First they came for the pork sausage…
Isn’t that any thread JMJ posts in?
Well, to be fair, he is a “use of force” consultant and not a “firearms safety consultant” /s
Seriously, WTF was he thinking?
Why is a working, loaded gun even in the room? It was training in the use of batons, not guns, and they had fake plastic guns in the room anyway.
JMR
1701
There was another case similar to this back in 2016 in Florida. A 76 year old woman volunteered for a police exercise in which she was killed by a cop with a loaded gun.
No jail time for the cop.
People are fond of pretending that all cops are highly trained experts, but I guess it’s just like everything else: garbage in, garbage out.
Houngan
1703
On the contrary, my experience has always been that “familiarity breeds contempt.” Certainly not limited to cops, just in their case that contempt is towards gun safety.
Sharpe
1704
I would just like to point out that this kind of idiocy violates the core principles of gun safety, the stuff that is drummed into everyone who touches a gun from the very beginning. It’s just astonishing.
As a pre-teen I learned about guns from my brother-in-law and before I ever touched a gun, I learned three rules:
1)Never point a gun at anything you don’t want to kill.
2)Always treat your gun as if it is loaded.
3)Never shoot at anything you cannot see clearly.
Those 3 rules, or variations on them are, to my understanding, the foundation of gun safety taught everywhere (or they should be, at least.)
And my brother-in-law was an old school redneck without a high school education but a deep understanding of guns and other mechanical stuff, intuitively.
I keep being astonished by these idiots who violate what should be foundational rules of behavior without any exceptions.
Houngan
1705
Yep, it’s a theoretical death laser at all times, treat it as such. I’m sure I’ve said it a dozen times over the years in the gun thread, but without exception the only group of people I can comfortably be around when there are guns present are competitors, because we set the rules and enforce the rules as if everyone is a complete idiot, which is what you have to consider yourself if you have a gun handy. It will go off, you will pull the trigger, it will find its way to killing someone, etc. etc. So set things up so that even if you do wave it about and do pull the trigger (or the fairytale “It just went off.”), there is no lasting harm done. You mildly fuck up on a range during a competition, sorry about your luck and entry fee and national standing, DISQUALIFIED GO HOME.
ShivaX
1706
“The rules don’t apply to me,” extrapolates to everything at the end of the day.
I’ve handled a lot of weapons in my day, and they still scare the hell out of me. They will fucking kill you or someone else if you give them the slightest opportunity. I’m stunned by the casual way Americans carry them around like they’re designer t-shirts.
Every single gun in the world is one of Chekhov’s guns. If you see it in the first act, it will be used by the third act.
RichVR
1708
One way or another. Often by accident.
Houngan
1709
Yep. Maybe not literally, but you treat them as if it were literal.
Count me among those who are flabbergasted. I quit target shooting and sold all of my guns–which really now I kind of wish I had kept, if only because I could sell them now for a hell of a lot more–largely because it got really iffy at the ranges and around other shooters. The level of idiocy, lack of attention, and sheer stupidity got to the point I had zero desire to go anywhere near a firing range.
There are no “accidents” with firearms.
Unless we’re talking about the truck hauling them getting t-boned in an intersection.
But to get back on topic, I think we can all agree that having a loaded gun in every room of every building and on the person of every American is a great idea.
Guns don’t kill people, my friend!
Robert Heinlein said it was a great idea in a sci-fi story so it must be true!
Ive handled plenty of firearms in a professional capacity, to the degree that i have a ghoat or muscle memory and feel more comfortable with a rifle than without.
And yet I concur with your incredulity here.
