Irresponsible Gun Owner of the Day: Detective Bret Starnes

The Truth About Guns ^ | June 11, 2011 | Daniel Zimmerman

[neverdem]

Posted on June 11, 2011 by Daniel Zimmerman

Remember, leave guns to the experts. Which means the police and the military. It's just too dangerous to have regular citizens running around with guns. Oh. Wait… (sigh) Another abysmal example of gun handling by a member of the law enforcement community. This time, it's 12-year Denver PD veteran Detective Bret Starnes . . .

columbinecourier.com reports that Det. Starnes had been getting in some range time (yes!) when his pistol jammed. So he returned home to pick up another heater.

Starnes tested the second gun in his master bathroom, "dry-firing" it without ammunition, the report states. He later loaded a 17-round magazine into the gun but said he forgot it contained live rounds when he pulled the trigger again, hitting his left hand. The bullet apparently went through a bathroom mirror but did not go through the wall.

It seems that nature called and Starnes was playing with his gun while on the throne. Fortunately, his wife and children who were in the next room weren't hurt, too.

Never mind the extreme fail displayed by playing with your gun in the can. Have you ever pulled the trigger on a gun – loaded or not – with your hand in front of it? Me neither. Which begs the question, why the hell would you?

As the good detective should have learned, there are four pretty simple rules to firearm safety.

1-Every gun is always loaded
2-Never point a gun at something you're not willing to destroy
3-Keep your finger off the trigger until you're ready to shoot
4-Know your target and what's behind it

You have to break a minimum of two rules for something bad to happen. Starnes managed to violate three of them. Maybe he’ll bone up on the rules now.

[neverdem]

BANG! I hope they checked numnut's urine for drugs.

[Cheapskate]

Bah! rules are for the little people. BANG,OW!

[50cal Smokepole]

OK, so it sounds like the d00fus was on the throne and tried to “squeeze one off” while reaching for the TP.

[50cal Smokepole]

OK, so it sounds like the d00fus was on the throne and tried to “squeeze one off” while reaching for the TP.

[I see my hands]

To: Zimmerman

"You have to break a minimum of two rules for something bad to happen"

Oh?

[tet68]

Obviously NOT a .45 .

[353FMG]

>Have you ever pulled the trigger on a gun – loaded or not – with your hand in front of it?<

.
The guy is lucky — he could’ve been looking inside the barrel while pulling the trigger.

[calex59]

Ok, something wrong with this story. Merely putting the magazine in the gun won't chamber a round. He had to have jacked the slide back in order to get one into the chamber and he is claiming he forgot he did that?

Maybe he was trying to commit suicide and he thought his brains were in his hand, or he could have just missed.

[LibWhacker]

Have you ever pulled the trigger on a gun – loaded or not – with your hand in front of it? Me neither. Which begs the question, why the hell would you?

He must've been playing good-cop-bad-cop, and his left hand was the bad cop.

[calex59]

Ok, something wrong with this story. Merely putting the magazine in the gun won't chamber a round. He had to have jacked the slide back in order to get one into the chamber and he is claiming he forgot he did that? It is possible he had the slide locked back when he put the mag in, then when he released the slide it would chamber a round. Either way he is an idiot.

Maybe he was trying to commit suicide and he thought his brains were in his hand, or he could have just missed.

[calex59]

Uh-oh, double post, but one more sentence in the second one:) Sorry about that.

[Farmer Dean]

Maybe an IQ test too while they’re at it....

[Roklok]

Cops are some of the stupidest people when it comes to firearms. The scary part is they think they are the smartest people in the room regarding guns, and most of them can’t hit the broadside of a barn.

[teeman8r]

perhaps his wife found out he was having an affair and he offed the “other woman”

teeman

[Secret Agent Man]

Maybe he had a fight with his lover (left hand).

[Dr.Zoidberg]

Badges are “professionals” and as such are the only one’s who can be trusted with your safety.

Yeah. RIght. Next!

Nothing a badge can do for me, that I can’t do better, quicker and safer and without endangering the neighbors dogs or kids with fear crazed, magazine emptying random gunfire.

[Cobra64]

"So he returned home to pick up another heater."

Who writes this crap?

[tumblindice]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bci283mfNs
I’ve seen preachers banging on their drums, and
I’ve seen policemen playing with their guns ...

Rule# 5. The Fortress of Solitude is for meditation, not dry-firing.

[Greysard]

I don't quite understand how he maintains his firearms. One jammed in the middle of the range time (it also could have been when a criminal is about to stab him.) Another was apparently in a similarly bad condition, to the extent that the officer wasn't sure if the firing pin is still moving!