More Lessons from the Damned

 Akron Beacon Journal ran an article Sept 19, 2017 by Stephanie Warsmith that I found interesting.  It’s sort of a modern parable for our times.  Dexter Brooks was unloading his handgun and thinking the gun was unloaded, pulled the trigger.  It wasn’t

The bullet is reported to have gone through wooden stairs and into a lower level bathroom where it struck his two-year-old daughter.  The last I could find out was the child was still in critical condition.

This is another needless tragedy that a little training could have prevented.

I’m unable to find the details of the shooting, but let’s start at the beginning and walk through the sequence.  It sounds like he was walking up the stairs and unloading his semi-auto.

Two of the most dangerous operations with any gun is drawing and holstering.  The possibilities of negligent discharge are very large.  Stand still during these operations unless you’re forced to move.  99.9% of the time (and I speak from many years of firearms training and practice), there is no need to move when drawing and holstering.

Oh, you don’t use a holster!  Just drop it in your pocket or tuck it into your belt.  Dude, that’s just so wrong on so many different levels.

So, you’ve drawn the weapon and now you need to unload it.  Let’s assume you know your operating controls.  Right?  You’ve read the book that came with it or read the online version the manufacturer provides.  Of course, it’s finger off trigger until you’ve made the decision to shoot.  And this is not a shooting situation, that’s why you are unloading. 

Guns are designed to let you comfortably place your finger on the trigger.  Keeping your finger off the trigger can be difficult.  This tragedy is just one example of why we say finger off trigger.

Revolvers:  rotate the cylinder out of the frame and press the ejector rod to remove the rounds from the chambers.  Then take your finger and feel each open chamber.  Did you get the right number?  Do it again anyway.  Compulsive concern about safety is the hallmark of the professional.  You want to be professional, don’t you?

If you didn’t get the right number it means there’s still a round in a chamber.  Depress the ejector rod again.   Repeat the finger check.  Sure, you can use your eyes if it’s light enough to see or if you can turn on a light, but using your sense of touch as well as vision is just a double check.  Especially when you don’t want to wake your sleeping spouse.

Now you can close the cylinder and put it away.

Semi-autos:  There’s a reason I don’t use semi-autos in the introduction classes I teach.  Simply put, they are complex and the manual of arms can be difficult.  Let’s try it anyway.

The first step is to remove the magazine, sometimes erroneously called a clip.  Put it in a pocket or on a shelf.  Your gun isn’t unloaded yet.  With your finger off the trigger, pull the slide back several times.  This should eject the round from the chamber.  Maybe.

Now lock the slide back, and visually check that the magazine is removed (yes, I know you’ve removed it earlier.  Do it anyway.) and the round is out of the chamber.  Use your little finger and reach in and check by feel that the magazine is out and the chamber is cleared.

Now, since you’re letting what was a loaded firearm out of your control, you have one more check and it’s a big one.  Pick a direction and object where a bullet fired from your gun would be safely contained without harming anyone.  Let the slide go forward, point the gun in that direction and pull the trigger. 

If you’ve done everything right in the order I’ve given, you should get a click and not a bang.  That gun is unloaded!

Complications arise in that not every auto locks back.  Some guns need an empty magazine, so there is a real temptation to quickly empty the filled one and re-insert it.  That path leads to disaster and you need to get off it right away.  Other people leave an empty magazine, preferably one that can’t be filled with ammo.  Worse case, I’d use an empty chamber indicator (ECI) to confirm the gun is empty.

And I haven’t even talked about magazine safeties that prevent the trigger from being pulled until a magazine is in the gun.

I’m sorry for Mr. Brooks’s daughter.  I’m also sorry for Mr. Brooks and the girl’s mother.  But I’m angry that nobody insisted that Dexter take the time to learn how to safely operate his gun.