I just wanted to share these two examples w/ everyone to illustrate that it's in my opinion not the gun design as TFW seemed to be pointing to in his Glock Perfection post, but it's IMHO more a training issue & a familiarity of a designs manual of arms that's important.
I own or have owned da/sa, 1911's, Glock, & DAO pistols, so though I am a Glock fan, I'm a fan of the others as well, I like variety.
The following is from FrontSight's webpage, in short form:
FrontSight Training Institute has thousands of students attend their courses every year, using submachineguns, shotguns, pistols, & revolvers. Out of all the students & various types of firearms, there have only been two negligent discharges at the facility.
The 1st, involved a student w/a da/sa Sig P229.
After an exercise, the student reholstered his weapon, w/out first decocking it. Upon drawing for the next course of fire, he failed to adhere to safety rule number 3, & placed his finger on the trigger according to those who investigated the incident. The result, a 180gr bullet through his thigh.
Should I blame the weapon's design, or deem it unsafe, of course not! With the da/sa pistol, after the 1st shot is fired, the person is holding a cocked & unlocked pistol, the student simply failed to follow the manual of arms for this guns design, & failed to follow safety rule 3.
The 2nd incident involed a 22 year combat veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, who was taking the instructors certification course.
Weapon was a 1911 Colt Gold Cup, w/ a Kydex holster.
After firing to controlled pairs, he was reholstering his weapon & a negligent discharge occurred. It was determined that he failed to properly engage the thumb safety, leaving him hoslstering a cocked & unlocked weapon, this coupled w/ the fact that the Kydex holster he was using had a plastic recess that fits inside the trigger gaurd to secure the weapon in the holster caused the ND.
Is it the pistols fault, is the 1911 unsafe or a flawed design? Absolutely not, again, this was simply a case of failing to follow a given designs manual of arms.
As a side note, the student received what was called in the article a nasty looking superficial wound, he returned later that afternoon, & completed the course w/ a Glock 9mm.
To me this illustrates the following, become very familiar w/ & practice the manual of arms for a given pistol. A heavier trigger pull, a decocking lever, or manual safety will not tolerate lapses in concentration or failure to follow gun safety rules, just as the Glocks safe action trigger will not.
The manual of arms for a given pistol design might differentiate from the next & might not appeal to some people, but that does not make the design unsafe or flawed.
For instance, I prefer the NY 1 trigger for my Glocks, however, it's the Glock triggers approx. 1/8 in. travel to discharge that I've trained myself to be aware of when shooting these pistols. W/ da/sa guns, one has to train themselves to use the decock lever upon reholstering, become proficient w/ two trigger pulls & be aware at all times that after the 1st shot is fired, there's a cocked & unlocked pistol in their hands. And w/ 1911's, it's properly learning to manipulate the thumb & grip safety, & remembering to engage the safety upon reholstering, as well as training w/ a light short stroke trigger.
Barring mechanical defects which can obviously occurr w/ any pistol design, IMO, guns are as safe as their owners, and I beleive these two examples show that even if you have extra devices in place to prevent accidents, one momentary lapse of concentration w/ any firearm can lead to a loud bang when one wasn't expected.
Stay safe & good shootin!
{long shot}
I own or have owned da/sa, 1911's, Glock, & DAO pistols, so though I am a Glock fan, I'm a fan of the others as well, I like variety.
The following is from FrontSight's webpage, in short form:
FrontSight Training Institute has thousands of students attend their courses every year, using submachineguns, shotguns, pistols, & revolvers. Out of all the students & various types of firearms, there have only been two negligent discharges at the facility.
The 1st, involved a student w/a da/sa Sig P229.
After an exercise, the student reholstered his weapon, w/out first decocking it. Upon drawing for the next course of fire, he failed to adhere to safety rule number 3, & placed his finger on the trigger according to those who investigated the incident. The result, a 180gr bullet through his thigh.
Should I blame the weapon's design, or deem it unsafe, of course not! With the da/sa pistol, after the 1st shot is fired, the person is holding a cocked & unlocked pistol, the student simply failed to follow the manual of arms for this guns design, & failed to follow safety rule 3.
The 2nd incident involed a 22 year combat veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, who was taking the instructors certification course.
Weapon was a 1911 Colt Gold Cup, w/ a Kydex holster.
After firing to controlled pairs, he was reholstering his weapon & a negligent discharge occurred. It was determined that he failed to properly engage the thumb safety, leaving him hoslstering a cocked & unlocked weapon, this coupled w/ the fact that the Kydex holster he was using had a plastic recess that fits inside the trigger gaurd to secure the weapon in the holster caused the ND.
Is it the pistols fault, is the 1911 unsafe or a flawed design? Absolutely not, again, this was simply a case of failing to follow a given designs manual of arms.
As a side note, the student received what was called in the article a nasty looking superficial wound, he returned later that afternoon, & completed the course w/ a Glock 9mm.
To me this illustrates the following, become very familiar w/ & practice the manual of arms for a given pistol. A heavier trigger pull, a decocking lever, or manual safety will not tolerate lapses in concentration or failure to follow gun safety rules, just as the Glocks safe action trigger will not.
The manual of arms for a given pistol design might differentiate from the next & might not appeal to some people, but that does not make the design unsafe or flawed.
For instance, I prefer the NY 1 trigger for my Glocks, however, it's the Glock triggers approx. 1/8 in. travel to discharge that I've trained myself to be aware of when shooting these pistols. W/ da/sa guns, one has to train themselves to use the decock lever upon reholstering, become proficient w/ two trigger pulls & be aware at all times that after the 1st shot is fired, there's a cocked & unlocked pistol in their hands. And w/ 1911's, it's properly learning to manipulate the thumb & grip safety, & remembering to engage the safety upon reholstering, as well as training w/ a light short stroke trigger.
Barring mechanical defects which can obviously occurr w/ any pistol design, IMO, guns are as safe as their owners, and I beleive these two examples show that even if you have extra devices in place to prevent accidents, one momentary lapse of concentration w/ any firearm can lead to a loud bang when one wasn't expected.
Stay safe & good shootin!
{long shot}