[pnolans]

Originally Posted by rainmakerat92

It has happened to just about everyone of us at some point; I'm just glad there were no casualties. And welcome to the forum!

Exactly. Me too.

I looked at this because I thought it was on another subject altogether.

Phew!

[Patrick Sperry]

Gads...

First I applaud you for your honesty. Second, I applaud you for you courage in admitting that which most of us has had happen but that "we" would not talk about.

The "rules" of firearm safety are 24/7 365 days of the year. That said, we are all human. Stuff happens friend. You learned from it. What is more important though is that you shared it.

We do not learn to walk or run from running Olympic races, but from falling down.

[firelooker]

When I was little my dad was a police officer. He was cleaning his service revolver one day & had a ND. It went thru the living room wall and into the opposite clset wall on the other side. The three holes were never patched and served as a constant reminder as to what can happen. I have never had one myself thank , but I realize that someday I'm going to it's just a matter of time. That's why I always double check my .45 ACP to be sure the safety is on b4 I change it from it's house holster to it's carry holster. Accidents happen! that's why they're called accidents. Thanks for the reminder!

[Dragonheart]

In my 60 years of gun ownership I have found that gun enthusiasts fall into two groups; those that have had a negligent discharge and those that are going too. No one was hurt, so get over it and learn from your lesson, that's all anybody can do.

[ReconSpider]

I think we'd all agree you (and many of us) got off lightly with no loss of life. Same type thing happens in automobiles all the time and usually the results are disastrous. Gotta stay vigilant.

[Blackbeard1718]

Thanks for sharing your story with us! When I read things like this, I "LEARN" from them, not laugh or shake my head. I appreciate your willingness to tell us what happened. It "DID", in fact,..... teach us all, that we're not immune from an AD/ND happening to us! Thanks to you, though, we're all very much aware of what CAN happen when Routine sets in, and now we're a little sharper and more attentive, than we were yesterday. Thank you!

Cheers!

BB

[JimRau]

Originally Posted by Dragonheart

In my 60 years of gun ownership I have found that gun enthusiasts fall into two groups; those that have had a negligent discharge and those that are going too. No one was hurt, so get over it and learn from your lesson, that's all anybody can do.

I am very blessed, I have never had a ND, only AD's in the 60+ years I have been using guns as tools and for recreation! And I disagree with you. Every one will not have a ND, but will probably have an AD if they continue to use firearms.

[nickspanky]

Originally Posted by deadeye

I thought long and hard about telling the story of my negligent discharge. I've lurked here for a while and I've learned quite a bit as a result, and I know what's coming after folks read my story. Still, I'm going to throw myself on the fire. I haven't posted here before now, but I thought I'd swallow my pride and tell a story that might make others think about firearm complacency.

Like many of you, I have an extensive history owning and shooting firearms. I shoot at least three time per month and have been shooting since I was a youngster. I've taken hunters safety classes, concealed carry safety classes, and have had one on one training from qualified instructors. I have always considered myself a responsible gun owner. I carry a concealed firearm to protect myself and my family, and I take the responsibility that comes with that very seriously. That said, I was incredibly, stupidly, idiotically and blatantly negligent.

I was in my reloading room cleaning a couple of revolvers I was going to take to the range that weekend. After I had them cleaned up, I decided to get my two primary carry guns and give them a light cleaning and re-lubrication. I keep them loaded and holstered in a small safe. I unloaded them carefully and gave them a once over. I then re-loaded one of them, put it back in its holster and locked it up. The other, a small framed DAO .38 special revolver, I loaded with snap caps with the intention of working on my trigger control. I have a target tacked to my reloading room wall that I use for this purpose. I pressed the trigger enough times to be comfortable that my sight picture stayed solid throughout the long double action trigger pull. Satisfied, I re-loaded the revolver, holstered it, and placed the loaded firearm on my work bench. I then went about distracting myself with cleaning up my workspace, setting up brass for reloading, and listening to the radio.

Here's where things went south. I was ready to head into the house and without even thinking about it, I slid that loaded .38 out of it's holster, aimed it at that target, and pressed the trigger. This resulted in me negligently discharging a firearm directly through the wall of my reloading room. Ears ringing, I was absolutely stunned at my idiocy. I had, through complete negligence on my part, broken several of the cardinal rules of firearm safety. I don't think I need to list them for you all as I've no doubt you'll do that for me. As well you should. I became one of the very people I've shaken my head in disgust at over the years. Indeed, I'm the guy many of you are shaking your head at as you read this very post. I have no excuse, I was with out a doubt a legitimately stupid gun owner at that point. Some will say I still am.

The brutal truth of the matter is, I knew better, I know better, yet there is no getting around the stupidity of my actions that day. I placed that target in it's position because it had a safe backstop. But, does that even matter? The answer is a resounding no. I, like most of you, firmly believe there are no accidental discharges, only negligent discharges. I was horrified at my actions that day. I'm horrified that I would allow myself to become so ridiculously complacent about the very safety rules I've hammered into others I've been shooting with. I failed as a responsible gun owner that day. I have no excuse. I'm ashamed of myself. I learned a lesson, sure, and I've changed the way I do things, but I committed the cardinal sin of gun ownership. No getting around that.

I fully deserve all that you nice folks can dish out. I get that. I just wanted to tell this story in the hopes that someone else reads it and understands that complacency can be absolutely disastrous. Be ever vigilant, and make the four basic rules of gun safety laws in your life. I truly wish I had, and I can damn well assure you I will for the rest of my life.

I hope this reaches someone before they make the same monumental mistake I did.

At least it happened at home and not in public. That's another reason why if you have a target at home posted for trigger control you have it on a wall that doesn't have any one or anything behind it

[smarquez]

Had one ND while hunting, at least I had it pointing up. Scared the **** out of all 3 of us. There are probably 5 ND's for everyone that actually mans up here.
So, did you hit where you were aiming?

[deadeye]

Originally Posted by smarquez

So, did you hit where you were aiming?

Right in the ten ring I'm afraid.