Acccidental Discharge


JohnLM

New member
I am faily new to guns. I have been shooting for about a year now. I have a Ruger SR9C and I go to the range at least twice a week. The last time I was at the range my gun accidentally discharged. Thank God my gun was pointing down range when it happened. I had just loaded my gun and had pick it up then BOOM, it fired before I was ready. I must had put my hand on the trigger without realizing it. Has this ever happened to anyone else?? This was the first time it happened to me and it scared the hell out of me. At the time I was the only one on the range. Can I get some input on this please!!!
 

Sure hope this was a wakeup call. You may not get a second chance. The rules of safety are really very simple---reread them again and again until you memorize them and they become as familiar to you as your firat name.
 
Accidents can happen to anyone. Don't beat yourself up over it. No one was hurt, and that is the main thing. I'm sure you feel bad enough without everyone offering to make you feel worse with criticism or "scolding" you over it.

The thing about gun safety is it is very easy to get lackadaisical about it. It's human nature. Especially when you shoot a lot and handle a lot of different weapons. While I'm never careless, I do have to remind myself from time to time. Complacency it what gets you. Accidents happen when you least expect. Much like driving a car. It's when you're happily motoring along, minding your own business that something bad happens.

I avoid public ranges because of the lack of safety I've seen displayed by others. The last straw was at a large public range near me I used to frequent quite regularly. I was muzzle swept TWICE in less than 10 minutes. The most aggravating part is when I complained to the clerk behind the counter he gave me this "deer in the headlights" look and replied, "$h!t happens". I've never been back since. Being safe is something you cannot depend on others to do, which is why I now joined and shoot in a private club. Bill T.
 
NRA's Three Rules of Firearm Safety

1) Always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.
Kudos for getting this one right. Otherwise things could have been a LOT worse.

2) Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot
Oops! Looks like you blew it on this one. Fortunately no one was hurt. At this point, you should reflect on the incident and try to figure out what went wrong? My guess would be that this is a single action automatic (or perhaps DA/SA), and that you left it cocked after loading the magazine in, rather than either a) keeping the safety on while loading or b) decocking after loading depending on the type of action. This means the amount of trigger pull required would be minimal, maybe a pound or two.

In any case - you should now re-read your owners manual on the operation of this firearm until you know it by heart. (If you don't have a manual, GET ONE from the manufacturer.) Also - you should get into the habit of making sure that finger is outside and above the trigger housing, pointed straight along the slide.


3) Keep the firearm unloaded until ready to use it.
I hope you're following this rule.
 
Guns are machines, they sometimes fail. We are human, we make mistakes. This is why there is redundancy built into the simplest set of rules. It was pointed in a safe direction and that is the important part this time. I'm sure we are all guilty of a few slips and I'm sure we've all had a machine fail us before. I wouldn't get too worked up about it, it probably won't be the last mistake you make, or machine to fail. Just be thankful no one was hurt, and remember it if your ever start to get lax.
 
NRA's Three Rules of Firearm Safety

1) Always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.
Kudos for getting this one right. Otherwise things could have been a LOT worse.

2) Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot
Oops! Looks like you blew it on this one. Fortunately no one was hurt. At this point, you should reflect on the incident and try to figure out what went wrong? My guess would be that this is a single action automatic (or perhaps DA/SA), and that you left it cocked after loading the magazine in, rather than either a) keeping the safety on while loading or b) decocking after loading depending on the type of action. This means the amount of trigger pull required would be minimal, maybe a pound or two.

In any case - you should now re-read your owners manual on the operation of this firearm until you know it by heart. (If you don't have a manual, GET ONE from the manufacturer.) Also - you should get into the habit of making sure that finger is outside and above the trigger housing, pointed straight along the slide.


3) Keep the firearm unloaded until ready to use it.
I hope you're following this rule.

PS - if this is the first time you are seeing these rules...then you need to go take a firearms safety course!!
 
I had my first and only ND (negligent discharge) a year ago. Nobody and nothing was hurt, except my pride and a roof shingle over my bedroom.

I had been installing some new rosewood grips on a Colt Officer 1911 that I had inherited from my dad. The original one with the Colt emblem crumbled, and my wife bought me the new grips for my birthday. After I installed them, I took my Glock out of my holster and laid it on the bed. I pulled back the slide of the Colt, looked through the port and saw that there was no round and no magazine, then holstered it and practived a dry-fire. Satisfied, I put the Colt in its box and locked it.

I noticed my Glock laying on the bed. As if it was a habit, I picked it up, racked the slide, pointed at the ceiling and squeezed the trigger. (To this day I have no idea why I would ever do that.)

The two loudest sounds a gun can make are: 1) Click when it should go Boom, and 2) Boom when it should go Click.

Of course I was deaf. I was also stunned, as if, "What? How the heck could that have happened?" It took about 2 minutes before I realized my wife, in the living room, would be wondering 1) if I was alive, 2) what did it hit? and 3) if she came in to check on me, where was it now pointed? (Good on her - I wouldn't have thought that one.) I shouted "I'm okay!", put down all weapons, and went in to try to explain. Turns out she had been shouting my name, and "Are you okay?", which I did not hear.

I locked up all my guns and didn't touch one for a month. My ND changed forever my attitude towards handling. The Four Laws which I had memorized, had become VERY REAL.

1) Treat ALL guns as though they are ALWAYS loaded.
2) Don't allow the muzzle to point at or sweep anything that you are not willing to destroy.
3) Keep your finger off the trigger until have the target in your sights and are ready to destroy it.
4) Know your target, and what is behind it (and in front of it, and beside it).

Because I am such a poor shot, I have added a corollary to #4: When you miss, you will still hit SOMETHING. You are responsible for whatever that is that you hit.
 
Guns are machines, they sometimes fail. We are human, we make mistakes. This is why there is redundancy built into the simplest set of rules. It was pointed in a safe direction and that is the important part this time. I'm sure we are all guilty of a few slips and I'm sure we've all had a machine fail us before. I wouldn't get too worked up about it, it probably won't be the last mistake you make, or machine to fail. Just be thankful no one was hurt, and remember it if your ever start to get lax.

Well-said. If you're not sure whether or not you had a finger on the trigger, you should take the firearm to a qualified gunsmith and have it checked out. As Laithe said, machines can and do fail, and it's important to know your firearm is safe.
 
You might consider a gun with a grip safety. It has a little lever at the back of the grip so that the gun can't discharge unless you are holding it properly.
That said, your primary safety is in your brain, and your secondary safety is your hand. A grip safety, like any other mechanical device, can fail - but only you are in charge of how you handle your weapon.
Analyze the situation fairly. Clearly you didn't keep your booger hook off the bang lever, which is a very important level of safety. However you DID have your muzzle pointed at something you were prepared to destroy. The four basic rules of gun safety exist because even if you fail at three of them, keeping any one of them can prevent a disaster, which is exactly what happened.
1. Treat all guns as if they are loaded
2. Never point your gun at anything you are not prepared to destroy
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.
4. Be sure of your target, and what is behind it.
 
Accidental discharge = gun hits floor, goes boom
Negligent discharge = trigger pulled incidentally
Safety first never last, have a future not a past.
 
The word is negligent, not accidental. No one got hurt so you learned a cheap lesson, don't beat yourself up but don't be careless again. Live and learn
 
It is so refreshing to see an honest and humble post by someone who has a negligent discharge. I'm glad a tragedy was avoided. The OP can really be thankful no one was injured or killed.

Like others have said: If you (OP) aren't 100% positive it was your fault, take the gun and have it checked. If the firearm is functioning properly, then I suggest find a good instructor and take a few advanced classes in order to help habituate yourself to "SAFER" gun handling.

Good Luck!
 
I read through some of these posts with a sence of horror. The prevailing attitude seems to boil down to: "Hey! It happens to everyone!" "Think safety but don't beat yourself up about it."

In the first instance, it most assuredly does NOT happen to everyone. Just those who become careless and complacent in the handling of firearms.

I want you to think about it. I want you to consider how the incident would have played out if you HAD caused injury or death by your actions. I want that to "bother you" and be taken to heart as cause to INSURE you "stay safe" hence.

Witness: More lives are taken through firearm carelessness every year than civilian GGs "taking out" BGs. It's true, look up the figures. Personally, I would much rather see an increase in the latter and a reduction of the former.

Safety first...... shooting accuracy second.

GG
 
2 types of ND's which require human input: those folks will tell you about and those that they'll lie to discount.

Only 1 type of AD and that requires a mechanical malfunction, no human input.

Given that nobody was hurt that's a lucky moment, so turn it into a training moment. Train yourself to "index" that index finger along the seam of the frame and slide. The "booger hook" is very sympathetic to the rest of the hand, as the hand squeezes to grip the firearm the index finger will try to curl and it seems to always wind up on or near the trigger. You CAN train yourself out of the sympathetic curl for the most part, but know that if you curl the finger even a little you'll likely see the same result (sympathetic curl) when squeezing the hand.
 
I had an ND on April 7, 2011 (see the pics on my profile).

After it happened, I couldn't even touch my weapons for over a month. I was shell-schocked. I'm back to carrying again, but so much has changed for me. Of course, it's a shame it took nearly killing myself to get the right mind-set.

I thought I was developing the right attitude before I had my ND. I wasn't. But one blinding moment of stupidity, blood is suddenly everywhere, the side of my hand is blown out, and I've got entry-exit wounds in my leg.

Today, I'm careful with my weapons in ways I should have been before. I treat them like snakes (to borrow an expression). I check and recheck them to make sure all is well, and they are as they should be. If it's loaded, I'm always making sure it's safe, and if it's unloaded, I'm always making sure it still is. And I never, ever fieldstrip a weapon except under highly controlled circumstances.

When you have an AD/ND, it's likely pure luck that determines the consequences. You may be lucky, as I was, or you or perhaps someone you love may be dead.

It's never going to happen to me again.
 
I have heard that sooner or later it happens to all of us that train on regular basis. It has happened to me when a handgun went full auto. Not a fun experience.

As stated before, there are safety rules everybody should follow. The rules first will prevent most of the accidental discharges and second if they happen make sure the bullet ends up in the berm.

I have to admit that I do not hear shooters talk about "accidental discharges". I admire your courage to bring it up and discuss it. It is a subject that definitely should be discussed and talked about.
 
I have heard that sooner or later it happens to all of us that train on regular basis. It has happened to me when a handgun went full auto. Not a fun experience.

As stated before, there are safety rules everybody should follow. The rules first will prevent most of the accidental discharges and second if they happen make sure the bullet ends up in the berm.

I have to admit that I do not hear shooters talk about "accidental discharges". I admire your courage to bring it up and discuss it. It is a subject that definitely should be discussed and talked about.

Now THAT was a genuine AD. Broke gun. 1) Could you relate make and model? 2) Did you determine the cause of the malfunction?

Just out of morbid curiosity, if nothing else. Thanks.

GG
 
I have heard that sooner or later it happens to all of us that train on regular basis. It has happened to me when a handgun went full auto. Not a fun experience.

Our club has magazine limits now. That happened to our current safety officer in the past. With a large magazine and a freaked out operator, it would be possible for fire to walk over the backstop pretty quick...
 
I must had put my hand on the trigger without realizing it.
We generally consider this negligence, not an accident. I believe your recent experience will improve your gun handling skills. Keep your finger off the trigger until the sights are on-target. Stay safe and enjoy.
 

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