Video: KY LEO loses finger to loaded .380 display pistol

[surprise_i'm_armed]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ngq9n_SI6KE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The above video is about 90 seconds long and is surveillance tape from a Kentucky gun store.

A Glasgow, KY LEO in uniform asks to handle a .380 pistol (brand/model unknown).

The clerk hands him the gun without opening the slide.

The LEO initially accepts the gun and starts to look at it, also without doing a slide check.

Eventually the LEO half-heartedly racks the slide a bit, but doesn't really eyeball the chamber.

BOOM!! Some idiot had loaded a live .380 into the display pistol and the LEO shot off his left index finger.

There are other shoppers in the general direction of the discharge but only the LEO was wounded.

Poor gun handling resulted in serious injury....sad.

SIA

[CoffeeNut]

WOW!

I've seen bullets missing from boxes of ammo in gun shops but I've never encountered a loaded firearm. Double check everything folks.

[Syntyr]

"Well there's your problem... You go something stuck in the chamber. Lets see if I pull this lever thingy if it will clear it... Yep clean as a whistle now!"

[Texas_Blaze]

Follow the rules

[Jumping Frog]

The cop is suing the gun store.

[gemini]

Follow the rules

This. Exactly.

[KD5NRH]

We kept a pile of those little stick-and-flag things for any auto that didn't have a slide lock. Other than those, autos were only handed over with the slide locked back, DA revolvers with the cylinder open, and SA revolvers with the loading gate open after turning the cylinder to count seven empty chambers. (Easy to under-count by one, harder to miss it by two.) Checks were repeated when putting the gun back in the case afterward.

On top of that, the weekly wipe-down of everything in the case was my job, as was putting out new guns for the case, and everything was checked when I pulled it out and when I put it back. Occasionally, someone would load a snap cap in a random gun to make sure it got caught.

[Pawpaw]

What I saw in that video were two idiot amateurs. Andy's signature line is quite appropriate.

[RoyGBiv]

officer is suing gun store.
http://controversialtimes.com/news/2-id ... ger-video/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Discuss

[fickman]

Keep a healthy fear and never grow complacent. If you're sure you just checked it, you might as well check it again. Then one more time.

If somebody else checked it, it hasn't been checked.

[Texsquatch]

officer is suing gun store.
http://controversialtimes.com/news/2-id ... ger-video/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Discuss

Sure the guy skipped the safety check, but he's a clear winner in this one. The shop will be found strictly liable since they will deemed to have the highest duty to ensure safety here. Not saying I agree he's not responsible, but just being realistic with how things tend to get settled in this world.

He'll get a handsome settlement for the little pinky. I almost lost a pinky the day after Christmas, but that ended up costing me money. Wish I could collect on it, but I guess you can't sue yourself.

[Dave2]

Keep a healthy fear and never grow complacent. If you're sure you just checked it, you might as well check it again. Then one more time.

If somebody else checked it, it hasn't been checked.

If you ever see me check a firearm, you'll see me rack it 2 or 3 times AND peer into the chamber - a broken extractor helped cause an ND for a buddy of mine overseas who just racked it without visually checking. Thanks to the busted extractor, the shell that was in the chamber wasn't extracted/ejected, so... BOOM.

On every centerfire pistol I own, when the slide's back you can also manage to sight through the gaps between the slide and frame and through barrel to see if there are any obstructions.

I don't think that trick works on my .22, though. Come to think of it, I think it relies on the barrel camming down to get the angle right, so it probably wouldn't work on any straight blow-back designs, regardless of caliber or cartridge type.

What we need is for someone to invent a transparent stainless steel (or something else tough enough for barrel use), so that we can just look and see if it's loaded without manipulating anything at all (and without having any "LCI" mechanisms to fail).

[skeathley]

If somebody else checked it, it hasn't been checked.

Absolutely right. I don't trust anyone on this issue, and tell my students to not even trust their instructor. People make mistakes. It's not unloaded until you see it with your own eyes.
That LEO has some nerve, suing the store; he is as much to blame as the idiot clerk, and he is supposed to be a professional.