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While I agree that it's the officer's fault, I'm just enough of a liberal to think it might not hurt Glock financially to help this guy out, just a little. There are some people who are very rich in this world, and, a little humanity wouldn't be a bad thing, once in awhile. Sort of the Robin Hood romantic in me, I guess.
Hey, don't go playing the compassionate, liberal, humanitarian card to try and make the rest of us feel bad about being hateful, selfish, judgmental jerks.. We all know what you are really like...you are one of us
To put my feelings on the issue bluntly: Glocks are overpriced, under safetied(some may see that as a feature) guns, barely suitable for their intended use.
Well, you guys think Gaston hasn't made enough money?
You think his insurance company couldn't pay a million dollars in medical bills, which I'm sure this guy has, without blinking an eye?
I see companies that make money, both legally, and right on the edge of legal, or illegal, read Enron, and really wonder if a little forgiveness, and understanding for our fellow humans might not be in order.
Others have said that this guy is justified by his life in a wheel chair because, as a police officer, he would, or should, enforce the laws of Kalifornia, that would make him a criminal for not having his child in a car seat, and, having the gun within the childs' reach.
My sampling of police officers is they think the Kali legislator is writing WAY too many laws, and, the Penal code should be about 100 pages, max, or less. MOST of the retired officers I know have moved out of state.
Don't blame the police for allowing the absurd laws being passed by the Kali legislature, blame the voters. OH, that means we have to take responsibility for this place?:barf:
While it may not be politically correct, many officers understand that EVERYTHING in Kali is illegal, and, they use their discretion on which laws to enforce. Some are jerks. Some aren't. Don't know this guy, but, I do know he's in a wheel chair for the rest of his life, and, I can only wish that on the Mugabe's of this world...
I also notice we are repeating the same errors we made with the Robber Barons in the early part of the last century. When people become so wealthy, and so selfish, that they accumulate so much wealth they can't possibly ever use it, we destabilize our society, creating a situation ripe for revolution. It's happening a bit now. When gas goes up 50% in a year, it's going to affect those on barely liveable wages, and others. Police make more then I do as a teacher, but, they still don't make much.
At some point, humanity has to win out. For me, I can totally see someone saying to himself,
"there is NO WAY that my cat or my child can pull the trigger on my gun".
My cat can open drawers, clean them out, climb in and sleep. She opens screen doors, and, sometimes, doors we think are closed. She can also jump straight up, about 7 feet, from a crouch.She's quite capable of pulling the trigger on a glock, if so motivated. Wouldn't have known that, when I got her as a kitten. I guess we now know so are 3 year olds. My guess is this police officer figured his gun was safe from a 3 year old. What an incredibly painful way to learn you are wrong...
There is a REALLY good argument that a Glock is unsafe for it's intended purpose: in other words, this is the argument that I would make, in court, for the violation of
'implied warranty of purpose'. In other words, you make a product, that, due to it's lack of safety, is inherently dangerous. The industry standard, in fact nearly all other guns, but outdated revolvers, have some sort of safety that requires some sort of intelligent positive action on the part of the shooter to disengage the safety, and shoot the gun. The lack of such a safety on a glock, combined with the light trigger pull
barf: after typing that) makes the gun inherently dangerous, much more so then the industry standard of other guns avaliable.
Then you trot out all the other choices, that aren't cheap plastic, are made even in DA/SA mode with a much heavier first shot trigger, used by other police agencies, and explain that they would have been a much better choice. Also, you point out the cheap price point the maker has focused on, their active advertizing, and huge budget, and suggest that with some of that money they could have designed a more effective safety on the gun.
As for the falacious argument that just because a government agency buys it, they know what they are doing, I'd trot out a few friends that would say they went with Sig p220's for out PD because Glocks are not reliable, not safe, when viewed against the other entries in the market. They would then testify that the major factor in buying the Glocks was the fantastic, cheap price the guns are offered to LEO's, because, unlike American companies not being able to sell under wholesale cost, Glock does just that, to gain marketshare, because they are an Austrian company, and, it's difficult to detect their actual costs, and, since they are not subject to the absurd anti-gun regulations, and most lawsuits, have much lower costs then an American company.
I would also have a table, covered with about 100 handguns, suitable for police use, that have a safties a 3 year old could not disengage, and, a trigger they could not pull. I'd point out all the different agencies, and, all the different guns in use that have a decent safety on them.
Then, I'd bring out the aftermarket Glock safties, the trigger based one,
http://www.tarnhelm.com/GlockSafety.html
http://members.aol.com/saftblok/
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2008/01/07/sidelock-glock-safety-trigger/
And point out that many others have been concerned with the same issue, and, that for a less then 100 dollar design change, this accident would never have happened.
I love this quote from one of the safety sites:
...
Why take a chance that a moment of forgetfullness leads to a tragic accident? GLOCKs®, originally designed without safeties so law enforcement officers could transition easily from revolvers to semi-autopistols without having to learn how to disengage a safety, can have added protection built in by the installation of the GLOCK manual safety.
This ergonomically designed safety works in fashion similar to the Colt 1911 safety, except that it is in the frame. With adequate training, disengaging the safety becomes habit, yet the safety may bring the history of accidental discharges with a GLOCK® to an end. You can load and unload the firearm with the safety engaged, which locks all the factory-standard passive safeties as well.
I think that's a pretty solid case...
