Posted on 05/10/2015 9:58:40 AM PDT by re_tail20
Timothy Stansbury died in a New York housing project stairwell in 2004 because he startled a police officer. The officer's surprise at encountering Stansbury caused the officer's hand to clench and his weapon to fire. The death was ruled accidental by a grand jury, though the officer was later stripped of his gun for the remainder of his career.
Akai Gurley died in another New York housing project stairwell last fall. A rookie officer with his finger on the trigger of his pistol tensed as he pushed open a stuck door; the added pressure on the trigger caused his weapon to fire a shot down the stairwell. The round ricocheted off the wall to strike Gurley. Though the shot wasn't intentional and the officer didn't even know Gurley was there, the death has been ruled a criminal homicide, and the officer's trial is pending.
In both of these incidents, the police officers were using the same weapon, a Glock: a polymer-frame, striker-fired pistol with a short trigger pull and no external safeties.
It's a popular handgun for law enforcement in New York and beyond. The Los Angeles Police Department has a number of firearms approved for use, including nine Glock models. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department recently began issuing new recruits the Smith & Wesson M&P, a handgun with a short trigger pull that operates in much the same way.
Glock uses the marketing term Safe Action to describe its firing-pin system, but the truth is that Glocks are accident-prone. They contributed to more than 120 accidental discharges in the Washington Metropolitan Police Department from 1988 to 1998. Anecdotes of increased accidental shootings have followed the pistol for more than 30 years wherever it has been adopted by police officers and citizens alike...
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
“Under immediate threat with all kinds of things going thru your mind, all you have to do with a Glock or most revolvers is pull the trigger.”
Hence the need for training and practice, practice, practice. Flicking safety off should be as second nature to breathing. It is muscle memory. A practiced shooter doesn’t have to “think” about it. It just happens.
If someone has to “think” to take the safety off, that person hasn’t lived with their weapon enough... and shouldn’t be carrying it, IMHO.
The Browning Hi-Power Pistols, by Donald McLean, Desert Publications, The Combat Bookshelf:
Page 20,
II. `Precautions in handling’,
(c) “It is poor safety practice to carry a loaded pistol with a round in its chamber, even with the safety catch on, as the safety can work clear. It is equally poor practice to carry a loaded pistol with a round in the chamber and the hammer uncocked, as it can inadvertently become cocked. If a pistol must be carried with a round in the chamber, put the hammer at half-cock position and apply the safety catch.”
This would apply particularly to a Glock with a 5.5 pound trigger—or even less after modification by the owner—and no safety.
The third option should of course be completely disregarded by Glock owners since it isn’t an option.
If not for your own safety, then for the safety of those around you—leave that chamber empty.
So should frame indexing, but they didn't do that either.
The point of a safety is to ensure the gun doesn’t fire (obviously).
The first thing learned about drawing a gun with a manual safety is to flick the safety off while drawing.
At this point, there is no difference between manual and integral safeties.
Remember the rules:
Rule #1: all guns are always loaded (aka in their most dangerous configuration including safety off)
Rule #2: don’t point a gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy
Rule #3: keep your finger of the trigger until your sights are on the target
Rule #4: know your target and what’s beyond
So...
Because there seems a problem with people violating #3, the suggestion is to downgrade #1 while violating #2.
Stark raving STUPID.
Police shoot too much.
We have had way too many cases of this, even locally.
The stress should be on moral authority, intimidation and physical restraint. Cops should be big, powerful, physically fit men.
The billy club should be the default weapon, not the pistol.
Yeah, we have also had cases of beatings, but this is rarely fatal and its hard to do accidentally.
In my town, the police carry 1911s and know enough to keep their f***ing fingers off the f***ing trigger until their f***ing sights are on the f***ing target.
There is no such thing as an “accidental” discharge. It is either intentional or it is negligent.
Period. And I’m glad to hear that cops are facing the same kinds of charges that Mr Joe Citizen would.
Very, very glad.
L
“...I learned all I needed to know about New York Cops when a pair of them wounded nine people in Time Square taking down a fashion designer...”
Looks like even with that debacle, they still didn’t learn anything. Probably the safest place to be when a NYPD cop starts shooting is directly in front of him...
Sounds more like the police should exercise proper trigger discipline.
Unfortunately, probably most shooters aren't well practiced. Here in CA we have a 4hr ccw every two years (8hrs initial). You'd be amazed at just the poor shooting by many folks I've seen for years. You'd be surprised how many admit to not training.
One of the reasons that the Army looked for a newer pistol than the 1911A1 is because of all the unintended discharges.
A common one was because of not getting the grip safety adequately depressed. The pistol would not go off because the grip safety was still engaged, no matter how hard the trigger was pressed.
The person would wonder why the pistol would not fire, examine it, try to fire it again with a slightly shifted grip, and bang! unexpectedly. Usually the pistol was pointed downrange at the time.
Man, if I had the the state paying for my ammo I'd be hitting the range 3or 4 times a week. Forty minutes or so on the way home from work - greatest stress reliever in the world.
How low into absurdity must media go? ... Try carrying a 1911 cocked and locked, but releasing the safety when in pursuit of a criminal or in a tense situation. The pressure on that trigger is less to fire the round than on a Glock with a round chambered. Some of this crud will get cops killed because of ‘political correctness’. the presstitutes, wadda bunch a maroons!
You must keep a good eye on that thing. I’ve heard guns are sneaky mean and will shoot someone as soon as you turn your back on them.
I can see that. Mine is a Kimber. I’m thinking the way modern machining works perhaps it has improved that aspect. I say that because I’ve put a lot of 45 through it and it still works like a charm and it’s never gone off, or double fed, or anything. I’ve yet to have any stoppage. I’ve been shooting regular ball ammo though.
In the army we used the browning high power 9mm. That’s not a bad sidearm, even if it is 9mm. I did notice though that it’s modeled after the 1911.
I’m a big fan of whatever people find that works for them is good, but if I’m asked I will always steer towards the 1911.
First the cop should not have had his finger on the trigger. Second Glocks are not safe weapons in the hands of non proficient shooters. That is most cops. That being said the Glock does have a pretty heavy pull through which is the safety.
Maybe the problem lies not with the tool but instead with the user.
“Man, if I had the the state paying for my ammo I’d be hitting the range 3or 4 times a week. Forty minutes or so on the way home from work - greatest stress reliever in the world.”
In most places, the agency does *not* pay for practice ammunition. The FBI used to encourage its officers to practice, but it was a rare exception.
Officers that practice a lot a uniformly gun guys, probably less than 10% of the force. Affirmative action and political correctness may have reduced that number.
I hate Glocks. With a burning intensity that can not be put into words.
However, these incidents will happen with any gun if you start clenching up your hands. The key is to keep your finger outside the guard unless you are ready to shoot.
I agree.
I shoot a 1911 and my father’s XD. Taking the safety off is automatic.
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