Calgunlaws reports the courts have thrown out the lawsuit brought by LA Police Officer Enrique Chavez against Glock, holster maker Uncle Mikes, and the dealers who sold him the gun and the holster.
Officer Chavez’ three year old son was playing with the Glock in the back seat of Chavez’ when it discharged. The bullet went through the rear of the drivers seat, paralyzing Chavez.
Who, even as you and me, promptly sued everyone in sight.
While I have all the sympathy in the world for Officer Chavez, I was taught eight rules for safe gun handling. The first of those was “Always control your weapon.” Chavez relinquished control of his weapon to a three year old, with predictable results.
Perhaps it is a case of familiarity breeding contempt, but a quick look at Google shows LEO’s children are involved in roughly one accidental discharge report in twenty. That reinforces my impression, developed over many years of statistic watching.
The last time I looked there were fewer than 700,000 LEO’s and other security personnel who can be expected to carry; and some 70 million American homes have at least one gun. So the incidence should be 1 accidental discharge in 100 from an officers gun. Or between fifteen and twenty a year. Not 100.
Perhaps a bit of extra safety training would be in order.
Stranger
It is not quite fair to compare police negligent discharges with civilian–many civilians own a gun that they almost never touch. I think a better comparison would be with license holders, who are likely to handle guns at a similar rate to police. I have a feeling that the police rate would still be disproportionately high.
I do not disagree with the overall premise–police are involved in too many negligent discharges. I do not like the term accidental, unless it refers to a malfunctioning gun rather than a gun that has had its trigger pulled negligently.