Kentucky Officer Shoots Off Finger

[Double Naught Spy]

A Glasgow, KY officer is now suing a sporting goods store where he was shown a gun that was on display. In the video below, you can see him handling the gun, covering the muzzle with his hand, covering other people in the store, finger on the trigger, and then racking the slide and pulling the trigger of the gun, apparently blowing off the tip of his index finger. Turns out, the clerk, who did not check the gun, handed the officer a loaded gun.

The officer, Darrell Smith failed to follow any of the gun safety rules, never even remotely looked to see if the chamber was clear. Fortunately, the officer only hurt himself as he very well could have shot any one of several people down at the end of the counter that he was repeatedly scanning.

http://www.wbko.com/home/headlines/V...288172101.html

I included the liveleak video version below in case the news version above disappears as some news articles are apt to do.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=30b_1421174383

[Tom Servo]

At least he only hit himself, and not the numerous people he muzzled.

Note to gun store customers: putting your hand over the muzzle won't stop a bullet and it doesn't exempt you from Rule #2.

Note to gun store employees: clear the gun before handing it to a customer because the customer won't check it. Seriously, 90% just of them just start dry-firing away with wild abandon as soon as they've got their sweaty mitts on it.

Note to gun store owners: you can and will be sued for this. Comparative negligence might mitigate the damages, but you're going to have some of the liability. You can quote Rule #1 to a jury until you're blue in the face, but it's not normal to hand someone a loaded firearm without warning them.

[ThomasT]

Looks like the gun was empty with a loaded mag in it. At about the 40 second mark he racks the slide and nothing is ejected. Then he fires the gun.

[Double Naught Spy]

The gun was loaded whether the round was chamber or not. You are right in that he did chamber a round when he racked the slide.

[Cheapshooter]

Carelessness, gross negligence, and mistakes on all levels. But one thing that really jumps out at me. How in the world did a gun with a loaded magazine get in the case in the first place? Pure neglect on the part of the store, and employees? Or, gasp, gasp, sabatage?
Makes a great story for the gun grabber crowd, doesn't it.

[1-DAB]

1. Treat all guns as loaded
2. Keep guns pointed in a safe direction
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire
4. Know your target and what's beyond.

Sigh.

[Double Naught Spy]

Sabotage? Really? Like all the supposed gun show NDs suggested to be sabotage for which it has never been proven and several of which are by dealers with the dealer's own guns?

No, not sabotage. People really are just that negligent. No need for conspiracy theories to explain away negligence.

[Dragonflydf]

a lot of cops only handle a firearm on the job, and a number had never held a gun until they entered the police academy, they know enough about firearms to be dangerous. I dealt with one that did not know how to clear a 1911.

[Cheapshooter]

No, not sabotage. People really are just that negligent. No need for conspiracy theories to explain away negligence

But do you really believe that there is that much negligence in a gun shop to allow ammo to meet gun in the sales case?
I just find it very hard to believe that the loaded magazine was not added after the gun had been put in the case.
One possible scenario, a used gun that someone traded, or sold to them, and it was just stuck in the case without checking the mag. Even that is hard to believe.

[Jim Watson]

No way of knowing unless we bring in the Inquisition.
I was once present for a man getting shot at a gun show. There was never an explanation of how that gun got loaded. This before, probably contributing to, the zip tie era.
I once had a dealer take an auto rifle down from the rack for me. Been many years, I don't even recall if he racked the bolt or I did, but a round jumped out on the floor and we stood staring at the next round in the magazine. Turned out an employee had "tried it out" and returned it to stock loaded.
I know a few other cases of carelessness in the store, too.

[Tom Servo]

The gun was loaded whether the round was chamber or not.

The gun is loaded in any case. They're all loaded. All of 'em. I've lived by that rule, and things like this don't happen to me.

[Aguila Blanca]

Negligence on the part of the store (for letting a loaded firearm get into the display case) and the employee (for not clearing the firearm before handing it to a customer.) BUT ...

The first thing the cop did was put his booger hook on the bang switch. Zero trigger finger discipline. The second thing he did was point a loaded firearm directly at the employee. Zero muzzle discipline. Yes, I know he thought it was empty, but the complete version of Cooper's first rule is "All guns are loaded, until you have personally verified that they are not." Officer Friendly also had a responsibility to clear the firearm, ESPECIALLY when it was handed to him with a closed slide. I hang around the range shop a lot. Any time I ask to look at a firearm, it's handed to me with the action open and the sales person has verified (in front of me) that it's empty. Even then, the first thing I do is verify that it's empty.

And then there's this, from DNS's second link:

“He’s permanently disfigured, he went through a lot of pain and suffering,” said his attorney, Alan Simpson. “He’s gone through several surgeries. He’s got a lot of medical bills that have to be paid. It ended his career and he’s going to have a lot of lost income.”

Really? He shot the tip of his left pinkie finger off and he's "disfigured"? Okay, technically he is, but not for any practical purpose. A guy from my high school (who also wound up a couple of years behind me at college) is an amateur woodworker. He sawed most of one finger off on a table saw years ago. It hasn't slowed him down.

Ended his career? There are soldiers who have had their legs blown off and they manage to qualify to go back into combat, yet this doofus can't work as a cop with the tip of his pinkie missing? Gimme a break

[Double Naught Spy]

But do you really believe that there is that much negligence in a gun shop to allow ammo to meet gun in the sales case?

Well, let's see. Did the clerk clear the gun before handing it to the cop? Nope. So right there it tells me that they are lax on their safety.

I just find it very hard to believe that the loaded magazine was not added after the gun had been put in the case.

So what you are suggesting is that some anti-gun person was able to load the gun while the gun was in the case? Well, they would have video of that, I am sure.

One possible scenario, a used gun that someone traded, or sold to them, and it was just stuck in the case without checking the mag. Even that is hard to believe.

Again, the clerk obviously was lax in the handling of the gun. The clerk did not try to protect fellow employees when the cop customer was pointing the gun at them. The clerk didn't correct the cop on covering the muzzle of the gun, pulling the trigger, etc.

We know that their safety standards are pretty low, so negligence would appear to be the more realistic cause than sabotage.

[Double Naught Spy]

The lawsuit is hilarious.

http://www.glasgowdailytimes.com/new...2db33bbc5.html

Amongst other things, it apparently claims...

The lawsuit claims Smith was “exercising reasonable care and due diligence for his own physical well-being” during the time described in the document.

If the jury sees the video, then they will know that the above claim is not correct.

Page 2 of the suit claims he lost one entire finger, functionality in a second, and has damage to the hand.

[tallball]

My ten year old daughter NEVER NEVER NEVER accepts a firearm from someone without checking to see if it is loaded. She is absolutely OCD about it. We are proud of her for that. I can't wait to show her this video tomorrow so she can call out the mistakes one by one as they happen.

A few months ago I saw some idiot at a pawn shop handling a handgun like that. I left the store. I saw the clerk rack the slide before he handed it over, but it REALLY bothers me to see someone carelessly pointing one all over the place like that.

[TXAZ]

And the officer failed to keep the weapon pointed in a safe direction. At T-7 sec he sweeps one of the other customers before ventilating said finger at T-6.

From the video alone, I'd vote 80% gross negligence on the officers part.
No winners here.

[hartcreek]

Maybe this was a blessing in disguise getting this officer off the street? I just watched the video again and laughed at the alligations of the former officers suit...what a clown.

[SIGSHR]

The Laws of Safe Gun Handling are like the Law of Gravity-you ignore them only at your peril.

[KyJim]

Kentucky is a comparative negligence state which means the jury apportions liability. If there are damages of $100 and the officer is 60% negligent and the store 40% negligent, the officer is awarded $40.

I'm very familiar with Glasgow. It is town of 12 to 15 thousand in a rural area of the state about half way between Louisville and Nashville. Lots of cattle there.

[DannyB1954]

He was in control of the weapon, so I would think the fault would be his for not safety checking the weapon.
It would be kind of like the reason I had a car accident was because somebody put fuel in the tank.

[Frank Ettin]

Originally Posted by Tom Servo

The gun is loaded in any case. They're all loaded. All of 'em. I've lived by that rule, and things like this don't happen to me.

Yes they are. All the time. Every time. Knowing that is where safety starts.

The Cooper/Gunsite Four Rules:

Remember that the Four Rules describe an appropriate mindset for safe gun handling. Those of us who have trained with the Four Rules, and teach with them, understand them as safe handling rules. We know and teach their proper application and context. So --

• If you hand me a gun, don't bother telling me it's not loaded. Because Rule One applies, I won't believe you and will personally verify/clear the gun.
  
  
• If I criticize you for pointing a gun at me, my spouse, my cat, or anyone/anything else I value, don't bother trying to excuse yourself by telling me that it's not loaded.
  
  
• If your gun fires when you didn't intend it to, don't bother trying to explain yourself by saying anything like, "I didn't think it was loaded." You should have understood that under Rule One since it is a gun it is loaded, and you should have conducted yourself accordingly.

People complain about Rule One. They say that they know there are unloaded guns. But the The Four Rules are rules of gun handling and intended to avoid injury. So as far as I'm concerned, when I pick up a gun, there is no such thing as an unloaded gun, and I conduct myself accordingly.

So what do you do if you have a gun in your hand and you don't want it to be loaded? Well you clear it, of course. So that's what you would do if, for example, you wanted to dissemble if for cleaning or enclose/lock it in a case for legal transportation if the law requires that the gun be unloaded. But while the gun is in your hand you still follow Rules Two, Three and Four. And if the gun is out of your control, Rule One again applies -- so you conduct yourself accordingly and personally verify/clear it if you don't want it to be loaded. (And of course anyone one who uses a gun for practical applications, such as hunting or self defense, in any case needs to be able to handle a loaded gun properly.)

Let's see what Jeff Cooper had to say.

• Jeff Cooper's Commentaries, Vol. 6 (1998), No. 2, pg. 8.
  

  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.

• Jeff Cooper's Commentaries, vol.9 (2001), No. 6, pg. 29:
  

  ...We think that "treat all guns as if they were loaded" implies with the "as if" qualification a dangerous choice of assumptions...

• Jeff Cooper's Commentaries, vol.11 (2003), No. 13, pg. 64:
  

  ...A major point of issue is Rule 1, "All guns are always loaded." There are people who insist that we cannot use this because it is not precisely true. Some guns are sometimes unloaded. These folks maintain that the rule should read that one should always treat all guns as if they were loaded. The trouble here is the "as if," which leads to the notion that the instrument at hand may actually not be loaded....

Then as As John Schaefer, another student of Col. Cooper, puts it:

All firearms are loaded. - There are no exceptions. Don't pretend that this is true. Know that it is and handle all firearms accordingly. Do not believe it when someone says: "It isn't loaded."

And at that same link, Mr Schaefer quotes John Farnam in part as follows:

...The correct philosophical approach to serious firearms training is the "the condition doesn't matter" method. This was first articulated by Uncle Jeff in his four rules, but all four can all be rolled together in the universal admonition "DON'T DO STUPID THINGS WITH GUNS!" The "hot range" concept logically flows from this philosophical conclusion. Now, we handle all guns correctly, all the time. We don't have to "pretend" they're loaded. They ARE loaded, continuously, and all students need to become accustomed to it....

A short time ago I received the following (quoted in part) in an email from another Gunsite alumnus:

Negligent discharges that result in injury are the result of 1. IGNORANCE, and/or 2. COMPLACENCY and/or 3. HABIT that is inappropriate to changed conditions.

Proper training with the universal rules can only address #1 and #3.

...The great deficiency of much NRA civilian training ... is that muzzle and trigger discipline are not rigorously enforced except when on the range when the line is hot and sometimes not even then. Change the conditions to carrying a loaded gun at all times and adverse results are predictable.

EXAMPLE #1: Trap and skeet shooters often rest muzzles on their toes and point them at each other. They have almost no accidents on the range because guns are unloaded until just before they shoot. ...CHANGE CONDITIONS to a duck blind with loaded guns and the results are predictable....

One thing that Jeff Cooper said ... made a big impression on me. It is seldom repeated. To address complacency he said that every morning when he picks up his gun he says to himself "somewhere today someone is going to have an accident with a gun - not me, not today".

The current Four Rules grew up on a hot range where it is customary to indeed go about with one's gun(s) loaded and where people are trained who will indeed be going around with loaded guns out in the world and about their normal business.

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by Cheapshooter

But do you really believe that there is that much negligence in a gun shop to allow ammo to meet gun in the sales case?

Obviously, since it happened. The gun didn't load itself after being put in the display cabinet. Remember Hanlon's Razor:

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."

Originally Posted by DNS

Amongst other things, it [the lawsuit] apparently claims...

If the jury sees the video, then they will know that the above claim is not correct.

Don't bet the farm. I've been in court a few times as an expert* witness and I know that the average juror typically has an IQ that hovers around room temperature. Remember, most -- probably all -- won't be shooters, won't be cops (current or retired), and won't be veterans. They won't know which end of a gun the bullets come out of, and they will have been indoctrinated by the media to believe that cops are the only people in this country who have the necessary training to handle a firearm safely.

The lawyer for the gun shop (probably from its insurance company) may or may not be able to overcome that ignorance and bias by bringing in expert* witnesses to testify regarding the rules of firearms safety, but you can never predict what a jury will "get" from any testimony.










* Expert: a former drip under pressure

[Double Naught Spy]

Don't bet the farm. I've been in court a few times as an expert* witness and I know that the average juror typically has an IQ that hovers around room temperature. Remember, most -- probably all -- won't be shooters, won't be cops (current or retired), and won't be veterans.

Point well taken, but the lawyer should do his job in bringing the correct people to educate the jury accordingly, not that he will, but in a perfect world...

[Skans]

The poor handling of the gun by a customer in a gun store is an non-issue to me - happens all the time. The fact that it was a cop is a non-issue to me. The fact that the store is in Kentucky is a non-issue to me.

The fact that the gun store employee handed someone a firearm with a loaded magazine in it without checking the gun out first, not to mention HAVING a loaded gun for sale in the store is the only issue to me. Pure negligence on the store's part on multiple levels.

[Spats McGee]

Originally Posted by Double Naught Spy

Point well taken, but the lawyer should do his job in bringing the correct people to educate the jury accordingly, not that he will, but in a perfect world...

In a perfect world, yes, ..... In civil matters, though, he who wants an expert has to hire an expert, and they're not cheap.