Accidental discharge in Florida home?

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diceman3

Inactive
I've been reading a thread and see clearly the problems with firing in public or on private property where it may endanger someone in a gated community with nearby homes. I've always wondered about this question:

Question: What if a private home owner in a gated community is cleaning his pistol and, from inside his home accidentally discharges a round that just causes some damage to an internal wall, and no one is injured?

If someone calls the police to report hearing a gun go off, and someone comes to your house and you tell them that you had an accidental discharge, is that against the law in Florida?
 
Ooops, sounds like you or someone you know has had this happen to them. What are you or they doing cleaning a weapon without clearing it first?? :eek:

Don't know about the legal aspects, but I would hope you or they don't test the waters again.
 
Don't answer the door.
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Probably not a wise idea. If the cops are responding to a report of a gunshot, and you don't answer the door, they'll probably think it's a possible suicide, murder, or murder/suicide scenario and respond accordingly.

Prevention is the best cure.
 
An accidental discharge rarely happens during cleaning; negligent discharges are too common during cleaning.

Normally, "accidental discharges" are defined as having been caused by either mechanical malfunction of the weapon, or an external factor.

If the trigger is manipulated while a round is chambered, that's not accidental, that's negligent.

If somebody is carrying a weapon with a chambered round, and finger on the trigger, and he falls and the weapon discharges, that's negligent - finger should not have been on the trigger.

If somebody is carrying a weapon with a chambered round, in a normal carry mode for that weapon, and he falls, and the weapon's safeties don't work for some reason, that would be accidental.
 
Generally, ordinances addressing the discharge of a firearm within city limits are at the city or county level, rather than a state law. Two neighboring municipalities can have very different laws regarding this issue; some may not even have laws regarding this while other municipalities may regulate down to the slingshot or BB gun level.

In other words, you need to determine what the law is for where you live in Florida.

Another issue: Many, if not all, gated communities have HOAs that may take exception to the discharge of firearms within its borders and financial penalties may be leveled by the HOA.
 
Ok, now we know the difference between accidental and negligent discharge, makes sense. Ok, so now it's not accidental, but negligent, question is still on the table, if negligent discharge happens in your home, stays within walls, and no one is injured. Anyone know the legal answer?
In Florida, state law prevails over any local, municipal, city laws on gun laws since 2005, and only talks to public discharges to guns and schools, etc. So far I haven't seen a legal answer to the question. Certainly agree that it's smart to answer the door!
 
You are correct, Florida has state preemption on firearms, and seems to have started putting non-compliant municipalities on notice.
 
Turn up the T.V. real loud on a cowboy show... Apologize to the officers for the false alarm and invite them in for a glass of iced tea
 
I imagine lying or trying to hide what happened would be worse than simply admitting it. Assuming no tangible harm was done to anyone else, or to their property, the worst punishment would likely be a citation.

...and, hopefully, a lesson learned.
 
An interior ND that does not exit the house isn't likely to attract much attention at the time of the event. If the house has much of a yard, what sound that does escape the house (assuming windows are not open) is going to be difficult to hear. There will be a muffled 'wump' sound that people outside will be unlikely to identify as being a gun shot noise. As the sound well be transmitted outside from various areas of the house, folks will likely have difficulty knowing or recognizing that the sound came from your house versus coming from somewhere behind your house, though a person on your front porch would certainly know the sound came from inside.

As noted, turn on the exhaust fan and open a couple of windows to allow fresh air in and the smokey air to go away. You don't need to be breathing that.

I would likely grab a picture from elsewhere in the house and immediately hang it over the hole until which time I could patch it myself and repaint. This was the method I used when I drove the head of a hammer into my wall. The hole is still there and we have a very nice picture hanging in our laundry room.
 
It is against the law to lie to a police officer in the course of his duties. If you ND in your home and a popo comes a callin', you'll be breaking the law if you deny it. You can, of course, decline to answer his questions, at the risk of him assessing that your noncooperation now gives him PC to believe a crime has been committed (in the context of why he was called to the scene, of course). So, the best course of action is to behave with a modicum of judgment and intelligence, because if you do, a negligent discharge is impossible.

People who claim that a gun discharged accidentally/negligently while they were cleaning it or showing it to someone else are either liars or gravely intellectually challenged.
 
With areas introducing shot spotter technology they may know within 5 feet where it came from. The tech may only be present in high crime areas now but like all govt surveillance you can expect rapid expansion.
 
With areas introducing shot spotter technology they may know within 5 feet where it came from. The tech may only be present in high crime areas now but like all govt surveillance you can expect rapid expansion.
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Shot spotter doesn't work for indoor discharges. Once again, the problem is that the structure of the home will significantly dampen/muffle the sound. Whereas an open air pistol shot might be heard in excess of a mile, certainly many hundreds of yards, gun shots fired inside a closed home may produce sound that only travels 10s of yards. Even then, if the shot occurs in the front of the home, it may not be noted by a person outside and behind the home.

Sound waves from a gunshot reach each sensor at a different time, allowing for triangulation. Police officials said the system is precise, with a margin of error of about 5 yards, but isn't designed for indoor shootings.
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http://www.shotspotter.com/news-and-events/news/gunfire-alert-systems-aid-safety-calif-cops-say
 
The system will improve over the next decade in the interest of "public safety". I fully expect a system listening for "key words" within 20...
 
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