[PatrioticAmerican]

A chest wound? A guy sleeping with his gun loaded is one thing, but to get hit in the chest by accident??

[RetiredArmy]

A sleeping U.S. Marine was killed by his gun in central Iraq when the weapon accidentally discharged, the U.S. military said on Thursday.

Sorry, but M16's/pistols don't just get up in the middle of the night and go off. Beside, it is not a gun in the military. It is called a WEAPON! Stupid press.

[dandelion]

Exhausted from battle and days of bad weather; God rest his soul. Semper Fi.

[Aerohawk]

This is unfortunate. Let's just hope some paranoid safety officer doesn't decide that "for their own good" everyone needs to unload their weapons every night.

[yonif]

He died defending this country, nontheless.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

God rest his soul and watch over his family. This is heartbreaking.

[4.1O dana super trac pak]

"The Marine died honourably in the service of His country"

Enough said.

[jdege]

I'm not familiar with the SAW - it came into service just as I was leaving.

Does it fire from an open bolt? Most machineguns do (to reduce the risk of cookoff).

If so, a slipped sear means a discharge. This may mean that despite my general disdain for the term "accidental discharge", (they are almost always better termed "negligent discharge"), this may actually be an accident.

Most "accidental" discharges involve someone pulling the trigger - this would not have.

The only "safe" way to handle an open-bolt firearm is to close the bolt on an empty chamber. But to not do that in a combat area is a reasonable choice after balancing the risks, not the act of negligence it would be in other circumstances.

[PackerBoy]

I don't know much about weapons like this, but didn't it have a safety? I can understand sleeping with a loaded weapon in a combat zone, but this accident seems preventable.

In any event, how tragic, indeed. God rest his immortal soul. He's still a hero in my book.

[Ajnin]

That warrior may have been so exausted from sleep deprivation that he unknowingly let the weapon slip into an unsafe position.

See you at the gates Marine, Semper Fi.

[glock rocks]

RIP, Marine.

SAW...
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m249.htm

[ApesForEvolution]

Hmm. First thought is a suicide, but who knows...

[deadhead]

"The Marine died honourably in the service of his country"

Prayers for him and his family. God Bless

[SENTINEL]

The press should have the decency to not report this story. It makes the poor guy look like an idiot. Note how they left out the details of how this guy had try to get two hours of sleep after staying awake for the last 36 jammed into the back of an amtrack with 14 other Marines and all their gear.

[anymouse]

R.I.P marine.

[Stone Mountain]

With apologies to those that might be offended, this might be a polite way to explain away a suicide... it's not uncommon, in the field, when a young man is far away from home, and is stressed and overtired... and especially if he happened to get a Dear John or other bad news. The military doesn't like to classify deaths as suicides....they tend to become contagious in a military unit, and it calls the effectiveness of the leadership into question also. This was suggested to me by a friend and it certainly is a possibility.

[fourdeuce82d]

3 yrs 82dAbn., shoot on a regular basis (~5000 rounds 45 acp alone previous summer) and I still managed to put a bullet into myself.

Kid was tired, stressed...How many things like this happened at Tarawa/Iwo/Saipan that we never heard about?

Anybody who mocks this marine can Kilo Mike Alpha.

God rest his soul.

[LibKill]

The less said the better.

He served our country to his dying day.

Come to think of it, if someone carved "He served our country to his dying day." on my tombstone it would be just fine with me.

[Shooter 2.5]

Here's how it could have happened.
The article says nothing about sleeping in a tent or sleeping bag. The Marine could have fallen asleep in a sitting position with the 249 between his legs. His legs could have started to stretch out and that puts the muzzle to the chest area. His hand could have slipped off of his knee to hit the trigger.

Pure conjecture and wild *ss guess.

[goldstategop]

HOLD MUH RIFLE AWAY FROM MUH CHEST WHEN I SLEEP ALERT!