Fatal Accident True Story of a Friend

[tommyg]

A friend of mine had a serious accident while
playing with a gun. The actor was an adult
at a party the actor took a gun that was "supposed
to be unloaded" and pointed it at another party goer
and said I'll part your hair . The actor pulled the trigger
a few inches from the other party gore's head expecting a click.
The mag was empty but there was a live one in the chamber.

The shot was fatal Actor went to Jail

This story is very sad but very true

Note : I was not there when it happened I knew the people involved for years

[JALLEN]

We had a newly graduated SEAL do something as dumb here last month. He was impressing his new friend of the feminine persuasion back at his place after a night of drinking, went to show her how safe the gun was, and blew his brains out by putting it to his head and pulling the trigger.

I've inquired of my SEAL pals here and that is not a recommended or taught method of checking unloaded. The old-fashioned way is best.

[C-dub]

I'm curious about something. I know my Glocks will fire that round, but what about some other guns? I have a S&W 639 from my dad that I don't think it will fire if there is no magazine inserted. I didn't know much about the gun, so when my dad handed it to me to see what I thought of it I immediately dropped the mag and checked the chamber. All clear and when I released the slide the hammer fell forward. Once I figured out how the safety worked, which way was fire and which way was safe, I figured it was because the safety was on. This was the case and I flipped the safety to fire. Now, the hammer stayed back after working the slide. However, pulling the trigger did nothing. The hammer stayed put. The trigger would not do anything unless the magazine was inserted. Now, I'll find out if it makes a difference when I get he gun to the range this weekend, but I find this very interesting.

Are there any other guns like this? Don't you think this type of safety would be cool on all guns? It would sure prevent things like this.

[mikeintexas]

My wife carries a Kahr CW9 and it will fire a chambered round with no magazine inserted.

[Greybeard]

Quote: "Are there any other guns like this? Don't you think this type of safety would be cool on all guns? It would sure prevent things like this."

Sometime called "magazine disconnect safety". Some guns have 'em, many guns don't. Just gotta know how each individual gun operates.

I've had em stop up CHL students who unintentionally bumped the mag release during recoil, dropping the mag just far enough for it not to go bang when desired. Similar and much worse can and has happened with em in the real world.

The things are one very good reason for the first step of tap-rack-bang malfunction clearance drill being "tap" (or some say "slap").

[Thomas]

Don't you think this type of safety would be cool on all guns? It would sure prevent things like this.

If I was an actor, I would want the magazine in the gun, else it looks cheesy.

No, I don't think it would be cool. It might prevent some mishaps for others, but I want my gun to fire when I pull the trigger, magazine or no magazine.

[jdlott74]

We had a newly graduated SEAL do something as dumb here last month. He was impressing his new friend of the feminine persuasion back at his place after a night of drinking, went to show her how safe the gun was, and blew his brains out by putting it to his head and pulling the trigger.

I've inquired of my SEAL pals here and that is not a recommended or taught method of checking unloaded. The old-fashioned way is best.

I read about that. I was thinking this what an idiot...He should have checked it the old fashioned way and LOOKED at it to make sure it was empty.

[speedsix]

I'm curious about something. I know my Glocks will fire that round, but what about some other guns? I have a S&W 639 from my dad that I don't think it will fire if there is no magazine inserted. I didn't know much about the gun, so when my dad handed it to me to see what I thought of it I immediately dropped the mag and checked the chamber. All clear and when I released the slide the hammer fell forward. Once I figured out how the safety worked, which way was fire and which way was safe, I figured it was because the safety was on. This was the case and I flipped the safety to fire. Now, the hammer stayed back after working the slide. However, pulling the trigger did nothing. The hammer stayed put. The trigger would not do anything unless the magazine was inserted. Now, I'll find out if it makes a difference when I get he gun to the range this weekend, but I find this very interesting.

Are there any other guns like this? Don't you think this type of safety would be cool on all guns? It would sure prevent things like this.

...a magazine safety is not recommended on a defensive weapon...if your mag malfunctions or is lost...you have a short club...when I bought my HiPower...the first thing I did was take my magazine safety out...haven't owned another weapon with one in it...

[terryg]

...a magazine safety is not recommended on a defensive weapon...if your mag malfunctions or is lost...you have a short club...when I bought my HiPower...the first thing I did was take my magazine safety out...haven't owned another weapon with one in it...

I removed the magazine safety from my SR9c.

[JALLEN]

We had a newly graduated SEAL do something as dumb here last month. He was impressing his new friend of the feminine persuasion back at his place after a night of drinking, went to show her how safe the gun was, and blew his brains out by putting it to his head and pulling the trigger.

I've inquired of my SEAL pals here and that is not a recommended or taught method of checking unloaded. The old-fashioned way is best.

I read about that. I was thinking this what an idiot...He should have checked it the old fashioned way and LOOKED at it to make sure it was empty.

I'm afraid so. It is inexplicable to me how someone with the level of training in weapons a SEAL has, and must perform very, very well each and every time, each and every assigned evolution in training, could have committed such a blunder. They do a LOT of shooting. I remember reading that one early SEAL Team's ammo budget was bigger than the entire Marine Corps ammo budget! It is just impossible for me to imagine how someone like that could be so stupid, but it happened!

[alexrex20]

sucks for the innocent party goer. i hope the actor goes to prison for life.

[Jumping Frog]

...a magazine safety is not recommended on a defensive weapon...if your mag malfunctions or is lost...you have a short club...when I bought my HiPower...the first thing I did was take my magazine safety out...haven't owned another weapon with one in it...

In general, I agree with your sentiment. In fact, I also removed the magazine safety from my Ruger SR9 and would not have one on any of my guns.

There is always the other side to the story, of course. There are Law Enforcement officers whose lives have been saved by a magazine safety. When they were involved in a retention battle for their firearm with a perp and knew they were losing their handgun, their last act was to drop the mag rendering it unfirable in the perps hand. That would be a good time to go to their BUG.

[speedsix]

...that's a valid argument...though carrying a DA/SA with safety on does the same thing...but when you consider the strength required to keep a handgun from being twisted out of your hand...it's iffy if you could reach the button reliably...there are enough action options out there to satisfy us all...I want at least one shot even if my mag's gone south...and the ability to fire it as a single shot if all my mags are empty...I know...chances are vewwy vewwy small...

[The Annoyed Man]

None of my guns has a magazine disconnect, and I don't feel particularly unsafe. I begin with the premise that all guns are loaded, all the time. I never point them at something I'm not willing to destroy. I never put my finger on the trigger until I'm ready to fire. Etc., etc., etc.

I agree that there are LEOs who have been saved by their magazine disconnect, but (and I don't mean to devalue their lives) that is a very small number when balanced against the benefits of not having one when magazine failures are possibly a bigger risk.

[Scott in Houston]

Wow... what a horribly, avoidable, tragedy.
I am not sure which of the two people was your friend, but I feel for you and him/her either way. Either you lost a friend to prison or to the negligent actions of another.

I'm amazed that the person who was shot gave him the time to do it. I'm not placing blame on them, because we all may react differently, but I can speak for myself because I've had someone do something similar to me. When I've had an "empty" gun pointed at me in the past, I nearly came to blows with my 'friend' who did it. I immediately knocked it away from me, and yelled rather loudly at him calling him a name that I cannot repeat here. My 'friend' got a little offended (and I think embarrassed because a couple of others were around), and said, "Oh come on. It's not loaded." We almost fought after that. I wanted to beat the tar out of him for being so reckless with my life. We're not friends anymore.

In the situation above, with the actor verbally announcing, in his crude humor, that he was going to 'part the victim's hair', I'm amazed that the victim stood there and didn't react before it was too late.

I hate hearing these stories for so many reasons, but one of the main ones is selfish... actions like this can severely impact me, and my ability to defend my family by giving the antis more ammunition to use against me as an armed citizen. These stories inevitably get more attention than the use of a firearm in self defense, therefore putting those, who may be sitting on the fence in terms of the 2nd Amendment, more in the gun control camp.