Posted on 05/20/2008 7:43:38 AM PDT by Cagey
Do as I say, not as I do.
That could be the lesson from Maj. Donald Lamar, a firearms instructor for the Bristol County Sheriff's Department, who was teaching a class on weapons safety last week when he accidentally fired the weapon while placing it into his holster. The bullet ripped through Maj. Lamar's pants leg and lodged in the floor, but amazingly missed his leg and foot.
Just days earlier, a Marshfield police recruit accidentally shot himself in the leg while attempting to holster his weapon during a training session at the New Bedford Police Department's shooting range in Dartmouth. That bullet entered the recruit's upper thigh and lodged in his lower leg, but his injuries were not life-threatening.
Maj. Lamar made reference to the Dartmouth accident in a demonstration to deputy sheriffs last Wednesday. He held his Glock handgun, showed his students how to put it away, then slid the weapon into his holster — his finger still on the trigger.
BANG!
The weapon discharged, startling the classroom, said Bristol County Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson.
Maj. Lamar, a certified firearms instructor since 2005, had shown a "gross error in judgment" in not checking to make sure his pistol was empty, Sheriff Hodgson said.
"He didn't clear his weapon before he went in the classroom, which is something he did every day," Sheriff Hodgson said. "In fact, he would often show students while in class that his weapon was clear.
"Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but it was certainly an embarrassment," the sheriff said. "It's a stark reminder that rules have to be followed when handling a weapon."
Sheriff Hodgson said an internal affairs investigation will determine how Maj. Lamar deviated from his normal training procedures.
"I can't surmise what happened for him not to have cleared his weapon. Maybe he might not have been thinking about it, had something else on his mind and didn't realize the weapon was loaded.
"He feels very embarrassed about it."
Sheriff Hodgson said, Maj. Lamar has been transferred to the department's traffic division pending the outcome of the investigation.
He is not carrying a firearm.
FINGER OFF TRIGGER DUMMY!
L
The problem wasn’t that the weapon wasn’t clear, the problem was he forgot one of the cardinal rules of firearm safety...keep your finger off the trigger and out of the trigger guard unless you’re about to shoot.
Everytime he takes his bullet out of his pocket, something like this happens!
I'd imagine. And since it was indoors there were probably some ringing ears. Thankfully it wasn't a .357 mag. or some eardrums might've been on the floor.
Failure to clear the weapon before class.
Failure to keep finger off trigger while holstering.
I certainly hope this fellows Instructor Certification is permanently revoked.
“Is Everybody alright?”
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7227661683572970464&q=firearms%20instructor&hl=en
Time for police and sheriff’s to only train with airsoft pistols. - Clearly the instructors cannot handle real weapons.
I bet the students learned the lesson, though...
Off to the rubber gun squad!
ping
Put a donut on it and shake it off.....
Ya think so, Barney?
I certainly hope this fellows Instructor Certification is permanently revoked.
Ditto.
If it had been a private citizen firearms instructor?
Seems like it is always novices and people that have carried for years and years and become careless.
There but for the Grace of God, and a well educated trigger finger, go I....
Actually it's usually the people that think that the rules don't apply to them that suffer a negligent discharge.
Youngsters often make it into that group. Most kids think that they are indestructible.
And then there are our estimable public serpents. They don't have to obey all of the rules that the rest of us do, why should gun rules apply to them?
“I’ll be teaching teenage girls
in a safe sex class . . .”
Rule #1: Keep your finger off the trigger. Very easy.
and his cousin...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7227661683572970464&q=firearms%20instructor&hl=en
Amazing how the passive voice makes the weapon the culprit rather than the man behind it; the media is a poor example of good writing, but then again, they have an agenda....
As a man-at-arms, I can sympathize (but not excuse) with the the officer; however, he is dead wrong and 100% responsible for the negligent shot. I am concerned that the trainer had a loaded firearm in a classroom. That is a serious negligence issue. Also, be aware that there is no such thing as an “accidental” discharge, rahter every instance is a “negligent” discharge, negligence than be deadly is not an accident!
I inspect every weapon brought to my classes, I have my assistant instructor inspect my own to insure no ammunition is present in any weapons or magazines during dry training. I do not allow range bags etc to be brought into my classes. Only supplies I provide, a pad, a pen and the previously inspected arms, magazines and holsters.
I use blue guns extensively for basic classes-no real firearms in the class room. More advanced courses include 100% range time, no classroom what so ever. I maintain my range as a hot range 100% of the time-never a doubt that your weapon is supposed to go bang when you draw, present, sight and engage. Play time is over.
Always keep the trigger guard clear when holstering, it has to become a muscle memory but also a conscious thought process-a mental checklist if you will for every firearm handling task. I train what I call the “index technique” in holstering (all tasks, actually). The firearm is placed above the holster and the index finger is extended, the muzzle seeks the side guard, the index finger seeks the outside edge of the mouth, once bouth are felt, the firearm is inserted fully but careflly until the middle finger knuckle touches the outside edge of the mouth and the piece is fully seated. The security strap/mechanism (if any) is fastened while the gun hand controls the grip. Drawing is the same, just in reverse with the thumb breaking the security device only when the grip is controlled by the hand etc.
I emphasize the one-track mentality of firearms handling. Do one tsk at a time to completion before beginning another; in time they become a series of rapidly executed tasks that build on each other, but always remain a separate set of tasks. That way, one can consciously cease the string of events intentionally if the situation dictates.
Some trainers teach the draw, sight and fire one “smooth fast task”; unfortunately they forget that scenarios may change during that split second or so, requiring the operator to stand down somewhere before the bullet exits the muzzle....
A good assumption is that every firearms is always loaded and ready to fire.
God Bless
Right, because no one had ever had an unintentional discharge in the history of firearms until Gaston Glock came along.
Maybe holsters for police officers should be redesigned so that the entire trigger guard area is left out in the open, and also have a steel bullet deflector at the muzzle end so the errant shot will miss the leg and pass harmlessly into the classroom floor.
Untrue.
However these days the vast majority of these 'unintentional' (read negligent) discharges involve Glocks.
Not that there's anything inherently wrong with the design. The fault nearly always belongs to the idiot who forgot to keep his booger hook OFF THE TRIGGER!.
L
When I read that the ND happened during holstering I was 99% certain it was a Glock. At least a Goverment model with an engaged safety would have made up for the stupidity of keeping his finger on the trigger and not properly clearing his gun. That said, this guy should never teach again.
Dear Maj. Lamar: GET A BRAIN MORANS
I would figure he'd be one of the most careful instructors anywhere, now.
Not necessarily. I’ve seen someone “clear” a 1911 improperly, then go to holster it with the thumb safety deactivated (which is part of the steps to check the weapon). He could still have managed to discharge it while holstering.
Besides, it’s not just Glocks that have issues like this - NYPD was having NDs with their *revolvers* for decades before the Glock came along, and guess what their #1 source of NDs was? If you guessed “discharge while holstering,” you are correct. That was with double action *revolvers* and their attendant heavy trigger pulls.
The title is wrong. It should read:
“Officer has negligent discharge while teaching firearm safety.”
God help you
I wouldn’t exactly consider that guy “teaching firearms safety.” More like rubbing in the kids’ faces saying “Look what I have and what you don’t.”
Just make sure to discharge your weapon before entering the classroom.
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