[Updated 2021-01-14 17:30 with Alberta Crown Prosecution Service statement] On June 7, 2019, an officer with the Edmonton Police Service committed a negligent discharge of their service pistol at the William Nixon Training Centre but will not face criminal charges. Crown prosecutors decided not to lay charges against the Edmonton police officer because it was not in the … [Read more...]
Negligent Discharge: RCMP Refuses to File Charges
On Wednesday, May 13, 2020, some moron apparently fired a dozen or more shots into the air. Those bullets landed on six homes in the Forest Heights area of Edmonton, Alberta. Negligent discharge of a firearm doesn’t even begin to describe this stupidity. “My daughter woke up and she is playing in her room and she is sitting on the floor, and looked up and there is a hole … [Read more...]
Centerton Police Officer Blake Almond and Someone’s Negligent Discharge
Safe storage laws have their place - especially when children are in the home. On January 20, 2020, in Centerton City, Arkansas, an unidentified person fired Officer Blake Almond’s service pistol, sending a bullet out of his home and through three walls of his neighbour’s home. The neighbour immediately called police to report the crime. Neighbour: “a bullet just shot … [Read more...]
RCMP and Fredericton Police: Accidental or Negligent Discharge of a Firearm?
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 … [Read more...]
Zurlon Tipton and Gun Safety’s Basic Yet Very Hard Lessons
There is no middle ground when it comes to handling firearms. You either do it properly or terrible things happen. Basic gun safety means following some very simple rules. Break those rules and bad things happen. Sometimes those bad things even happen to you. That's precisely the case with former Indianapolis Colts running back Zurlon Tipton, who managed to kill himself … [Read more...]
Negligent Discharge: Miami-Dade Police Officer’s Failure to Follow Safe Gun Handling Rules
I'm sure it's every cop's worst nightmare. Handling a firearm and it "just goes off". Except that's not what happens. A firearm doesn't "just go off". Someone puts their finger on the trigger and pulls it. Then the gun "just goes off" precisely as it is designed to do. When this happens unexpectedly it is called a negligent discharge. Someone was negligent in their attention … [Read more...]
With Concealed Carry Comes Personal Responsibility
A frightening story from Belize reinforces the responsibility we gun owners have when carrying our firearms legally, no matter where we are. A man was in Brown Sugar Mall, a crowded area called “Tourism Village”, when felt the need to adjust his pants. Perhaps they were too baggy; perhaps his belt was too loose? Whatever the reason this man committed the heinous error of … [Read more...]
Rookie Ottawa Constable claims she was shot, sparks massive manhunt, but did she really shoot herself?
A Gantineau, Quebec, police constable, apparently raiding a Saturday night bush party outside Ottawa, managed to get herself shot instead. The only question remaining now is this: Who shot her? The rookie constable with just 3 years on the job called for backup after the gunshot and, while she never made any mention of shooting herself in that call for backup, didn’t set … [Read more...]
When is Police Brutality NOT Police Brutality? When the Judge Says So…
RCMP Constable Andy Yung is a real piece of work. And by that I mean he is the type of man we really don't want patrolling our streets armed with a badge, a gun and the power to do as he pleases. He first hit my radar a few years ago when in a drunken fit he fired his service pistol through the ceiling of his hotel room. At the time he was one of a supposedly select group … [Read more...]
Gun Safety Rules must be followed if you don’t want to shoot your penis off
While some people insist on calling this sort of thing an "accidental discharge" I prefer the vastly more accurate term "negligent discharge". It was no accident that an unnamed man in Birmingham, Alabama, shot himself in the penis on June 12, 2012 and was taken to Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital. Iit was because he was negligent and refused to follow the very simplest of … [Read more...]
DEA Agent Lee Paige loses case centering around his shooting himself during a gun safety demonstration
Lee Paige, the DEA's poster-boy for how NOT to handle a firearm, is apparently still a Drug Enfrocement Agency (DEA) special agent stationed in Orlando, Florida, according to a report found online. You may recall the 2004 video of DEA Special Agent Lee Paige shooting himself in the leg mere seconds after claiming “I'm the only one in this room professional enough, that I … [Read more...]
Firearm Safety Advisory: You’re NOT one of the Sons of Anarchy…
Chandler, Arizona: On August 2nd, Joshua Seto failed the Stupid Test. Many people who fail the Stupid Test never get a second chance to get it right. Seto is a very lucky man and he is lucky to be alive. Firearms can be dangerous, especially when they are not treated with the respect they deserve. Joshua Seto learned this the hard way when he managed to shoot himself in … [Read more...]
Canada’s Two-Tier Justice System is Alive and Well… One Law for the RCMP, Another for the Rest of Us
Gotta love Canada. The land where RCMP constables commit crimes with impunity, crimes that would garner any mere citizen with a lengthy prison sentence. Take, as today's example, the case of RCMP Constable Andy Yung. For his crime, firing his service pistol and launching a round through the ceiling into the room above him while he was providing security at the 2008 … [Read more...]
Cops shooting cops… just NOT a good idea
News coming out of Columbus, Ohio is not very good. Sgt. Michael Mourne was shot by fellow officer Stephen Lazar as the team was exiting their vehicle to serve a search warrant. The admonition “Keep your finger OFF the trigger until you are ready to shoot” is one that I drilled into then heads of my firearms students so often they get sick of hearing it. There’s a reason … [Read more...]
There’s a reason WHY we say “Be Sure of your Target”!
One of the primary rules of shooting is to be sure of your target (what you’re shooting at) and beyond. It’s so you KNOW what it is that you’re about to send hot lead into! Apparently someone missed their “Firearms Training 101”. In a bizarre story coming out of Africa, a young female member of the Youth Corps was shot by the Headmaster of the Mbube Comprehensive … [Read more...]
Just tell the truth, painful as it might be, okay?
Telling the truth isn't always easy. Sometimes it's downright hard, actually. Especially when you've screwed up, and screwed up really bad. You know, like shooting yourself in your bullet-proof vest because you were stupid enough to point your loaded firearm at your own body and pull the trigger. That's what [allegedly] happened to (soon-to-be former?) Los Angeles … [Read more...]
A Hartford Police Officer’s Negligent Discharge
Last Saturday morning a Hartford police officer managed to shoot himself in the hand. He was inside the police station attempting to remove his gun belt when his sidearm “accidentally discharged” according to Hartford Police spokeswoman Christene Mertes. Dear Christene, It’s no accident. Firearms cannot fire by their own will. It takes one of us human beings to mess up … [Read more...]
Firearm Safety Rule #1 — Assume the Firearm is LOADED!
There's a reason we assume a firearm is loaded... until we prove otherwise. It's the only safe approach to dealing with firearms. Ignoring this Prime Directive of firearms safety can have some pretty drastic consequences, as one Quebec man learned today. An unnamed man accidentally shot himself in the face about 9:30am, according to this CNews report. He’s very lucky to … [Read more...]
Negligent Discharge near President Obama?
Obama's on a tour around the world again, promoting whatever it is he stands for. Lord knows I can't figure that out. It changes too often. But I digress... outside the hotel where he was staying, an assistant police inspector caused a bit of a ruckus. According to this news report, he was getting into his car when his revolver "went off". What's interesting about this … [Read more...]
What’s the first rule of gun handling again?
Gun Safety Rule #1 ALWAYS keep the firearm pointed in a safe direction. Seriously. It's not that difficult. And it saves having to explain how you managed to shoot both your 4-year-old son and your own mother while you're "cleaning your gun". Gun Safety Rule #2 ALWAYS keep your finger off the trigger and out of the trigger guard until you're ready to … [Read more...]