Motherfu***r, just had my first negligent discharge in my office of all places....

[medium187mph]

When you get comfortable, that’s when it gets dangerous.

Good news no one got hurt

 

[cchaseshoot]

My father told me once that one day I would have a ND …. He said as much as we handle firearms, as much as we shoot and tinker around with them cleaning them, wiping them down, pulling them out of the holster, putting them in, etc, etc, etc….that the odds were just against you. You are bound to have a negligent discharge !
Then he told me that is why you always try to keep a gun pointed in a safe direction no matter what.
No matter if you are alone, if you are with someone, if you are in the woods, in your bedroom or car….always always always keep it pointed in a safe direction !!
That was some 40 odd years ago when he told me that….and you know what ?? He is right !
About 20+ - years ago I shot a hole through my floor clearing a .45auto. IT HAPPENS !!
You just have to make sure you ALWAYS have one pointed in the safe direction no matter what !!
I am glad nobody got hurt in your ND S shootstraight78 - just have to mark it down as a learning experience and be thankful all turned out ok.
Be safe and carry on folks !!

As much as I despise the advice and the overall negligence...as an instructor of multiple skillets, you're father is/was so correct. To be human is error. We can only control our actions. One is to keep our finger off the GD trigger until it's time lol.

 

[cskiles]

About 2001/2002 I went to a gun show on my way out of town to work, ended up buying a Walther .22 with a de-cocker. I had never owned weapon with a de-cocker and began fiddling with it in the hotel room, long story short...I ND'd a round through the mattress, flashburned a hole through the highly synthetic comforter, and put a hole in the carpet where it came out of the mattress. Thankfully we were on the bottom floor, it was early in the afternoon with few guests, and it was a low rent motel. All blankets were wadded up and left laid across the bed when we checked out. Never heard anything from the motel, hell, as bad as the area was, bullet holes may have just been normal! Scared the hell out of me and made me hyper-vigilant about handling a weapon, I think about it every time I holster a weapon, it happens a lot quicker than you may think!

 

[Jack Rabbit]

 

[shootstraight78]

It’s obvious now, but you didn’t actually clear your gun. If you’re clearing it, it’s not just racking the slide.

Lock the slide to the rear, visually verify the chamber is empty. Visually verify there is no magazine or alternative ammo source. If you felt like you did it out of habit while half paying attention,
or you aren’t 1000% sure it is empty, repeat the process until you’re sure. Glad no one was hurt.

truth. I'm a believer now. I really think I made three mistakes: 1) assuming the magazine was empty, 2) locking the slide back and looking at the chamber was the same thing as verifying no rounds, 3) pulling the trigger. I was very, very fortunate today. Going to have a side discussion with the instructor.

 

[shootstraight78]

Uhhh...revisit a safety course and follow the rules, keep your finger off the trigger. That would have avoided the situation entirely. Other than that, why you got fmj's and not hollows for home defense. Wouldn't have penetrated as far

That *was* a hollow point - full home defense round. Maybe I misread your post. I might leave the round in the desk as a reminder. I'm just glad the weapon was pointed down. My son was in the garage protected by 2 layers of sheetrock.

As I said above, a serious training class is already scheduled.

 

[shootstraight78]

I disagree with alot here posted...its called NEGLIGENT for a reason.

You here it but your soul's not living it...the deadlist weapon out there is a unloaded weapon! Ultimately, your finger is the only safety.

Nuff bashing (+1), glad your alright.

Absolutely agree with you. Part of maturity is owning your mistakes. You should have seen my wife's face as she yelled, "WTF!!!!!??? was that?" I'm sitting in my office chair stunned. It's almost like she thought I did it on purpose.

 

[shootstraight78]

Okay, I don't need anyone calling me names or what not. I own this stupidity, and I never want it to happen again.

I want to know what I did wrong (other than being stupid). Wife is seriously pissed - as she should be. Just pile on some more. Anyway... the good news, no one is hurt. The bad news, I might need surgery to take a dump again.

I keep my .40 S&W in my desk drawer. It's been there for over a year. I work at the front of my house, so what good is a pistol all the way upstairs? All of the ammo is upstairs in the bedroom closet - or so I thought all of the ammo. Clearly for good reasons. I was cleaning out my middle desk drawer, had two empty magazines, was moving the pistol, so cleared the rack (or so I thought). Bang. Round passed through two CDs, two small manuals, out the bottom of the middle desk drawer and lodged in the base of the desk (solid oak thank God).

While I'm typing this, it occurs to me that when I see LEOs clearing pistols, they slide the rack multiple times. That might have avoided my mistake, and avoiding being careless with the trigger. "Always treat a firearm as if it's loaded" has become very ****ing real to me. To say I'm still shaking is to put it mildly.

Other than calling me a dumbass (just +1 the post), looking for technical and safety observations. I clearly allowed myself to get rusty, and it almost cost me. Posting for anyone else out there that this might help.

Just to close this off, I truly appreciate all of the feedback and suggestions. The class is scheduled, as I simply must understand my blind spots. Add being overly lackadaisical with assumptions is a bad combo. Boy do I believe now to treat every firearm as loaded. For those that commented on the sand barrelts to clear weapons in the military, I know the situation well. During Desert Shield, there were many NDs and injuries because the soldiers just were not accustomed to carrying live weapons. My second son is 11B, next son is 19K, and the next son is a rigger for Airborne, but he has to stay qualified.

Getting in a hurry and lazy with a power saw will bite you as well, but it's typically just you.

Peace.

 

[Ken Ford]

I always assume all my guns, and any I might handle are loaded. That way I never make the mistake of thinking mine is unloaded.

I tell people that if you are going to be manipulating a trigger, look at an empty chamber at least three times.

Is it going to happen if you handle guns, yes.
Will ambien increase that risk? Yes
No, I’m not telling that story…

 

[Gimmebackmybullets]

Always be very careful unloading the NAA Mini revolvers.
ALWAYS.
I was handcuffed once years ago and the officer almost had a NM with the one he took out of my pocket, trying to unload it.
I saw what was about to happen and ran, and that likely is the only thing that kept that gun from firing a 22mag round into oncoming traffic.

The gun landed on his hood.
He drawed on me in handcuffs!
I tried to explain to the idiot how to safely unload the gun.
He had his finger on the trigger with the hammer back,trying to get the cylinder pin out.
His superior had to come to the scene to unload the gun for the dumb ass.
I cussed at and laughed at that SOB at the same time.
I still got that little revolver.

I'd say you will never let your situation happen again.
Just be thankful no one was hurt.