Kentucky cop shoots off finger after gun store clerk hands him loaded weapon

[Jesus Malverde]

Lucky others in the shop were not injured. It's a basic rule to consider all guns loaded unless you clear it yourself. Even then you shouldn't point it at anything you don't want to destroy.

[Duckhunter935]

1. Always clear the weapon

and ensure it is safe, that is one of the basics. I know I was always taught that.

[ManiacJoe]

2. He racked the slide.

How did he not notice the round?

[Scuba]

6. It appeared so. Still he didn't eject the magazine before racking the slide. Basic mistake.

[ileus]

3. Always verify for yourself....even my kids know that.

[BeyondGeography]

4. Now an ex-cop who is suing the store

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/13/cop-shoots-finger-gun-store_n_6463984.html

[Jesus Malverde]

5. Not sure how losing a finger on your left hand leaves you unable to work?

This cop is a winner.

[BeyondGeography]

8. My only question is which one is Beavis in the video

[Jesus Malverde]

9. indeed.

[Shamash]

7. Bad conduct all the way around

The gun should never have been stored loaded in the display case (my local store runs a zip tie through the barrel as a safety measure). The officer should have known better than to put anything he didn't want shot in the direction the gun was pointed, and while he managed that for his surroundings he did not manage it for himself.

Bring popcorn for the trial, it should be amusing to see the contributory negligence arguments. Policeman with poor gun handling skills who should reasonably have been expected to known better sues gun store with poor gun handling skills who should reasonably have been expected to know better.

At least he didn't try tucking it into the front of his pants...

[Lochloosa]

10. I agree. I noticed he pointed it in the direction of the other customers in the store several times.

Bad juju all around.

[Fred Sanders]

11. Another day proving the dangerous and potentially fatal power of these mobile killing machines.

The country needs to get those things under control.

[Jesus Malverde]

12. Only trained sworn law enforcement officers should be allowed to handle them..nt

[Fred Sanders]

13. Yes, let us replace the insanity of the RW love of killing machines with transparently baited

equally insane "suggestions".

And it is is RW love, not LW, no doubt about that at this liberal, leftist site.

That is what it is, right?

Thank you, play again?

[Jesus Malverde]

15. I have no idea what to pair this word salad with.

Vinnegrette or blue cheese. What the heck are you trying to say?

[Fred Sanders]

19. You excellent suggestion of only allowing trained cops to have firearms was answered.

If it was sarcasm, apologies, insane stuff is posted as thoughtful comment a lot in this......place.

[Jesus Malverde]

20. Still no idea my friend.

[Duckhunter935]

21. Fred does that

Hard to make sense of his postings. He normally just goes away when asked to clarify.

[Jesus Malverde]

25. Thanks!

I'll keep that in mind moving forward.

[tblue]

14. Um...trained, sworn like the guy who shot off his finger?

Even that's no guarantee.

[Jesus Malverde]

17. Come on tblue

It was an ironic reply, to the standard meme.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

23. Who going to enforce your laws

if the cops are so busy shooting themselves in the leg and blowing off fingers?

[upaloopa]

27. This place is usually anti cop it is a wonder

some aren't cheering the accident.
But it does show how others can be endangered by people handling guns wrong. This is the thing that I can't get my head around. Yes you have a right to own a gun but you don't have a right to endanger my life with it when I am not threatening you.
So many gun owners in public places have "accidents" and an innocent person can be killed. No law can fix that.
And I am willing to bet the people in the video were trained.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

30. "many gun owners in public places have "accidents" and an innocent person can be killed."

No law can fix that.

Agreed. The law provides for criminal and civil penalties and I support the fact that it does.

However, there is an innumerable host of human activities that pose a threat to others. Some of those are outright illegal, some are regulated, some have time/place/condition restrictions, some are only matters of law once an offense has been committed.

We want a society that does the most good for the most people, does the least amount of harm and does not sacrifice essential human rights in the process.

[rurallib]

16. Curious if he was on duty while gun shopping?

Is that a part of his job?

[Jesus Malverde]

18. Some places cops moonlight as security in their uniforms.

Could have been on a lunch break or otherwise off duty. That he was in uniform would not mean he's on the clock.

[bobclark86]

35. Shopping after work?

I see nurses in scrubs all the time at the grocery store after their shifts. Doesn't mean they're giving sponge baths.

[DonP]

22. Never been in a store where the clerk didn't clear the weapon in front of me

Last edited Wed Jan 14, 2015, 12:46 PM - Edit history (1)

Every store I've ever been in always drops the mag, pulls and locks the slide back, or opens the cylinder in front of the customer, shows clear, then sets the gun on a mat for you to pick up.

So the question is, what the hell is a loaded gun doing being handed around in a store anyway?

[Shamash]

24. Update

Apparently this incident happened in March 2014, and the officer in question (age 58) agreed to voluntarily retire from the force afterward. He did not get worker's comp because it was not a work-related injury. I suspect the past 10 months have been various out-of-court posturings between him and the store that fell through for whatever reason, resulting in the lawsuit being filed against the store last Friday.

Does anyone have a link to the story from back when it happened?

[Thinkingabout]

26. Just checking to see if it works, now I guess he knows, he pointed it several times in the direction

of the other shopper, moral of the story, DON'T SHOP IN A GUN SHOP.

[Damansarajaya]

28. Why would you ever pull the trigger on a gun in a gun store

to begin with?

I always keep my finger off the trigger and against the trigger guard.

Pretty dumb.

[sarisataka]

29. To check trigger pull

I wouldn't want a gun with a crappy trigger.

Then again I wouldn't accept a gun the clerk didn't check. Once it is my hand I would recheck. Before pulling the trigger check it again, point it away from anyone then test it.

[Big_Mike]

32. Even if they clear it in front of me, before I check the trigger, I always verify clear,

then ask if they have dummy rounds, as I don't like squeezing the trigger on an empty chamber.

Even in the military, you still see people killing the clearing barrel, or having an AD in the Dining Facility, or somesuch other nonsense. It just goes to poor mental training, and lack of muscle memory regarding picking up strange weapons.

[Damansarajaya]

36. That's a good point. I probably wouldn't pull the trigger

until I was in a safer location, but one would want to check the trigger pull.

[matt819]

31. Darwin award candidate

One more thing. Wtf is this guy doing in uniform shopping? When you're in uniform shouldn't you've out there protecting, serving, and (sorry, I can't help it) eating donuts?

[benEzra]

33. The fundamental rules of gun safety:

(1) Always treat a gun as if it is loaded.
(2) Never point a gun in an unsafe direction. (If you say "But it's OK, it's unloaded", see Rule 1.)
(3) Keep your finger off the trigger unless you are on target and ready to shoot.
(4) Always be sure of your target and what is beyond it.

Waving a gun randomly around a store muzzling other shoppers is NOT acceptable even if you think the gun is "unloaded". Pointing a gun at your own hand and pulling the trigger is not OK just because you think it's unloaded. If you are about to purchase a gun and need to check the trigger pull, see rule (2) and (4), and point it in a direction that won't cause harm if the unlikely event the gun *does* fire. Note for the safety-impaired, this does not include pointing it at your own or anyone else's anatomy.

I suppose for the guy who shot his finger, we could add a putative Rule 5, though it should be common sense:

(5) When clearing a gun, remove the #@^!ing magazine first.

It was pointed out on a gun forum I frequent that if this guy did manage to retire over this, the city/county that employed him probably "dodged a bullet" on liability, because he probably exhibits the same ignorance of gun safety on duty.

[Packerowner740]

34. Idiots, all of them

Why is a gun in the case loaded?

Why is the cop not following the rule that all guns are considered loaded?

Why is the cop pulling a trigger without checking to see if the gun is loaded?

Why is the clerk handing the gun over without checking to see if it's clear?