Posted on 01/21/2015 4:16:40 AM PST by Jed Eckert
A police officer walks into a gun shop, asks to see a 380 pistol, shoots off a portion of his anatomy with said pistol, becomes former cop, and then sues gun shop.
Yeah, that’s right.
The former officer is reportedly suing for negligence on the part of Barren Outdoors, the gun shop where the incident occurred.
We all know that guns in display cases should be unloaded and safe. We also know that the gun shop employee should have checked the gun to be sure of that before handing it to customer Darrell Smith. But we also know the customer should have checked it himself, and furthermore should not have allowed the muzzle to point at himself or anyone else.
This is the most basic of all gun safety rules: Always point a gun in a safe direction, especially when it’s cocked or being cocked! Period. End of story
The officer’s attorney, of course, lays the blame on the gun shop rather than the fellow who pulled the trigger. It’s the same old story of personal accountability or the lack thereof. Because Smith’s own actions caused him to lose his job and incur medical expenses, he and his attorney are seeking to hold another party accountable.
“He’s permanently disfigured. He went through a lot of pain and suffering. He’s gone through several surgeries. He’s got a lot of medical bills that have to be paid. It ended his career and he’s going to have a lot of lost income.” – Smith’s attorney Alan Simpson
In the uncensored video (below) in which Smith shoots himself, the store employee not only fails to check the gun, he too violates the first rule of gun safety when he offers the pistol to the customer with the muzzle pointing at himself. If the gun had been fired as the customer took it, it appears that the bullet would have penetrated his hand, wrist, and arm.
So yeah, the employee showed a distinct lack of smarts.
The officer, though, did much worse. Most of the time he handled the gun, he held his hand and fingers in front of the muzzle. He also pointed it to his left – toward at least four other people.
He worked the pistol’s slide without paying attention to whether he was chambering a round, and then he pulled the trigger with his finger in front of the muzzle and with the muzzle pointed towards those folks!
I cringed repeatedly as I watched the video. This guy could easily have injured or killed one of those people with his careless handling of the firearm. No wonder he was subsequently relieved of his job. I feel thankful that nobody else was hurt in this senseless incident. I sincerely hope that Smith’s case is dismissed and that he and the employee both learned a lot about gun safety from this.
**Note: Couldn't get the video to play at the site so try this direct link for the video:
Video: Cop Shoots Off Own Finger At Gun Shop
Was there a round in the chamber to begin with?
When the cop racked the slide, it would/should have ejected, no? - (and one would have hoped someone noticed). So, it seems to me (and I do not consider myself an expert) that a magazine was in but the chamber was empty until the cop racked the slide.
Please do not read any of the above as excusing or minimizing the negligence/stupidity on both sides there. Just wondering about the actual sequence of actual events.
If I were the judge deciding this suit, I would split the blame. The cop showed no common sense handling the pistol and demonstrated he is a danger to himself and those around him. The gun store should have cleared the pistol before handing it over, period.
I’m also at a complete loss, trying to think of some scenario where a display-case weapon, in a gun store, is loaded with live ammo and put back in the display case *still* loaded. How does that even happen? This one is a real befuddler.
If they want to check feeding from a mag, my local shop has hi-viz dummy rounds and the weapon is checked and cleared before and after. It isn’t difficult and is reflexive.
sounds like there was ammo in the clip if he racked it first
I like how another poster put it, something that won’t cause grief if you shoot it, or something like that.
The wall or floor or ground is not something you are actually intending to shoot. But you are actively aware that you are pointing it in a safe direction.
See, it is the unintentional firing that is the problem, right? So you want to be pointing at something “safe” just in case you fire it unintentionally.
I know, we’re talking semantics, but I like the process. :)
Actually, I believe there was some wrecking in the form of a shot-off finger. ;-)
My next question is how many MORE weapons are loaded in that store? You would have to assume there are.
Undeniable in this case that the gun shop guy running the counter handed that cop a loaded gun with the attitude of "Here yuh go. Myuk myuk myuk..." like Billy Bob Thornton from Sling Blade.
Funny, My Fathers friend did that while drunk, blew a hole right through his hand.
Which process, the process of talking semantics? :)
I know, being a smarta$$ is better than being a dumba$$ though right ;)
The biggest myth in the world is that cops are experts with weapons. At the gun range we used to frequent all the accidental discharges were always cops.
That being said I have never been to a gun store where the guys behind the counter didn’t check the weapon before handing it to me to look at. Never.
Ah yes, weapons and alcohol...........What could go wrong? lol
I noticed that too. It looks even more impressive if you watch one of the slow motion versions on youtube. I have to say it again, the customers at the other end of the counter were very, very lucky.
“I’m thinking his career is over not because of a missing finger, but because of how it turned up missing.”
Oh it’s not missing, it’s just in little pieces all over the shop.
Where I am it is hard to fine a real "gun store" anymore.
There are some better than others but mostly what's left is big box stores with young idiots behind the counter or some poor old duffers (like the guy in the video) who are trying to stay out of the poorhouse.
The last good hunting shop up the road recently closed, squeezed out by a high-end ski-and-fly-fishing fashion shoppe...and the big box store I used to stop at drove me away with one too many teenagers behind the counter answering a question with a shrug and, "I dunno."
Now I do a lot of looking online, often on the local armlist pages...you have to be careful but there are some good firearms and good firearm owners out there.
If I recall you spend time up in this neck of the woods..you probably know what I'm talking about.
The clerk behind the counter has to and must assume that anyone walking through the door has never handled a gun before. So even though the cop was careless in his handling of the weapon, the responsibility inside that store rests on the clerk in making sure the weapon was not loaded. Just my two cents worth.
I know the gun rules, but of all the guns in public that I would expect to be able to handle to my 10 year old daughter to examine and assume to be empty, it would be the one inside the glass display booth at a retail gun store.
This store is nuts.
Indeed. Watching the video, knowing the weapon is loaded, the cop could have accidentally shot any one of several patrons and clerks in the store.
“...how many MORE weapons are loaded in that store?”
My working assumption would be ALL of them!
But yeah, I would expect that there is at least another one...or was. I’m betting the owner went through ever gun in the store after that fiasco.
Well, you’re not too far off. Maybe it is a character flaw, but I like making those small distinctions that in the sum of things amount to very little, or nothing at all.
Well then, you’re having the right conversation with the correct person. Or should that be the other way around...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.