Dallas PD Officer Dies - 9/10/12

[carlson1]

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/19507345/ ... eaning-gun" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



The news reports say a Dallas police officer accidentally shot himself to death on Monday.

It reports that Officer Christopher Pasley died after the gun he was cleaning in his home accidentally discharged.

[BigGuy]

OK, Help me out here. I'm not trying to be a smart aleck. I really don't get this. I grew up with guns. Admittedly hunting rifles and shotguns mostly. And no formal training. But you'd get backhanded, or worse yet no longer invited to hunt, if you didn't learn safety to the satisfaction of the old timers. While I've heard about accidents while cleaning a gun in the news, I've never actually known anybody who shot themselves while cleaning a gun. I'm not sure I can figure out how that happens.
If they shot themselves preparing to clean the gun, that'a just poor safety procedures, not directly related to "gun cleaning." But once you break it down to clean it, how the dickens can you shoot yourself with it? Break action, or bolt action, the first thing I always did was break it open, or pull the bolt so I could swab the barrel. My only semi-auto's back then were .22 rifles. But still, the first step was open the receiver so that I could pull out the oiled cloth I'd pushed down the barrel.
Again, I'm not trying to be obstinate. I just can't get a mental image of how these events play out. Surely these folks weren't oiling down the outside of a gun they hadn't opened up.

[carlson1]

BigGuy you are right, but all we have is what the Media gives us.

I pray for his family and as well as DPD family.

[C-dub]

Failure to follow several rules. Now, granted, other than a few revolvers (they are really easy to tell if they are loaded) I only have experience with Glocks and one S&W semiauto handgun. We will probably never know for sure, but I'd bet that complacency was the culprit here. Either that, or suicide.

[BigGuy]

I pray for his family and as well as DPD family.

Regardless of how it happened, it's a tragedy and people are hurting. I ask the lord to comfort them.

[RSJ]

It can happen to any of us. This serves as a reminder to check, and re-check a weapon!
R.I.P. Officer.

[philip964]

I pray for his family and as well as DPD family.

Regardless of how it happened, it's a tragedy and people are hurting. I ask the lord to comfort them.

[Jumping Frog]

OK, Help me out here. I'm not trying to be a smart aleck. I really don't get this. I grew up with guns. Admittedly hunting rifles and shotguns mostly. And no formal training. But you'd get backhanded, or worse yet no longer invited to hunt, if you didn't learn safety to the satisfaction of the old timers. While I've heard about accidents while cleaning a gun in the news, I've never actually known anybody who shot themselves while cleaning a gun. I'm not sure I can figure out how that happens.

The typical scenario that leads to the trigger being pulled on a live round is this:

1. Racks the slide to "clear" the chamber.
2. Drops the mag.
3. Notice the first two steps are the exact reverse of what should be done, and results in a chambered round being left in the gun.
4. Pull the trigger to release the sear.
5. Pull down on the tab to release the slide and remove it.

Note that there are Glocks, Sigmas, and other guns that require the trigger to be pulled to release the sear and allow the gun to be field stripped.

There have been so many ND's resulting from pulling the trigger to field strip that both S&W M&P's and the Ruger SR-series have designed a little pull-down lever to allow field stripping without the trigger being pulled. It is definitely marketed as a safety feature.

I'll also note for the record that a person shooting himself while field stripping a pistol had to have violated at least 3 of the 4 safety rules:

RULE 1 ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED
The only exception to this occurs when one has a weapon in his hands and he has personally unloaded it for checking. As soon as he puts it down, Rule 1 applies again.

RULE 2 NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT PREPARED TO DESTROY
You may not wish to destroy it, but you must be clear in your mind that you are quite ready to if you let that muzzle cover the target. To allow a firearm to point at another human being is a deadly threat, and should always be treated as such.

RULE 3 KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER TIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET
This we call the Golden Rule because its violation is responsible for about 80 percent of the firearms disasters we read about.

RULE 4 BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET

My issue with the Glock takedown is it requires pulling the trigger, which is usually a Rule 3 violation unless your "target" is a clearing barrel.

[The Annoyed Man]

When I first started owning semiauto handguns, I had never had any kind of formal training—only the 4 rules taught to me my friends who taught me to shoot. It never occurred to me to keep magazines and ammunition in a separate room from the one in which I'm doing the cleaning. It wasn't until years later that a friend pointed out to me that he never keeps ammo and mags in the same room as the gun he's cleaning, and why he does it that way. Made sene to me, and ever since that's the way I've done it.

But I think that is the source of a lot of self-inflicted accidental gunshot wounds. When I worked in the ER, the first one like that I ever saw was a cop on the LAPD who was cleaning a .45 while he was kicked back in a lazyboy. He shot himself a few inches above his knee, with the bullet exiting about mid-shin.

[Crossfire]

It reports that Officer Christopher Pasley died after the gun he was cleaning in his home accidentally discharged.

Many times that is a gentler way of saying that he commited suicide. Whatever happened, may he rest in peace. and may his family be comforted.

[jimlongley]

. . .

The typical scenario that leads to the trigger being pulled on a live round is this:

1. Racks the slide to "clear" the chamber.
2. Drops the mag.
3. Notice the first two steps are the exact reverse of what should be done, and results in a chambered round being left in the gun.
4. Pull the trigger to release the sear.
5. Pull down on the tab to release the slide and remove it.

In the Navy, many years ago now, the security watch for the missile system on the next ship over was being relieved and went through the procedure to clear his .45 and handed over to the new watch stander with the slide open and no magazine in it. The new watch stander popped the magazine in, dropped the slide, pointed the gun at the deck and dropped the hammer THREE TIMES!

Every ship in Naples harbor went to General Quarters and he disturbed a card game in sick bay right beneath him.

[Dallas]

Remember this from CHL class? What an idiot.

On subject, God Bless the Officer's family.
D


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[RHenriksen]

It reports that Officer Christopher Pasley died after the gun he was cleaning in his home accidentally discharged.

Many times that is a gentler way of saying that he commited suicide. Whatever happened, may he rest in peace. and may his family be comforted.

I was thinking the same thing.

[couzin]

It reports that Officer Christopher Pasley died after the gun he was cleaning in his home accidentally discharged.

Many times that is a gentler way of saying that he commited suicide. Whatever happened, may he rest in peace. and may his family be comforted.

Yep - just preserves some dignity and insurance benefits.