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"It's Not Loaded!"


Subdeacon Joe

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I recall being in the Budget and Finance office of a certain municipal Police HQ when there was very loud noise.

After getting off the floor, we followed the shouting to another office, where we found a visibly shaken plain clothes officer, at attention, while the Chief .............spoke to him.

A Colt Police Positive was in the Chief's hand and, looking around, we saw a file cabinet with a new hole in the frame, right below the key lock mechanism.

Pat, Roy and I made a hasty retreat.

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Local really big gun show. Walking around and hear this really big booooooom. Vender was showing a buyer a 97. He cycled ti and pulled the trigger pointing at the ceiling.  Hummm one in the mag? Hole in the ceiling and they helped him pack his stuff and pushed him out the door.

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One gun store and a range I frequented in Oregon had those same types of jars on the counter. 
 

One day I was in the gun store, which also had a gunsmith shop, and a guy brought in a 1911 to have work done. He laid it on the counter and announced that he just checked it. The gunsmith picked it up, racked the slide and ejected a live round. The bonehead says “I took the mag out, I don’t understand.”:blink:

 

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Had a buddy who was an officer with a town in california's Central Valley.

 

Ol' Stan was in the department's locker room, either coming on duty or about to head home - don't recall which - when he had an "AD."  Bullet plowed through a locker door and through a can of Mace... the tear gas, not pepper spray.

 

Needless to say, ol' Stan was ribbed about that for the rest of his days.  :rolleyes:

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An long time friend's mother was the administrative assistant for the Secret Service in Reno.  She would tell a story of an agent who accidentally killed a teletype machine when handling his issued Uzi SMG.

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I taught my kids that the first thing to do when handed a gun was to make sure it was unloaded.  If they didn't know how to check a particular firearm they should ask.  They were also taught that anytime they wanted to see one of my firearms all they had to do was ask and I'd open the safe for them.

 

One day I was doing some reloading and my son, about 12 at the time, wanted to see my AR.  Ok, I opened the safe so he could reach in and get it.  I watched as he pulled it out, I could see there was no magazine in it, and he opened the action.  A live round popped out of the chamber.  :o:o:o  Prior to that moment I would not have hesitated to bet my house that I never put a loaded gun into the safe.

 

Just goes to show it can happen to anybody.  To this day I have no idea how or when it was put in the safe with a round in the chamber.  I would still swear it wasn't done by me, but I'm the only one that can open my safe.   I think it must have been Martians that snuck into my house, opened my safe and loaded that rifle.

 

Second story.  My dad had loaned his pellet rifle to my grandfather so he could protect his tomatoes from a few marauding squirrels.  On Christmas day we were at my grandparents and the rifle was returned to my dad.  It was "empty".  It's important to this story to know that it was a single shot rifle with no magazine.  While talking, my dad was sort of absent mindedly pumping up the gun, pointing it into the fireplace and pulling the trigger to hear the "PHHFFFTTT!" of the released air pressure.  About the fifth or sixth time my dad did this something came flying out of the barrel and hit one of the logs in the fireplace.

 

There's good reason why the first rule of gun safety is:  Treat every firearm as if it is loaded.

 

Angus

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7 minutes ago, Black Angus McPherson said:

While talking, my dad was sort of absent mindedly pumping up the gun, pointing it into the fireplace and pulling the trigger to hear the "PHHFFFTTT!" of the released air pressure.  About the fifth or sixth time my dad did this something came flying out of the barrel and hit one of the logs in the fireplace.

 

Interesting that it took several shots to discharge the projectile.  Was it maybe a .22 cal. pellet in a .20 cal. rifle?

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6 hours ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

 

Interesting that it took several shots to discharge the projectile.  Was it maybe a .22 cal. pellet in a .20 cal. rifle?

 

It was a Benjamin .22 caliber rifle.  He was given a can of pellets with the rifle and returned the can mostly full with the rifle.

 

 

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Back in the early 90's ol' Hank called me up one day and said "My buddy's gun shop just got in a case of Russian SKS's!  Bust on down here!"

 

Naturally, I did, and made it in time for the "opening."  

 

The shop owner opened the case, and extracted the first rifle.  He fondled it a moment, then racked the bolt open.

 

"PING!" went the ejected round when it hit the cement floor and rolled a few feet.

 

Everyone stared dumbfounded... until one fella walked over to recover the round from the floor near a wall.

 

The "round" was a headspace gauge!  :lol:

 

Dunno where these things had been stored; as I recall, they were early 1950's vintage and were all brand-new.

 

(Wish I still had the one I bought; alas, I sold it a few years later for Christmas money).  :(

 

 

 

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@Black Angus McPherson

I do keep loaded guns in my safe, but I know which ones are loaded and which ones aren’t…in my mind. :rolleyes:
A few years ago I was showing a buddy of mine my “unloaded” S&W model 17. He was interested in buying one and wanted to see mine. I pulled it from the safe and opened the cylinder to see nickel plated cartridge cases reflecting back at me. I was truly stunned. 
So, as with my habit of checking a gun is unloaded when I remove it from the safe I also do it when putting guns back in the safe. 
I do keep a couple loaded in the safe still, but I know for sure exactly which ones they are…and I still double check every time the safe is opened. ;)

 

15 hours ago, Black Angus McPherson said:

Just goes to show it can happen to anybody.  To this day I have no idea how or when it was put in the safe with a round in the chamber. 


You are not alone. 

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3 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

…and I still double check every time the safe is opened

 

Yep.  Every time.  Open the action, whatever it happens to be, and show clear.  And always hand a firearm to someone with the action open.  I insist that they be handed to me with the action open.  It surprised a clerk at a gun shop when I asked him to open the action on a consignment gun and a cartridge was ejected.  

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Years ago on a indoor training.a police officer was killed by a  unloaded pistol.

                                                                                                                                          Largo

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15 hours ago, Black Angus McPherson said:

 

It was a Benjamin .22 caliber rifle.  He was given a can of pellets with the rifle and returned the can mostly full with the rifle.

 

 

That makes it even more puzzling as to why it took several shots to discharge it.

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Way back when LEOs were issued revolvers.  Indiana Law Enforcement Academy firearms instructor (a State Trooper) was telling us Trainees how to practice dry firing.
 

Instructor’s experience.  Whenever a predetermined image appeared on the TV he would draw and fire.  He was in the process of unloading his .357 when one of his children asked him a question.  Car appeared on the TV and in reflex he put a live round in the TV.  Explain that to your wife he said.  He also said it’s better to practice when you’re home alone.

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