gunstore survival

[marcinstl]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/13/cop-shoots-finger-gun-store_n_6463984.html
clerk and cop customer don't safety check gun. everybody knows guns in the case at the gun store are empty. some guns are hateful and very sneaky. bang!

[deadeye]

Sheesh! Don't know about you but I never hand a gun to anybody or take one from anybody that I've not checked for being loaded before I handle it. ALL GUNS ARE LOADED!!! You would think a police officer would know better.

[HAP1978]

Sheesh! Don't know about you but I never hand a gun to anybody or take one from anybody that I've not checked for being loaded before I handle it. ALL GUNS ARE LOADED!!! You would think a police officer would know better.

That was my exact first thought. I would never pull the trigger on a gun that I didn't personally check the chamber first. That's guns 101 and common sense in my book. And him being a police officer that's just embarrassing, that's something you'd expect from a novice.

[JohnR]

And shame on whoever put it in the display case without checking it.

[marcinstl]

ok, I posted this article/video for the obvious safety reasons. I also posted this to keep the Ky. jokes going. got to love Ky. humor.

[berettabone]

Personally, I would never rack nor pull the trigger on any firearm that wasn't mine, without permission..........................I fear, that if he asked permission, which I doubt, and they said go ahead, I believe that it's all on him.....................................not checking cost him.................I'm not getting the video.

[cobrasjp]

The lack of muzzle discipline is appalling. For much of the video the officer has the gun pointed at the customers to his left.

I had an uncle killed years ago by a negligent discharge, so I have no tolerance for unsafe gun handling. I would have sounded off if I was the customer being swept by the muzzle.

[wg12]

i was at a gunshow a few years back here in Va when the guy behind me picked up a AK 47 off the bench, and thank god had the muzzle elevated , pulled the trigger and BANG...i could feel the muzzle blast and the bullet pass by.......Yes people are DUMB!!!!!! and thankfully it wasn't my time....

[Bawanna]

I worked a gun counter for a couple months on a on the job training deal long ago. What I saw everyday was mind boggling, including officers and folks that should know better.

If I was to work a gun counter again (and I would if I could hear) I'd be wearing a bullet proof vest every day.

Everything from pointing duty guns right at me, to slamming the cylinders shut like grandmas screen door on the old farm house on brand new guns. More than once I politely asked for the gun back and put it back in the case. When they said they weren't done looking I told them they were incorrect, that they were indeed done.

I'm sure I've told this story before but it fits here quite well.
When my oldest son was about 6, maybe 7, he was beyond his little single shot Chipmunk 22. But still not big enough for a full size rifle. I wanted to get him a Winchester lever action in 22. Quite spendy at the time.
I took him to our local shop which was operated by our city mayor at the time. This was long before I worked for the city so I didn't know him as well as I did later.
Anyhow I asked to look at the Winchester and he responded that this isn't what my boy needed, but he needed one of these while handing a Chipmunk without checking the chamber to my son.
Son grabbed the foreend and the butt in a couple of fingers and just let the muzzle drop so it aimed at the floor. He tugged on my shirt and I asked what was wrong. He said he didn't check it! I asked him ifhe knew how and he said duh?, I explained it was proper for him to check it himself.
He worked the bolt like Carlos Hatchcock and put is little finger in the chamber and said it was ok. Then and this tore me up, he said isn't this just like the one I have? but the wood isn't near as nice. I told him he was exactly right.
Well the mayor was ready to crawl under the floor mat, said he'd never been caught handing an unchecked firearm over the counter and he was busted by a 7 year old.
He offered cost price on anything in the store for the kid. Had to decline as I didn't have enough loot but it was a proud pa pa moment.

[ulflyer]

I used to set up at a gun show to sell M1 Carbines. My table was against a wall and it
wasn't uncommon for some yokel to pick up a rifle or pistol with a lazer and start sighting
it along the wall. A time or two it got flashed over me. You'd think the seller would caution the looker about that but they never did!

[Longitude Zero]

And shame on whoever put it in the display case without checking it.

Agreed.

[SIGWolf]

It's remarkable no one else was injured. Another customer might well have been shot and possibly killed.

[ltxi]

Two comments....

"You would think a police officer would know better." Way not so in my experience!

I frequent gun shows and find the muzzle control, among other not safe gun handling behaviors, of way too many to be abhorrent. Find myself moving/dodging a fair lot.

Third...kudos to your kid, Col. What I would have expected from a raised right son of yours.

[AJBert]

This statement right here from the cop's attorney is why he shouldn't get a penny in the lawsuit:

“While Mr. Smith was looking at the firearm, believing it to be unloaded, the gun discharged causing serious physical injury to [Smith],” the lawsuit says. It goes on to say that Smith exercised "reasonable care and due diligence (http://www.glasgowdailytimes.com/news/glasgow-police-department-officer-injured-in-gun-discharge-sues-store/article_1dd3f85c-9ade-11e4-b960-4b72db33bbc5.html) for his own physical well-being" while handling the loaded weapon.

Whoever put the gun in the case and the person that handed it over to him should have been fired on the spot.

[robmac]

Holy schnikey! Because he was not killed (or, as my dear departed Dad would say, "ah, he's got 9 more fingers!"), I can state at least that I'm glad people get to see it. Maybe it saves a few lives down the road.

I'm brand new to guns, so I've spent lots of time lately in stores and at ranges. I'm surprised how many times those guys hand you guns without checking that they're completely safe (or checking at all, not even taking out the magazine). Guess they form bad habits, but the whole point it seems to me is to form good habits and make them habits. Even if they check it, I check it just 3 seconds later when they hand it to me, just to form the habit of doing it. I told my GF that I will not take her to shoot until she takes the initiative to get familiar with safety herself for a few weeks at home, or it won't stick.

A super nice guy let me shoot his XDS .45 and his P228 today, and even after I checked them and gave them back (slides opened, mags out, grip first to him), despite knowing they were completely safe, when he swept me 3x with the muzzles, I had to instinctively lean out of the way each time! I looked backed quick at the RSO expecting him to be pissed, but he was looking down, texting!

Here's hoping that we at least maintain good safety!

[TheTman]

I had a friend that was checking guns out, and sweeping the muzzle past customers and clerks, and I reminded him that that was at the very least being rude, and could be dangerous at most. He had a fit and made big show of pointing it up at the ceiling and the floor and crap and acting like a jerk. Then put the gun down and said he couldn't check it out cause he might sweep the muzzle past someone. Then he had the nerve to tell me that was the last time he was going gun shopping with me. I had to bite my tongue. As I was ready to say the same and more. I just don't get some folks. This guy was an army vet and should have known better. He was like "the gun was unloaded so what difference did it make". I said it's still rude, do you like guns pointed at you, that you have no idea if they are loaded or not. Then we had a looong ride back to his place to get my car. Not much was said. I think I did say I was sorry he took offense, but gun safety rules are not meant to be broken, and he just repeated the gun was unloaded so it didn't make any difference. I guess his attitude was he was a combat vet and didn't need advice from a civilian.

[SIGWolf]

Worked part-time at a gun store for a while to help out and just out of interest. I'd second and third what I've read here, that the lack of safe handling of firearms is appalling. You can sort of understand it from people who are new to guns, but not from many that were there in the shop and certainly not from some of the LEOs that came in.

There was also a case where we received a firearm shipped to us for transfer and had a live round in the chamber, not just in the magazine, but in the chamber. Thankfully the guy checking it in had the presence of mind to check it. Every time I pack a gun to ship, I have to check it multiple times to make sure it is safe.

[SIGWolf]

It also points out the importance when at the range of clearing your action, leaving it open and not handling the gun while the range is cold and people are down range. Poor handling practices could send a round down range while people are checking their targets.

[tom.p]

I think we can all agree that it is COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE that a gun shop employee placed a loaded gun back into the display case. In fact, there is absolutely no reason that gun should have ever been loaded with live ammo in the store. If someone wanted to test it out, see how it cycled, etc, I'm sure that there were snap caps in that store they could have used!
That being said, when you're being handed a gun, it is YOUR responsibility to make sure it's safe. Don't we all know basic firearms safety? Especially a LEO! Yes, the employee should have checked it and handed it to the customer with the action open. Then you should verify it's unloaded before doing anything. I've had occasions where they neglected to do this, but somehow I was able to check it myself.
I agree that the gun shop did something stupid. That gun should never have been loaded. That doesn't mean they're responsible for the customer's failure to act with common sense.

Anyone have an opinion on a little different scenario?
If the customer had shot someone else, instead of himself. Yes, it's still the fault of the one pulling the trigger, but does the shop share some of the liability for handing a loaded gun to a moron?

[b4uqzme]

I'm more appalled that the lout has the balls to sue the gun store for his own stupidity. If I could sue someone for every time I've done something stupid.....:rolleyes:

[Bawanna]

Why are you appalled at that. Lawyers live for this stuff. Sorry O'Dell.