Have you ever accidently discharged your handgun?

[WhiteH2OWoman]

Nope, never. Maybe us women are, on the AVERAGE, more meticulous about safety (before you flame, please note the phrase "on the AVERAGE", as of course there are exceptions), but after putting at least 5,000 rounds through my highly customized Glock 30 over the last 5 years (and of course, numerous other guns but that's my primary carry), I can report zero ND's.

And I am continually mindful that I want to keep it that way!

[csmsss]

Never, for me. And I've been handling firearms for three decades now. It's not about being better than anyone else, but I just don't put myself into a situation where an unintended discharge could occur.

[rogertc1]

What about you Firepower? I have had none.

[OuTcAsT]

No, never had a "Negligent" discharge.

[Japle]

First time was in college. I was dry firing my Ruger .22 pistol when the doorbell rang. After chasing the Witnesses off, I resumed dry firing. I didn't check the chamber, since I knew I hadn't inserted a loaded mag.

BANG!

The bullet hit the concrete block wall right where I'd been aiming.

New policy: Any time I let go of a gun, even for a few seconds and even when there's no possible chance it could be loaded, I check the chamber.

Next time was in the desert near Tuscon. I'd been adjusting the trigger of my .44 AutoMag. Suddenly, it stopped working. Seems I'd set the foretravel stop screw a little too far in and it wasn't picking up the sear. I was holding the gun in front of me pointing to the left and working the trigger when ... BANG!! There was no one within several miles, so no danger. Still ....

Last time was on the range at an IHMSA monthly match. I was shooting my custom XP-100 in 7 Int. The trigger was set a tad light and the gun went off when I closed the bolt. I missed the target.
In my capacity as State Director, I disqualified myself and threw myself off the line for possessing a dangerous gun.

[ghosst]

Only on an Airsoft gun, but it was an electrical issue, I wasn't holding the gun, hadn't touched the trigger, and it was pointed at the arm of my sofa when it went off.

No ND's with real guns.

[troy_mclure]

i had that happen with an uzi full auto airsoft. when the batteries started dying it would start shooting by its self full auto.

[2cooltoolz]

I have..and voted I have...but not probably in the sense you intended.
I have sent one downrange, subsequent to the primary shot, but not intended to be a double tap, with an SA semi a couple of times. I was setting the second shot, and "BOOM!".

Give me a break..I learned from it; it hasn't happened in a long time, and I answered the question as asked. It's happened twice..hit the paper both times...but scared the crap outa me...because it was not deliberate.
Nobody else knew...but I knew...
I'll go with negligent...

[onthejon55]

Originally Posted by Inspector3711

I've never even come close to accidentally discharging any type of firearm.

I think if we all knew how close we've been to really screwing up at sometime or another we would be very suprised

[scorpion_tyr]

I had a pretty close call one time. I had been doing dry firing drills for a couple of hours after I cleaned my Sigma. Loaded the weapon with one in the chamber, and my brain malfunctioned and I started pulling back on the trigger to do another dry fire. Luckily my brain started working again before the trigger made it back all the way. Thank goodness for DA.

[Kline605]

I have never had a negligent discharge. The four rules haven't failed me yet.

[SuperKord]

Ive never discharged a firearm that I wasnt intending to discharge, but I did witness my brother almost shoot his foot off. We were out in the woods shooting into a big sand hill, and he was firing 2 1911's akimbo style. He was reloading both at the same time and while racking the slide back on the one in his left hand he pulled the trigger on the one in his right and put a round about 6 inches to the left of his little toe. Needless to say he got his butt chewed by all the rest of us and we still havent let him forget it. We now bring a small table out with us for setting the guns on.

-c/Kord!

[Ozzieman]

I would also have liked to see another question added to this.
Was it in a safe manner that you negligently discharged your weapon?
One thread said how he was drunk and discharged, that would be an unsafe.
The one that I have done was so stupid that it embarrasses me a lot. I was in a hurry and we were leaving for something and where we were going I couldn’t carry. I was standing in front of my safe and the gun in question was a Beretta Cougar.
If you know the gun, this thing has more safeties than a federally designed super car.
In one ear “honey were late lets go!”
I put one through the roof of the house.
Was it an accident? Yes, but it was neglect on my part. My only thought was what would have happened had I not been pointing the gun in a safe direction.
Do you want to live the rest of your life with a young child’s death on your hands?
The right to bear arms is a right and a privilege in this country. Don’t abuse it, you may wish you never owned a gun.

[csmsss]

Was it in a safe manner that you negligently discharged your weapon?

I would argue that this is an oxymoron. If you are practicing proper firearms safety, it's impossible to negligently discharge a firearm. The only possible unintentional discharge in that case would be due to a mechanical malfunction of some kind (such as a slam-fire, for example).

My guess is that at least 95% of "accidental/negligent/unintentional" discharges are due to carelessness and/or recklessness and could easily be avoided.

[butterboy]

I havent. And if I had I wouldnt admit it around here.

[Don P]

Yep sure did do it. Hole in the back cushion to the couch, back of the couch,and the dry wall behind the couch. The block wall between the living room and the garage has that 45acp in it somewhere. No one hurt!!! Thank god!!!!!! and a VERY VALUABLE LESSON LEARNED THE HARD WAY!!!!!!!! and I must add embarrassing moment. I think my ears are still ringing after this one

[Rob Pincus]

Sounds to me like there are a lot of people here who are due... . I worry about some of the "never happen to me" attitudes, as they can lead to a complacency that could really cause a problem.

One of the reasons for the redundancy of safety rules and procedures is so that if there is a failure somewhere in the process, as I have had, everyone should still come out safe (as in my case, thankfully). Those who have had (or even just witnessed) ND's generally pay more attention and really rely and preach those redundancies in the future.

-RJP

[PhoenixConflagration]

I haven't owned a firearm for very long, but I learned the 4 major safety rules before I even ever touched one. I wasn't taught them by a father or uncle taking me shooting/hunting as a child, I decided to become a gun owner at age 30 and did my homework about safety before I did any research into which gun to buy. As a kid I was always teased about my cautious nature, but as an adult it is a positive asset. I never trust a firearm completely (as far as safety-unloaded/loaded, etc). Even when they hand me one at the store with the slide locked back, I drop the mag, check it, hit the slide release, replace the mag, then still pull the slide back enough to check the chamber. It may seem stupid to some to check a gun that they or someone they were watching just checked, but some of the stories posted above should show why checking just once may not be enough.

[Striker071]

OzzieMan that just means you missed your naggin wife... silly man...LOL/t kidding. Hopefully I will never have a ND. so no not for me. Everyone who picks up a weapon should be treating the gun as if it was loaded. If you want to make sure...., go through the process to unload it. Keep your (to quote Yosemite Sam) dang follutin long ear'd horny toad fingers off the trigger until it is time to shoot the weapon. Index that trigger finger always. Make it a habit everytime you go shooting.

[Southern_guy]

My grandfather kept an old German or Italian pistol on the top of his fridge. One day, it had apparently shifted around enough to have settled on the top of the door.
When one of my brothers opened it, the pistol fell to the floor and started shooting and spinning. Being a .32, I doubt we were in much danger, as it failed to penetrate the plastic door of the fridge, but bits of lead and powder burns are still in the floor and furniture of the house. Plus the dent in the fridge.

[Playboypenguin]

I am unsure whether I have or not. I did shoot myself in the foot when I was younger but I am not sure it counts as an ND. I meant to fire the gun. I just did not mean for the barrel to get stuck on my holster when I was doing it.

[sserdlihc]

I havent. And if I had I wouldnt admit it around here

What Butterboy Said!!!

[Brian Pfleuger]

I had one when I was 9 years old with a BB gun. Shot myself in the hand. The BB went all the way through to the opposite skin and stopped just short of exiting. Painful lesson. Thankfully thats all it was. I still have the scar on both sides (they took it out the back) to remind me to be safe now that I "play" with "real" guns.

[Para Bellum]

nope. But I know experts who did. It happened 3 times even to jim cirillo (at the range in a save directon however)

[ISC]

Originally Posted by Southern_guy

Being a .32, I doubt we were in much danger,

That is the stupidest thing I've read in a long time and I see alot of stupid things here.

Originally Posted by csmsss

If you are practicing proper firearms safety, it's impossible to negligently discharge a firearm. The only possible unintentional discharge in that case would be due to a mechanical malfunction of some kind (such as a slam-fire, for example).

My guess is that at least 95% of "accidental/negligent/unintentional" discharges are due to carelessness and/or recklessness and could easily be avoided.

I agree whole heartedly with the exception that I tink the percentage would be more like 99.5%

I think you'd find that the incidents of NDs are much more likely to occur with people goofing around with stupid things like quick draws and shooting two guns at the same time. Hopefully, by the time they've grown up enough to stop playing around with such dangerous wastes of time they have never hurt themselves or someone else.

About 15 years ago I was working on a co gen plant in Ft Meyers and the safety coordinater was out for a few days. Everyone wanted to know where he was and when he'd be back because there were permits he had to sign off on and stuff. He came back to work in a cast after missing almost a week because he was pretending to be a cowboy and doing "quck draws" and shot himself in the foot. No one ever took anything he said about safety seriously after that and he was the butt of too many jokes to count for the rest of the job. He should have been fired IMO.