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..........he picked up the handgun and was showing it around when it accidentally discharged, killing him."

This story does not hold together. It must be a very poorly written account. It is causing a few evidently well-meaning people to have needlessly harsh words with each other too.

1) .45 caliber revolvers are somewhat rare unless of the Single Action "cowboy" variety. They must be deliberately cocked and the trigger pulled. This could be one, and its historical value the reason it was being passed around. They are not as simple to demonstrate to be unloaded as a modern double-action revolver, so greater caution in handling should be practiced.

2) I wonder if HE was really the one to pull the trigger, which is unlikely if it were pointing at his face.

3) Mistakes are made by all sorts of people in all sorts of circumstances. Proper gun handling etiquette requires that a firearm be cleared in the plain sight of all persons present before offering it to anyone to hold, and D.A. revolvers are frequently offered with the cylinder open, while holding the gun by the top strap, butt forward. S.A.s with the loading gate open, hammer on half-cock, so that the recipient is readily able, and expected, to verify its unloaded state. This is safe, and polite. Any time a firearm is claimed to be unloaded but such public demonstration is not made, it has been my experience that the recipient, if experienced, will immediately clear the weapon, conspicuously, "making sure" for all to see. Evidently there were inexperienced people in the room, allowed to handle it. This is improper proceedure, and to most shooters of my acquaintance, safe and proper procedure is considered a great and important, even enjoyable part of gun handling. Those who casually point even out-of-battery or partially disassembled firearms at anyone, or fail to use safeties in the field, or stand any breech-closed firearm against a table or the like, has erred, not only endangering others, but proving himself to be irresponsible. Firearms should be treated with respect, which comes from training and maturity. A "sloppy" handler gets corrected in NO uncertain terms, for safety, and also because poor procedure is ugly, disrespectful, and simply not sound behavior...which spoils a LOT of the fun, too. Doing it WELL is a large part of the joy of firearms ownership and use.

That being said, errors leading to accidents take place in every field, throughout the world, and in every field.

This report is poorly written, and the errors distract one's attention from the tragedy of the occurrence. The man is dead, and his fiancee and others have witnessed a hideous event, which they will certainly never forget. A professional law enforcement officer is lost to the community, which usually needs all the help it can get.

The improper reporting has now continued to spread damage from this ugly event, no matter how it really took place.