Always keep the gun pointed in a safe directionAlways keep your finger of the trigger until ready to shoot
Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use
Posted on 08/15/2007 6:19:19 PM PDT by walkerk
The San Francisco rookie police officer who accidentally shot himself to death fired his weapon while displaying for a female friend how officers are taught to avoid having their guns used against them, law enforcement authorities said Tuesday.
The incident happened at 1:40 a.m. Saturday during a gathering of as many as 15 people at the San Mateo apartment of the 23-year-old officer, James Gustafson Jr.
According to those familiar with the incident, Gustafson was showing his Police Department-issued semiautomatic pistol after removing the clip that stores the rounds. He explained that there are ways an officer can disable a weapon in close proximity to keep it from being fired.
It apparently was part of a demonstration of the department's "weapons retention" procedures. However, there was still a bullet in the chamber.
Gustafson pointed the weapon at his neck and pulled the trigger, shooting himself, according to authorities.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
How was he supposed to know. He was a rookie. Shouldn't someone have told him that pointing a gun at yourself can be hazardous to your health? Obviously he couldn't reason that pointing a gun at someone else could get them killed therefore pointing a gun at himself could have a similar result. That only comes with years of experience in law enforcement. Or, in this case, a blinding instant of enlightenment.
I remember my first deer hunt with my old man. (I must have been 7 or so and armed with a BB gun!) But alas I swung the barrel around carelessly and had to sit in the car the rest of the day.
And here’s the rest of the story:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0411061foot1.html
A Drug Enforcement Administration agent who stars in a popular online video that shows him shooting himself in the foot during a weapons demonstration for Florida children is suing over the tape’s release, claiming that his career has been crippled and he’s become a laughingstock due to the embarrassing clip’s distribution. Lee Paige, 45, blames the video’s release on DEA officials in an April 7 federal lawsuit filed against the U.S. government. A copy of the pro se complaint by Paige, a DEA agent since 1990, can be found below. According to the lawsuit, Paige was making a “drug education presentation” in April 2004 to a Florida youth group when his firearm (a Glock .40) accidentally discharged. The shooting occurred moments after Paige told the children that he was the only person in the room professional enough to carry the weapon. The accident was filmed by an audience member, and the tape, Paige claims, was turned over to the DEA. The drug agency subsequently “improperly, illegally, willfully and/or intentionally” allowed the tape to be disseminated. As a result, Paige—pictured above in a still from the video—has been the “target of jokes, derision, ridicule, and disparaging comments” directed at him in restaurants, grocery stores, and airports. Paige, who writes that he was “once regarded as one of the best undercover agents, if not the best, in the DEA,” points to the clip’s recent airing on popular television shows and via the Internet as the reason he can no longer work undercover. He also notes that he is no longer “permitted or able to give educational motivational speeches and presentations.”
Always keep the gun pointed in a safe directionAlways keep your finger of the trigger until ready to shoot
Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use
He shot his load earlier than he intended.
Those rules don’t apply to cops and G-men, dontcha know, because they are so much more per-fessional than the rest of us.
/s
TC Bump.
Darwin candidate, possible semiannual winner of the year.
Yeh, they don't use our rules ; they use Jeff's rules
With all due respect, there is no such thing as an unloaded firerm.
I am also unaware of any safe directions in which to point a firearm.
Best regards,
Oro en Paz Fierro en Guerra
I am also unaware of any safe directions in which to point a firearm.
Best regards,
49 posted on 08/15/2007 8:12:02 PM MDT by Copernicus
Safe direction is a relative term If you point the gun in a safe(r) direction and keep your finger off the trigger you can then see if it is unloaded.
IMHO keeping kids away from firearms makes them more dangerous, not less. A youth with proper instruction and even a little training is far safer than a youth who has only been exposed to television and or movies' depictions of firearms. For these deprived individuals, a weapon is a curiosity, a toy, something with few consequences to its use, and there is no respect. In other words, a recipe for tragedy - such as a supposedly trained peace officer shooting himself.
Looks like his finger is on the trigger.
Bogus stroy,,,,a SF MALE cop talking to a FEMALE..........
When people get a Journalism degree, they should be required to work on a farm, in an auto plant, in a coal mine, in a truck stop, a police station, on a military base, and a hospital for 6 months each before they are permitted to write one word.
I also hate when they call it a “clip”. I have had occasion to try to show a friend the “magazine safety” feature on S&W semi-autos I own whereby dropping the magazine out will not allow the round in the chamber to fire, but it was done at a range and pointed down range just as if we were firing. I would never in a million years trust in any “safety” feature while the gun were pointed at anything or anybody. My worst experience was once when my neighbor handed me a little “Praetoria Arms” .25. There was no magazine in it and I watched him cycle the action to check clear, but never did so myself. I was holding this little piece of rust he’d found, had it pointed at the dirt and damn if it didn’t “go bang”. There was one hung in there somehow and, sure enough, ...I was reminded that idiots like me have to be extra careful. He asked what he should do with it. I said. “Wait for one of those dumbass ‘gun buybacks’ and get the $50 because that’s about $75 more than it’s worth.”
Same here. During my carry permit training we had to dry-fire at the instructor and it gave me big-time heebie-jeebies. I can't imagine what it's like to point it at your own fool self and pull the trigger. We sure do have a lot of soft-headed oafs on our police forces nowadays.
-ccm
Not smart firearms management.
EXACTLY!! (What a sad waste.)
I remember when I learned this lesson myself. Around 8 or 9, my Dad let my brother and I shoot his pistol. Now he drummed into us several times the “gun is always to be considered as loaded” and “Never point it at anything you aren’t planning to shoot”. Also the “it is not a toy” speach.
I remember watching him unload it and hand it to me and I foolishly pointed it around making bang noises. He slapped me to the ground so hard my teeth hurt. I learned my lesson well. Too bad this officer didn’t have someone to teach him early. Like a earlier poster said, I check, recheck, and check again and I doubt I would ever point one at myself even if drunk.
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