Negligent discharge

[Luv2ryd2002]

I had a negligent discharge today...in my home!  Scared the S@!$ out of me.  No one was hurt. No one else was in the house.  I failed on a number of safety rules. No excuse. But nothing like this to get refocused on the important stuff.  I did a lot of searching on the internet after this.  A good link for everybody to read through. This guy was lucky...I was amazingly lucky. It's easy to get complacent.  Think about how much of an impact this could have in your life. Now or even when things aren't "normal".
http://negligentdischarge.com

[Cedar]

Glad you and yours are ok.. and may there never be a next time.

Cedar

[Luv2ryd2002]

Cedar, thanks. I always prided myself on being safe with my firearms and I'm extremely embarrassed.  I now have a 230 grain fmj under the carpet in the bedroom.  I don't think there will be a confession until we replace carpets.

[mountainmoma]

When I was a child, I went to a girl scout meeting once a week after school, which meant once a week my younger brother was at home by himself for an hour and a half. He discharged my dads 44 and tried to hide that it had happened. we were so lucky neither he or any other kid was hurt. Bullet went thru the mattress and box spring, thru the floor and buried itself in the dirt under the house. Luckily mattresses don't cause ricochets. He put the firearm back where he got it, rearranged things to hide the hole in the mattress. No one know for a week or so. Everyone on his forum, I am sure, knows better. No amount of gun safety admonisions and training will keep accidents from happening with a first (or second - cant remember) grader. They are realy just too young to realy get it. He knew how it worked all right, knew he needed to pull that hammer back ! It should not have been hanging off the bed post loaded on a day he was home alone.

[MississippiJarhead]

I had a negligent discharge today...in my home! 

It takes balls to own up to that kind of mistake and you're right we can get complacent if we aren't careful. Thanks for sharing.

In high school a friend of mine who was the son of a gun nut and quite a gun nut himself, had a ND. He "dry fired" a pistol down his hall and put a hole through a bunch of his hanging clothes in the closet on the other side of a wall. The way we found out was he had a hole in the same spot on several shirts he wore to school. He finally owned up to it.

[Jack Crabb]

As the old saying goes, there are two kinds of people in the world. Those who have had a ND, and those who will.

[JerseyVince]

Cedar, thanks. I always prided myself on being safe with my firearms and I'm extremely embarrassed.  I now have a 230 grain fmj under the carpet in the bedroom.  I don't think there will be a confession until we replace carpets.

Is there a .45 Colt Automatic involved in this story?

[David in MN]

I've witnessed 2 NDs and once witnessed a guy look down the barrel after a primer failed. You'd think people yell and get angry but quite the opposite. Everyone gets quiet and focuses on how bad it could have been.

As I pointed out, the 4 rules of gun safety have a crossover effect where you must violate all 4 to have a real bad day. A slug in the floor sucks but better than where it could have ended up. Take it as a learning experience.

[endurance]

I've known several people who've  had them. One shot himself in the calf while reholstering. Fortunately it was a .22 and there was no permanent disability. One of my instructors had a student shoot off the end of a finger. It's something I work hard to prevent by keeping rigid routines I don't allow to be interrupted even if it means ignoring a phone call.

Thanks for the reminder of why it is so critical to maintain strict discipline anytime you're handling firearms.

[Luv2ryd2002]

Vince, yes.

[soupbone]

Thanks again for sharing. I've had one ND, in 1974, and I remember it like it was yesterday. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but I'll never forget that hole you get in your gut until you verify that no critical damage was done.

+1 for your intestinal fortitude, and for putting concern for others [here] above your own ego.

soupbone

[11 Bravo]

We have 2 holes in the cleaning table in our arms room at work, one from a lieutenant, the other a sergeant....ND's know no rank.

[Mr. Bill]

+1 for your intestinal fortitude, and for putting concern for others [here] above your own ego.

Ditto that.  Thanks for posting and starting a good discussion.

[Ms. Albatross]

Ditto that.  Thanks for posting and starting a good discussion.

+1     

and Luv2ryd2002, this is the first time I have ever seen someone have more karma points than posts on the forum.  That's how much the community appreciates you sharing this experience.

[shambo]

As the old saying goes, there are two kinds of people in the world. Those who have had a ND, and those who will.

I am sorry to say that I am one of those two kind of people.  This is the first time I have ever said anything about it, ever. I am still very embarrassed about it which makes me thankful no one got hurt.  It has made me even more safety conscious  when handling firearms.  I thought I was damn safe,  well, I wasn't safe enough.  My advise to you all out there is DO NOT get distracted and over confident.  It can and will happen to you if you drop your guard. 

[mountainmoma]

My dad has a bullet behind his right kneecap that has been there for 50 years now. He was a young man, something about one gun emptied into it (his or a friends ? I don't know), and the wild boar still charging at him and an accidental discharge as he pulled his revolver out of his holster. When he was younger, it bothered him a bit, with the weather changes. Bothers him much more as he's aged and is an old man.

[flippydidit]

+1 for your candor.  As a young teenager that knew almost nothing about firearms I managed to blow a hole through the floor of my dad's van.  I turned ghostly white, and after that experience with his .30-06 rifle I vowed that, "I'd never touch a gun again."

After joining the Army that vow transformed into, "I'm going to learn as much about firearms as is humanly possible.  Then I'm going to take that information and pass it on to others."  It's always bothered me that some "gun guys" act like they are doing you a favor by talking about firearms to new members of the firearms community.  To that end I've tried to not be "that guy".  Firearms are fun but also seriously dangerous.  They are not a topic that ever needs to be clouded in mystery or ego.  Keep up the great posts, and welcome to our community.

[NWPilgrim]

Well at least you followed at least one safety rule more or less and nothing important was hit. Keeping your firearm pointed in a safe direction is probably the single rule that will prevent most serious NDs.  what is heartbreaking is when someone has a ND and was playing around purposely pointing at someone.  good for you to keep the muzzle pointing at the floor when it occurred.

Way to own up to it and take it to heart for the future.  I like these stories as it is a vivid reminder to us all that it can happen in a blink of an eye of distraction or "of course it's not loaded...".

[redeyeprep]

I had one incident early on in my marriage that – fortunately – didn't result in a ND, but it could have been ugly. My wife was playing around and pointed my carry gun at me, fully loaded with one in the chamber (which is how I always carry it). I very slowly got off the line and gently took the gun from her. Luckily for me, she inadvertently observed the 'keep your nose picker off the bang lever' rule. She meant no harm, but I instantly recognized the need for some serious firearm safety training. She's since gone on to get her CCW and has even taken an advanced pistol class with me. I in turn bought her a nice FNP-9 (great handgun BTW. Wish I had one!) that she wanted as a graduation present. I never mention that incident to her, although I still occasionally annoy her by randomly asking her about the four safety rules.   

The takeaway lesson is that no matter how well versed the shooters in the household are on gun safety, they damn well better make sure the non-shooters are well versed too. If I had been shot that day, it would have absolutely been my fault, but my possibly widowed wife would have had to live with that for the rest of her life.

[Rangeboss]

When I started as a cop in '86, my first dept was a war zone. 150 cops and 18 officer involved shootings the first year I was there. The weapon of choice was Colt .45 1911, cocked and locked. I had been a revolver shooter up to that point and I was issued a model 19, .357. 
I chose the S&W 645 with double action on the first round. I practiced 200 rounds a day, 5-6 days a week for 2 years there. Always burned 200 before going on duty. They did not mind.

Out of 160 lockers in the locker room, 12 had half inch holes in them. None from me, thank goodness, but my partner had his .45 fall out of his holster and go off when it hit the ground. Fortunately the gun hit my foot when it went off, the bullet went the other way.

Be safe peeps.

[TheRetiredRancher]

+1 from me too.  My ND came when I was in the 8th grade, MANY years ago.  We always kept our firearms unloaded, well, except for the time that we had a pair of coyotes that were trying to tease the dogs out for a run every evening.  My dad left his .30-06 loaded and I thought that it was time to give it a good cleaning a few days later.  I tried one quick "dry fire" with it before cleaning it.  OOPS!  I was following all other safety proceedures so no harm done except to my ego.  But I remember it to this day very clearly.

[Cylon]

I had a negligent discharge today...in my home!  Scared the S@!$ out of me.  No one was hurt. No one else was in the house.  I failed on a number of safety rules. No excuse. But nothing like this to get refocused on the important stuff.  I did a lot of searching on the internet after this.  A good link for everybody to read through. This guy was lucky...I was amazingly lucky. It's easy to get complacent.  Think about how much of an impact this could have in your life. Now or even when things aren't "normal".
http://negligentdischarge.com

+1 for testicular fortitude in owning up and admitting your mistake.