Tuscon man kills self demonstrating firearm safety.

[gorfle]

http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/293333.php

"Samuel Benally Jr. was at an apartment on West Tacoma Street when he said guns should be kept unloaded because people could point them at their heads, said Sierra Vista police Sgt. Brett Mitchell.
Benally then demonstrated by putting his own 9mm Ruger, which he believed to be unloaded, to his head and firing it, Mitchell said."

He violated rule #1: every firearm is always loaded.

[DS1]

1. Play him off, Keyboard Cat!

[ConcernedCanuk]

2. That's ONE way to make sure people remember your advice!

.
.
.

[NewMoonTherian]

21. Now this idea has some merit.

You attend a CCW class and your instructor pulls a stunt like this. A weak blank in a starter pistol and a nice, bloody, chunky squib will drive the point home.

[ShortnFiery]

3. Whoa! This tragedy will definitely make the cut for 2009's Top Ten Darwin Awards.

[hlthe2b]

4. Once again,

Darwin was right...

[MineralMan]

5. Uff da! Perfect example of firearms safety. I imagine those

watching learned the lesson being taught.

[Vinnie From Indy]

6. WOW!

Class dismissed!

[RaleighNCDUer]

7. Well, it's a little extreme

but he did make his point.

[gorfle]

20. Truly, a dedicated teacher. n/t

.

[Hav]

8. Sad.

I never had a gun in my hand but lesson learned: Never point a gun at your head and pull the trigger even if you are sure it's not loaded...

[Duckhunter935]

12. all guns are considered loaded

Never ever point a weapon at something you do not intend to shoot. "all weapons must be pointed up and downrange"

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. How will the Creationists explain this Darwin moment???

:rofl:

[peace13]

10. Will there be an investigation of how the gun got loaded? n/t

[RaleighNCDUer]

11. I'm sure it got loaded the way any other weapon is loaded.

The question is why was it not properly unloaded. Like, the guy removed the magazine, but forgot to clear the chamber.

I wonder, if this guy was a licensed firearms instructor, what ELSE was going on in his life? If it was accidental, he did at least TWO things that no instructor would ever do - not check the chamber, and point it at his head. It puts the 'accidental' in question.

[TheWraith]

15. This is why the magazine disconnect feature should be on all new models.

[benEzra]

23. Magazine disconnects have their own drawbacks...

which is why most police departments specify that issue guns not include magazine disconnects.

My S&W 3913LS has one, but I like having the choice; my next gun probably won't.

Having a magazine disconnect won't help you if you habitually violate all four of the Four Rules simultaneously.

[Pavulon]

25. Need a stupid bastard detector..

really technology can only go so far in the realm or stupid people..

[RamboLiberal]

26. Let the shooters make their own choice

Mag disconnect is a pain in the butt when you're in a handgun sport like USPSA or IDPA where you:
Unload & Show Clear
Hammer down(pull trigger)to prove gun is empty
Holster

I have an S&W M&P - you can buy it with or without the mag disconnect. I went without.

[peace13]

16. This is not the first training accident in the recent past either.

Maybe we need to review the training for trainers. Good grief! I'm not a gun nut but the * years have changed my idea about having one in the house!

[benEzra]

24. I don't think the deceased had much knowledge of gun safety at all.

The Four Rules:

(1) Always treat every gun as if it were loaded.
(2) Never point a gun at anything you are not willing to destroy.
(3) Keep your finger off the trigger until the sights are on target and you are ready to shoot.
(4) Always be sure of your target and what is behind it.

They are somewhat redundant, but if you habitually violate multiple rules (as in this case), you probably shouldn't be teaching gun safety.

It is possible, I suppose, that he received all his gun safety training from the military. Some military trainers outside of combat arms units seem to have the mentality that "if it's unloaded, treat it however you want; if it's loaded, it's a bomb." That may be the root of the carelessness in this case.

[gorfle]

13. Probably not.

Will there be an investigation of how the gun got loaded?

Probably not. Since he was in possession of the firearm when it went off, there is little to say that he didn't load it himself and forget to unload it.

In any case, it hardly matters. If this "instructor" had followed basic firearm safety this would not have happened.

The number one rule of firearms is to consider and treat every firearm to be loaded even if you "know" it is not. This was, literally, beaten into me as a child. Once, I guess I was about 7 years old, my Dad was cleaning a rifle sitting in his chair. I was sitting next to him watching him. I was overcome with this urge to look down the barrel. I knew I shouldn't but I wanted to see down it. So I jumped up and peeked down the barrel. WHAM instantly my face was met with the back of my Dad's hand. And so I learned to always treat every firearm as if it was loaded.

I have never once had an accidental discharge of a firearm. That is, I have never once had a firearm go off when I did not mean for it to go off. And the primary reason for this is because I assume all firearms are loaded, I always check every firearm I pick up to see if it has a loaded magazine AND chamber, and I always assume they are loaded even after performing this check.

This "instructor" violated a basic tenet of firearm safety. I would never, not in a million years, point a firearm at a person except in a life-threatening situation where I was defending myself or loved ones. Never, not ever, in a casual or formal or any other setting would I point a firearm at a person. It doesn't matter how many times I checked the chamber, or how many safeties the firearm has, or if my finger is on the trigger or not (which it never is until I intend to fire).

Because rule #2 is you never point a firearm at anything you don't intend to destroy.

[peace13]

17. Thank you for that! n/t

[DonP]

14. Violating 2 of the 4 rules puts the odds WAY against you

1. All guns are always loaded.

2. Never point the muzzle at anything you do not want to destroy.

3. Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire.

4. Know your target and what is beyond it.

Sounds like both 1 and 2 were right out the window. I'm hoping alcohol was not involved.

My condolences to his family and friends.

[slackmaster]

18. What a fucking moron

:argh:

He violated rule #1: every firearm is always loaded.

Also "Never point a firearm at anything you are not willing to destroy"

And "Keep your booger hook off the bang switch until you are aiming at a target that you want to hit"

[Occam Bandage]

19. Well, he did successfully demonstrate the lesson. nt

[benEzra]

22. I suppose the question is, what qualified him to teach firearm safety?

Completely aside from the part where he points a gun at himself and pulls the trigger, his basic message seems to contradict the generally accepted Four Rules of Gun Safety:

(1) Always treat every gun as if it were loaded.
(2) Never point a gun at anything you are not willing to destroy.
(3) Keep your finger off the trigger until the sights are on target and you are ready to shoot.
(4) Always be sure of your target and what is behind it.

And it appears that the deceased very deliberately violated all four rules simultaneously.

[one-eyed fat man]

28. The only thing worse.......

would have been for him to have said, "Now pay attention, I am only going to do this once."

[tucsonlib]

27. I Apologize For Nitpicking

But I go a little nutty whenever I see my hometown misspelled.

It's TuCSon. NOT Tuscon.


:toast: