we will all make mistakes. The difference is when you make a mistake with a gun bad things happen. Some are irreversable and sad. Good tactics are the only thing that makes all this a safe hobby.

While running a training day, my partner was off loading M-16s from the support vehicle. I was miffed that he kept handing me rifles with the action closed. When I mentioned it, he scoffed and snickered, and sure enough, one of the next ones to come down popped out a live .223 round when I opened the action and locked it back. What I said is unprintable here.

[Newtire]

A few years back an incident happened in San Francisco to an officer at the Golden Gate Park police horse stables. Since one of the officers was handy with guns, a guy took in a pistol of some sort for him to check out and after checking it out, told the guy to bring it in in a week & he'd look at it. The guy took back his gun, loaded it and went to leave but just then remembered something else he wanted the other officer to check. Whatever it was he checked caused the gun to go off, killing the gun handyman officer.

[Mumblypeg]

There are many safety tips which we all have heard over and over but to me the MOST important is "Always know where it's pointed ". Is there anyone here that has NOT had an unintentional discharge? Where it's pointed makes all the difference between an unintentional discharge and an accident. Play with them long enough and it won't be "If" it will be just a matter of "When". I have seen it many times instructing and as long as nobody gets hurt it's one of the best learning tools I know of.

[Bluehawk]

I ALWAYS check any gun to make sure it is unloaded before handing it to someone or letting someone pick it up . When handing it to ANYONE EVERYTIME I tell them to"Be care ful the gun is loaded " they normally look at me in horror then check. They then usually look at me again as if I have two heads and tell me "its NOT loaded " I always answer " NOW YOU KNOW THAT !!!"
I have done that for over 30 years including when i ran the firearms training program on the PD I was on I ALWAYS make the person check it him( Or her ) self .

[Shotgun Luckey]

THAT is why we should always check a gun.

and jmabbott it made ME proud of your sons as well

[Acronn]

All I can add to this is with a revolver, the way to make it safe is to have the cylinder OPEN. Otherwise it's loaded. By assuming that any gun is loaded until you check for yourself, you are in a much better position, and as soon as the gun leaves your hands, it is best to check again as soon as you get it back in your hands.

Ricochets off slabs, or concrete walls, anything, can be just as bad/or worse as being shot directly.

[303Guy]

I knew a guy who did that. Only he didn't do the recheck thing while 'cleaning' his gun (probably just playing with it) and it went off hitting him in the gut. He lived. Thing is, these things do happen. There is no such thing as an 'unloaded gun'. Even if it is 'unloaded'.

Multiple safety systems and safety checks have saved me I'm sure. We will slip up one day - that's a given.

[Bret4207]

Back when I had the gunshop it was routine for me to go through and wipe the guns down once a week of so. On more than one occasion I found live rounds in the guns. The only thing I can think is my younger brothers "borrowed" them, or some customer was trying to do me in.

My oldest son is a certifiable idiot as far as gun safety goes. Before I barred him from my guns it was common to find loaded guns in his truck, in the house, in the barn, in the garage. Screaming seemed to have small effect. That combined with other factors eventually lead to his loss of access to any of them.

[303Guy]

In my world, cirtain guns were kept loaded - we were at war basically - and I knew they were loaded. All the others were stored with actions open. I never picked up a gun without looking into the chamber or feeling the extractor of the loaded ones to make sure they were loaded. That life is in the past. Now guns are only for sport. And noises in the night is only the wind or my son coming home.

[oscarflytyer]

I have posted this on some other forums as a warning against complacency,carelessness, and stupidity. If it is in the wrong place, moderator, please feel free to move it.

I was loading some CB ammo for my revolver, and decided to check a few rounds at random, to insure proper fit.

About a week before, I had done the same thing. I opened the cylinder, to find ONE round remaining! WHERE did that come from?

I absolutely KNEW I had cleared the weapon before I put it away the last time.

Obviously, I had not!

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!

I KNEW that gun was unloaded. It is just a good thing I didn't do some dry firing!

Like they told me in Journalism school, NEVER ASSUME NOTHIN!

I know this will receive least several well-deserved "aw ****!" comments, but NOBODY can say anything I haven't said to myself multiple times. Turns my insides to water, just thinking about it.

BE CAREFUL! Be Safe! It co$t$ nothing to re- check.

I might have injured someone, or worse!

Thanks for allowing me to rant at myself!

Years ago, friend/budding gunsmith and I were doing some work with a Ruger 45 Colt in my garage. For some reason, it included loading rounds and verifying they would fit and function in the gun. Can't remember why...

I had loaded it to check the rounds, and placed it on the bench for a minute to pick something else up. My buddy picked it up, gripped it, and sighted it at the garage door, and started to thumb the hammer (it was a Ruger BH SA). I sat there stunned for a split second, then said, "you know that's loaded, right?" He turned white as a sheet and nearly dropped it! Spooked him bad.

I have another buddy, works gun shop. Says people bring in guns loaded all the time. Had another buddy that was being shown a gun at a shop, and went to check it. Sales clerk told him not necessary - their sales guns aren't loaded. Buddy promptly dropped a 44 round on the glass counter top! Said it sounded like a bomb going off, then you could have heard a feather hit the counter top! He left and hasn't been back!

Can NEVER be too careful!

[nonferrous]

This is a kind of a scary thread, it shows that anything can happen. Years ago I was working with the Sheriffs Dept giving a group of school kids a gun safety class so they could get their hunting certificate. They were all told to bring the guns that they would be hunting with.
We were in the parking lot waiting to go in, when I saw one of the kids start to open his case. Before anyone could act he pulled the gun out, levered the action, point it at his friend and pull the trigger.
It was a Winchester Mod 94 30-30 and it was unloaded, however, every time I think of it I shudder.

We sometimes shoot at a very nice range located in a county park, it is run by Park Rangers. One day we show up and they are wearing bulletproof vests. What happened was that a Tyro with an automatic, finished shooting and placed the empty gun on the bench with the muzzle pointing backwards. It went off and the 9mm round went right between them and lodged in the 4X4 post holding up the roof.
They have the spent round on display, the shooter is in the doghouse.

[captain-03]

"All guns are loaded, All the time."

[tommygirlMT]

In my parents house while I grew up --- all guns were treated as loaded --- because they were

Same rule in my home now --- also the rule that you dont touch another gals/guys gun without asking permission first --- unless you want an instant @$$ kicking or worse --- also another rule of the house that I learned as a kid

[mpmarty]

It's always the unloaded gun that goes off and causes problems. Ergo all mine are loaded all the time. I find no value to an unloaded gun. Same as locking them in a safe where you can't get to them when you need one. In every room of my home there is at least one loaded gun within reach of wherever I'm likely to be sitting.

[303Guy]

Is there anyone here that has NOT had an unintentional discharge? Where it's pointed makes all the difference between an unintentional discharge and an accident.I had one. All I did was to lock the bolt over a chambered round with the firing pin down so as to have it uncocked (Lee Enfield). Who'd have thought the forward motion of the firing pin would set off a primer just from locking the bolt?! Well it can. No harm done as the gun was being pointed in a safe direction - after all, I was loading it. (The Lee Enfield has a long firing pin travel on rotating the bolt loacked. There is the firing pin cam plus the extractor cam moving it rearward and I slammed it closed because the case was quite tight).

[MBTcustom]

When I was about 20 my brother and I were admiring my dads .22 that I had permission to use. I decided to make sure it was unloaded first thing. I pulled the charging handle back and out pops a live round. (shame on me, I was the last one to use it.) Well, I pulled the charge tube and dumped out all the ammo,
worked the charge handle several times,
looked carefully inside the chamber - no cartridges,
I slid the charge tube back into the rifle,
opened the chamber one more time - no visible cartridges,
lifted the rifle,
picked out a safe place on the wall,
and Blam!
my brother looked at me with that "i cant believe you just did that" look on his face but he said "well, I have to hand in to you; at least you were safe about it!"

This experience taught me a valuable lesson:
It is far better and much less likely to mistake a gun that should be loaded for one that is empty, than it is to mistake a gun that is loaded for one that should be empty.
Hence all my guns are loaded except a very few, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were loaded too. That's just the way things run in my house.

[Charlie Two Tracks]

Last summer I was at my brothers farm. I had just got done putting a few rounds through my GP and before I left I went up to his house. We talked, he got out an old .22 revolver his father in law had given him years ago from a drawer in the kitchen. He said it was unloaded. As he handed it to me I could see brass. I unloaded it...........

[Newtire]

Three tales here.

Warning First one=tragic

San Francisco cop who used to work on guns was examining a fellow officer's weapon for a malfunction and when done, the other cop puts the shells back in the revolver. Just as he was leaving he remembered something else about the gun and in showing it to the amateur smith, it went off, killing the smith. Was on the news years ago.

My buddy in Fairbanks was showing me his collection and in going thru the safe, I opened each one to check as he handed them to me. The .338 Win was loaded. A bear had wandered into his backyard one night and he loaded it but never shot. Pays to check. I do it automatically every single time.

I have a cute little M/L top hammer .31 derringer that my great grandpa gave to my grandpa to play with when he was a kid. After shooting imaginary bad guys all day with it (including his mother) using caps on the nipple, it went off and blew a hole thru the screen on the porch.

[303Guy]

That tubular magazine requires a diploma to operate properly. That last round just stays there doing nothing until the tube plunger is fully home then only does the last round cycle through with two bolt cycles! Ask me how I know! I was lucky - I double checked then once I knew about it I trebble check. I'm tempted to change it to single shot. But having 15 rounds in the mag is handy!

[G. Blessing]

I don't get a lot of this thread.... checking guns to be sure they're empty....

all safe gun handling practices assume that the gun is loaded at all times.... so why not keep them loaded? Should be handled no different regaurdless.

An empty gun is stupid. pointless. ALL of mine are loaded at all times(except while cleaning). if i'm going to need a gun, i want it to be functional instantly if i need it instantly.

G.