• Home
  • About
    • About Christopher di Armani
    • Disclosure Statement
    • Code of Ethics
    • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Gun Laws 101
  • FPO Violators
  • Store
  • Donate
  • Hire Me

Christopher di Armani.com

In Praise of Individual Rights and Freedoms

  • Top 25
  • Big Brother
    • Access To Information
    • Bureaucratic Incompetence
    • Bureaucrat’s Rule #1
    • Censorship
    • Feeding at the Government Trough
    • Lemonade Freedom
  • Common Sense
    • Expressions of Gratitude
    • Good Samaritans
    • Good Stuff
    • In Memoriam — Remembering our Heros
    • Life
    • Personal Responsibility
    • Politically Correct Madness
  • Courts
    • Abusive Prosecutions
    • Civil Forfeiture
    • Human Rights Tribunals
    • Judicial Corruption
    • Justice Denied
    • Justice System Abuses
    • Police Sentencing Double-Standards
    • Prosecutorial Misconduct
    • SLAPP Lawsuits
  • Crime
    • Abuse of Trust
    • Canadian Mass Murders
    • Firearm Prohibition Orders
    • Human Depravity
    • Immigration Issues
    • Racism
    • Restraining Orders
    • Sexual Predators
    • Violent Criminals
    • Wrongful Convictions
  • Guns
    • Concealed Carry
    • Dial 9-1-1 and Die
    • Firearms Act
    • Fun Gun Stuff
    • Gun Control
    • Gun-Free Zones
    • Gun Politics
    • Gun Registration
    • Negligent Discharges
    • Target Shooting Competitions
  • Islam
    • Canadian Islamic Disgraces
    • Islamic Terrorism
    • Radical Islam
    • Sharia Law
    • The Religion Of Peace
  • Police
    • Abuse of Police Authority
    • Filming Police
    • Great Police Officers
    • Officer Down
    • Police Brutality
    • Police Corruption
    • Police Misconduct
    • RCMP Accountability
    • RCMP Hall of Shame
    • Warrantless Searches
  • Politics
    • Elections
    • Ethics in Politics
    • Political Antics
    • Political Corruption
    • Social Justice
    • Stupid Human Tricks
    • Union Bay Improvement District
  • Rights
    • Charter of Rights and Freedoms
    • Constitutional Violations
    • Freedom of Assembly
    • Freedom of Religion
    • Freedom of Speech
    • Property Rights
    • Privacy Rights
    • Self-Defense
    • Unreasonable Search and Seizure

RCMP and Fredericton Police: Accidental or Negligent Discharge of a Firearm?

Published February 21, 2020 by Christopher di Armani Filed Under: Negligent Discharges, Police


When accurately describing unintended firearm discharges, accidental covers the smallest number of incidents.

An equipment failure causing a firearm to discharge is accidental. A poorly designed or poorly constructed firearm that fires when bumped (somewhere other than the trigger) is also accidental.

If your finger, body part or part of your gear touch the trigger and cause the gun to fire, it’s negligence. This describes 99% or more of all unintended firearm discharges.

A response to one of Dennis Young’s many Access to Information Requests showed 100% of all RCMP “unintentional” discharges are caused by user negligence, not equipment malfunction.

The same is true of the Fredericton Police Force’s mandatory training incident on December 10, 2019, where a firearm was unintentionally discharged during an exercise involving four officers.

This was a negligent discharge, the second at the Fredericton Police Station in a year.

“We recognize the seriousness of the incident that took place [Tuesday] evening and we are conducting a full investigation to find out what happened, and to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Safety is paramount when handling any type of firearm, and thankfully no one was injured in this case. We are committed to continuing safe weapons handling training for all of our officers,” said Fredericton Police Chief Roger Brown.

Firearm Safety Rules Are Simple

  1. Always treat every firearm as if it is loaded.
  2. Always keep the muzzle of the firearm pointed in a safe direction.
  3. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.
  4. You are not “ready to shoot” unless and until you positively identify your target and what is beyond your target. Only then should your finger touch the trigger.

When These Rules Aren’t Followed Bad Things Happen

On July 5, 1981, Fredericton Police Force Constable Perley Sidwell Calhoun was killed during a “routine training exercise.” A fellow officer shot Calhoun during holster practice – drawing and re-holstering their sidearms – and killed him.

“Perley just happened to get in the way of the bullet,” a family spokesman said.

From what little information is available on the case almost 40 years later, it appears the two constables were practicing this technique while facing each other. This strikes as insane, especially while using loaded firearms.

When handling firearms, whether you’re at the range or cleaning your guns at home at the end of the day, always pay close attention.

At best, failure to do so could force an unexpected change of underwear. At worst, someone you love could be seriously injured or killed. Nobody wants that on their conscience.

Safe handling of firearms is serious business.

We want our fellow Canadians to place the same trust in us the RCMP place in us when they approve our Possession and Acquisition Licences (PAL).

Let’s take that trust seriously.

 

 

Author


  • Christopher di Armani

    Christopher di Armani is a freedom-loving Amazon bestselling author and current events commentator from Lytton, BC, Canada, who strives to awaken the passion for liberty inside every human being.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Tags: Fredericton Police Chief Roger Brown, Fredericton Police Station, negligent discharge, RCMP accidental discharge, RCMP Unintended Discharge

Did you find value in this article?

If you found this article useful or it contained valuable information and you want to thank me, the best way is to buy me a coffee or two. I'm very grateful for your support and would love to send you one of my "Thank You" gifts.

.

There appears to be an issue with the Chrome browser and the “Buy Me a Coffee” widget above. If you want to buy me a coffee and the link doesn’t work for you, please use one of these methods instead:

1. Send an Interac eTransfer to author @ christopherdiarmani.net (remove spaces)

2. Send via PayPal using this link: https://www.paypal.me/ThatLibertyGuy

3. Use your credit card in my online store to support me with a one-time donation, a monthly recurring donation, or an annual donation. See these links for all the details about the thank-you gifts I offer my supporters.

Comments

  1. Paul says

    February 21, 2020 at 10:30 am

    How about an article on the RCMP ERT member pointing his rifle at the recent indigenous protesters. You or I would have been criminally charged and rightly so for such a dangerous action.

    Reply
    • Christopher di Armani says

      February 21, 2020 at 11:54 am

      Thank you for the reminder, Paul. I started researching that a while ago…

      Reply
  2. Brian Sumner says

    February 21, 2020 at 11:26 am

    Good commentary Chris. Here in Winnipeh the WPS had an incident where an officer was exiting his cruiser when his pistol went off wounding him in the leg. They never came out and said publicly what caused it but I find it hard to believe it was a failure of the pistol/holster. That leaves the officer. I’m sure most maybe many officers are good with their guns but some probably not very which is worrisome. Besides the Fredricton incident (insane as you pointed out) there is the Calgary Police Service incident where an officer was shot and killed during a simple indoor training exercise. Rather sad.

    Reply
  3. Brian Sumner says

    February 21, 2020 at 11:27 am

    Good commentary Chris. Here in Winnipeg the WPS had an incident where an officer was exiting his cruiser when his pistol went off wounding him in the leg. They never came out and said publicly what caused it but I find it hard to believe it was a failure of the pistol/holster. That leaves the officer. I’m sure most maybe many officers are good with their guns but some probably not very which is worrisome. Besides the Fredricton incident (insane as you pointed out) there is the Calgary Police Service incident where an officer was shot and killed during a simple indoor training exercise. Rather sad.

    Reply
    • Christopher di Armani says

      February 21, 2020 at 11:55 am

      Thanks Brian. Yes, the Calgary incident was particularly sad. Will research that one, too.

      Reply
  4. RCEME says

    February 21, 2020 at 12:54 pm

    20 years in the military and of the 10 NDs I have investigated ZERO where accidental, example broken safety, worn trigger group etc. The FA was always in working order as per inspection from the weapons techs. Diemaco, Colt is a very reliable & stable Armalite platform.

    Reply
  5. bubba says

    February 21, 2020 at 4:40 pm

    No accidental discharges of my firearms ever,and they want to take my firearms away?Hypocrites.

    Reply
  6. Mario H Castillo Sr says

    February 21, 2020 at 8:02 pm

    A few things is clear for me about your article. First,
    you are trying to create a sense of irresponsibility from the RCMP.
    Second, at the end of your article, you are cleaning your hands with a false statement about the RCMP (” Safe handling of firearms is serious business. We want our fellow Canadians to place the same trust in us the RCMP place in us when they approve our Possession and Acquisition Licences (PAL).
    And third, the only thing positive to learn and that firearms owners need to memorize “Firearm Safety Rules” Are Simple Always treat every firearm as if it is loaded. Always keep the muzzle of the firearm pointed in a safe direction. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot. You are not “ready to shoot” unless and until you positively identify your target and what is beyond your target. Only then should your finger touch the trigger.

    Please do not create more tensions in our community of PAL or RPAL with the RCMP. We don’t need this time of advocacy..

    The problem we are facing in this country is the Politicians, starting with our PM.

    Reply
    • Christopher di Armani says

      February 21, 2020 at 11:06 pm

      Thank you for your feedback, Mario. I wouldn’t characterize my intention as you did, so I appreciate hearing how the words I wrote reached your mind. Something to think about and I’m grateful you took the time to pass that on.

      Reply
    • Andrey Piskunov says

      February 22, 2020 at 10:41 am

      According to Wikipedia, between 1998 and 2018, there were 49 killings by police in Ontario, since I’m from Ontario myself. Only 3 between 1998 and 2003, 13 between 2004 and 2009 and the rest 33 in the last decade. You see where this is going?

      Reply
  7. Tim Hoffman says

    February 22, 2020 at 12:10 am

    accidents happen when you leave your booger-hook on the bang switch.!!

    Reply
  8. Andrey Piskunov says

    February 22, 2020 at 10:07 am

    When civilian accidentally discharges a firearm that’s criminal negligence and he/she/it/ze/… has to be criminally charged and prohibited from firearm ownership for life. Because that’s needed for “public safety”!

    When police officer accidentally discharges a firearm: whooops, SOHRY about that, accidents can happen to anyone!

    Welcome to double, triple and quadruple standards that pervade human beings, especially when gathered in groups.

    Reply
    • RCEME says

      February 28, 2020 at 2:34 pm

      An ND in the military gets you a charge of $1000 to start and a blotch on your records. Of all the investigations of ND’s I have seen all have ended in a charge. I recall an ND due to a firing pin stuck forward, still operator failure as the gun was not/never cleaned properly. Many fingers to point at now.

      Reply
  9. Andrey Piskunov says

    March 11, 2020 at 8:37 pm

    Mating games of large mammals. Her first husband, from what I’ve seen on the net, was neither a rocket scientist to say the least.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to my commentaries

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Latest Tweets

Follow @ThatLibertyGuy

Christopher di Armani 🇨🇦 🇺🇸
@ThatLibertyGuy

  • “22 Murders” by Paul Palango was released on April 5, 2022 Available TODAY on Amazon Canada:… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
    about 12 hours ago
    Reply Retweet Favorite
  • All Progress Takes Place Outside the Comfort Zone. #Commitment #CourageousAction #ExhilaratedLife twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…
    about 17 hours ago
    Reply Retweet Favorite
  • Join me #LIVE at 2pm Pacific today when I'll discuss this quote and how to apply its principle to our lives. ✅ Fo… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
    about 22 hours ago
    Reply Retweet Favorite
  • “22 Murders” by Paul Palango was released on April 5, 2022 Available TODAY on Amazon Canada:… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
    about 2 days ago
    Reply Retweet Favorite
  • Living Selflessly Brings Fulfillment. #GratefulHeart #LifeOfService #Commitment #DailyService #CourageousAction… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
    about 2 days ago
    Reply Retweet Favorite

Most Popular This Week

  • All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing
  • Robert Poulin: 1975 St. Pius X High School Shooting
  • No Right to Bear Arms in Canada? You might want to re-check your history.
  • Officer Down: LAPD Officer Fernando Arroyos
  • Halifax Regional Police Constable Pierre-Paul Cadieux Found Guilty of Racism
  • Officer Down: North Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper John Sumter Horton
  • Mark Chahal’s Revenge: Man Executes Estranged Wife and Her Entire Family

Most Popular This Month

  • Escaped Mental Patient William Bernard Lepine and the 1972 Kettle Valley Murders
  • Robin Dean Wuttunee: Poster-Criminal for our Broken Firearms Prohibition Order System
  • All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing
  • Paul Palango: One Man’s Pursuit of the Truth Could be the RCMP’s Undoing
  • Derek Anthony Wood and the Sydney River McDonald’s Murders
  • Bizarro World with Elizabeth May
  • No Right to Bear Arms in Canada? You might want to re-check your history.

© 2004–2022 ChristopherDiArmani.com | All Rights Reserved

Close

Buy me a cup of coffee

A ridiculous amount of coffee was consumed in the process of writing these articles. If you enjoy my work, please buy me a coffee or two to keep me going!