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, thats 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 its cocked or being cocked! Period. End of story
The officers attorney, of course, lays the blame on the gun shop rather than the fellow who pulled the trigger. Its the same old story of personal accountability or the lack thereof. Because Smiths own actions caused him to lose his job and incur medical expenses, he and his attorney are seeking to hold another party accountable.
Hes permanently disfigured. He went through a lot of pain and suffering. Hes gone through several surgeries. Hes got a lot of medical bills that have to be paid. It ended his career and hes going to have a lot of lost income. Smiths 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 pistols 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 Smiths 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
Meanwhile, the other people in shop were extremely lucky.
Some people should never had been issued badges...
Who pulls the trigger on any weapon with your hand in front of the barrel?
When I took my concealed class the instructor also trained the local PD. He said about half the cops can’t shoot and don’t care to learn.
enough stupidity to go around, but imho the gun store had no business hand over a gun that hadn’t been personally checked and cleared.
that said, mr policeman should have checked the gun himself before doing anything else
Video says it all but I do agree on one thing. No guns should ever be loaded in a gun store or pawn shop. Why they would have left a round in the chamber in store I don’t know but I’d say the shop owner has some ‘splainin to do. Stupid on both sides of the aisle...
I’m thinking that the dept. wanted an excuse to lay him off...and he gave it to them...
The gun shops I go in...when physically holding a weapon...the guy behind the counter clears the chamber...inspects it...hands it to me...I inspect it...chamber it forward...then clear it again...all the while the weapon is pointed at the floor...that procedure has never been different...
but the second part of the “clear the weapon” is the officer’s responsibility...and since he didn’t do it...one cannot blame “stupid” on someone else!
This was a fail on many levels.
-It should have never been loaded
-The salesman should have checked the chamber before he handed it to the cop
-The salesman should have locked the action open before he handed it to the cop
-The cop should have inspected the chamber upon getting gun
-Neither His hand nor anything living should have been in front of the barrel when he pulled the trigger.
Had any of the prior been handled properly, nothing would have happened.
That said, why can’t he work with a missing finger? I have a family member that lost his middle finger when he was 25, he worked 35 more years before he retired and working in the Oil Field is more demanding on your hands than a cop.
I also worked in the logging and wood working industry for some time and people were always cutting on their fingers....they still work.
The gun shop should charge him $2,000 for an education in gun safety with real experience included in what it feels like to be the victim of improper firearm handling. Education is expensive these days.
How much does one semester of college cost these days, and does a student gain as much value from their training as that former police officer did for the same amount?
52 years later and I have never made that mistake again - any cop (or other gun handler) who isn't just as careful has no business handling weapons.
IIRC every time I have looked at a weapon in a store/gun shop, first thing the counter person does is check to make sure the weapon is clear.
“The salesman should have checked the chamber before he handed it to the cop”
Yep, dat’s da one right there.
Maybe the police department wanted him gone because he is stupid, and the loss of his finger was a good excuse to get rid of him.
Hate to say it but he may very well have a good case against the establishment for negligence.
Yeah, that was the whole point of the article!
On rare occasions, I’ve seen unsafe firearms handling in stores. I leave if it’s not immediately corrected.
Everyone working in a gun store should have a loaded personal firearm within reach, but the items for sale should be unloaded when stored on the shelf, checked unloaded every time a clerk picks them up, and checked unloaded again every time a customer takes possession of a firearm from the clerk. Even after checking that a firearm is unloaded, it takes carelessness to point one at your own hand. It takes a special kind of stupid to point one at your hand without checking.
He’s got bills to pay! So he has to sue somebody!
Yeah, he coulda shot ME !
The stupidity applies to both the store and the policeman, however, the store clearly bears the burden of responsibility. The police officer will bear the reality of shooting off his own finger due to his stupidity of assuming the gun was unloaded. Always always assume a gun is loaded and handle it accordingly.
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