Negligent Discharge after 40 yrs

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Wyoredman

New member
I am feeling like a complete fool today. I hope sharing my tale will help me feel a little better, but I doubt it. :mad:

I have been shooting since my father bought me my first .22 40 years ago and have never had an unintended (negligent) discharge until last night.

I was removing all of my rifles from the safe to check them and oil the ones that required some care. Call it spring cleaning. I was taking each one out, opening the action to verify that it was not loaded , examining it and then leaning it against the wall. My collection consists of a mixture of bolt action, lever action and semi-autos.

After nearly an hour of removing rifles and inspecting them, I was down to the last one in the safe. A pink stocked Remington model 597 that I had purchased for my daughter 10 years ago. This gun has been sitting in the back of the safe for years, unused. Realize that by this time I have checked and inspected 18 different rifles. This was the last one. As I pulled it from the safe, I noticed the mag was installed. I don't know why I did it, but instead of removing the mag first before checking the action, I reversed the order. I cycled the action, nothing ejected, so I removed the mag and pulled the trigger. CRACK! To my surprise I had loaded a round and fired the rifle!

The slug embedded itself into the header above my window. I am not sure why it happened? Was I tired? Was I thinking that there was no way that rifle had ammo in the mag? Was it because the gun has not been used? I don't know! All I know is that I am so sorry for messing up and scared that I could have hurt someone! Luckily I was alone and the rifle was pointed in a safe direction!

I have been thinking this through all night and I hope my story may help me and others to be more vigilant!

These are the lessons I have learned:

-This negligent discharge was put in motion years ago when I put the little .22 rifle into the safe with ammo in the magazine. I don't know when it was or remember doing it. It had to have been years ago! DO NOT EVER PUT A GUN WITH AMMO IN THE MAG IN A SAFE! You will forget!

-I should never take on chores like cleaning/inspecting multiple guns when I am tired or distracted. This is a chore to be taken on when I am 100% alert and with no distractions!

-And finally, ALWAYS MAKE SURE THAT EVERY GUN IS TREATED AS LOADED AND POINTED IN A SAFE DIRECTION - NO MATTER WHAT!

I am 50 years old and have been shooting for 40 of them. This really shook me up! I hope others are smarter than I was last night!
 
Thanks for the reminder. I try to make a habit of checking the action multiple times each time I move a gun from different locations. For example I check each rifle before leaving the range, before bringing them into the house, and a 3rd time before going in the safe. I reverse the order again when leaving the house to go shoot or hunt. It only takes a small distraction at the wrong time to miss a step.

And I see nothing negligent about your actions. In recent years it has become fashionable to label almost all unintentional discharges as negligent. This is a huge departure from the norms when I was learning gun safety, and a HUGE mistake by the shooting community IMO.

To meet the definition of negligent, ND's are very rare. And if you'd truly had a negligent discharge you'd probably be in jail right now. You have to injure someone for it to technically be negligent. While you made mistakes, you did not make the mistake of having the muzzle pointing at another person.
 
Good post and I can't think of anything to say to you that you already haven't said to yourself. Your attitude says you take if very seriously and don't need a lecture. The message I take away is that even people who care and try to get it right every time can still make a mistake. Thank goodness no one was hurt and it's a good reminder to the rest of us "who would never do that" that any of us can do it sometime in our life. Thanks for sharing.
 
this is why I never load up every magazine I own like some people, they say an unloaded gun is a "paper weight"

Ive heard some people leave all their firearms loaded at all times

also happens when you let unauthorized people handle your firearms, you must treat every gun like it's loaded
 
There is a famous line from a not so famous movie. Assumption is mother of all <screwups> That's why.

Thanks for telling this to remind us all. It takes a man to do that.

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
Thank you all.

I am so ashamed and embarrassed and SCARED that I could have hurt someone! All of these emotions and I still have not told my wife. She was sleeping at the other end of the house and didn't wake. I left for work this morning w/o mentioning it to her.

I think tonight I will explain myself, bow my head and take what I have coming.

I hope my screw up will prevent someone else from the same fate.
 
I have managed to avoid an ND/AD in my 60 years of gun-handling. The most significant reason I have avoided one is that three very good friends have each had, or almost had, their own. I consider these guys to be smart and competent people, smarter and more competent than me is some areas. One of them shooting his own furniture, or almost shooting off his own toe, really stands out to me and I think of them every time I pick up a gun. The fact that they shared an embarrassing act with me has helped me avoid such an act.

So, Wyoredman - Thank you for telling us about this. While it might be embarrassing to you, your story will surely help someone else avoid having a much worse experience.
 
glad to hear NO ONE got hurt, or worse. i am new to this sport/hobby, and i think i just learned yet another new lesson
 
No magazines are ever kept in my guns until a mag is inserted into a carry gun when leaving the house.

Years of knowing that "we know and practice" safe habit patterns can create complacency.

That knowledge makes us safe, right?;)
 
Wyoredman
I understand exactly how you are feeling. I had a similar incident a couple years ago. Negligent discharge of a semiautomatic handgun in our spare bedroom/office, where the gun safe is located. Had a momentary brain lapse and fired through a bed into the floor. Scared my poor wife who was in another part of the house. I had my tail between my legs for a couple weeks. These things can happen in a heart beat. It made me a lot more diligent about checking to be absolutely sure the chamber is empty every single time before releasing the firing pin. Thanks for posting. This can happen to anyone as we're all human.
 
Thank you !!!

I am so ashamed and embarrassed and SCARED that I could have hurt someone!
Click to expand...
Right now, the take-away should be that you are better informed and watchful.

I have never had a "Negligent Discharge" but there were two occasion when I came to close to even share with anyone. I know that God looks out for fools and he was sure there on those occasions. I felt no shame, just plain "stupid". ….. :rolleyes:

In a previous life, I was on a team that use to investigate various accidents in our industrial plant. It was a detailed review of what happened and of course take steps to prevent.

In my firearm practices, techniques or what ever you want to call it, I've gotten in trouble when I am distracted or compromise my routine. ……;)

Be Safe !!!
 
You won’t get any sympathy from me. You obviously know better. Shame...Shame...Shame.
To confess to your wife...Hell To The NO! You could have killed her. She will take away your birthday. You do that and she will castrate you and feed your gonads to the dogs.
 
You won’t get any sympathy from me. You obviously know better. Shame...Shame...Shame.
To confess to your wife...Hell To The NO! You could have killed her. She will take away your birthday. You do that and she will castrate you and feed your gonads to the dogs
Click to expand...

Ya know, I don't know exactly the intentions behind this post, but I don't think these words needed to be posted here. Wyoredman did something that took courage when he posted. If this post I quoted was meant to be humorous it missed the mark.
 
I just want to point out the GENIUS in the four rules and the built-in redundancy. Of the four... you broke two and made another one irrelevant and the last rule that you didn’t break saved your bacon.

Everyone should share the four rules as often as possible.
 
I had my only one about 15 years ago. I was oiling/cleaning my guns after shooting most of them. I was really tired (and that's the key, of course), and I was on the next to last gun, a .22 pistol, I can't remember which one. I took my gun rag and wiped it down. One magazine had 10 rounds in it or whatever, and for some reason, I don't know why, I put the mag in, racked the slide, and pulled the trigger. My dogs were sleeping on the floor behind me, and they just got up and left. My mother was sleeping in the next room and ever even woke up! The bullet was in the floor on about a 45 degree angle and after that, I decided to never clean guns when I was really tired.
 
I also had one yesterday. My first.

Cannot even begin to figure out what happened.

I was removing a loaded revolver (DA/SA) from my range bag. It was in a DeSantis pocket holster. I had fired 80 rounds through it at a range just prior to getting home. The revolver had been having light strikes and since AI got it back from Ruger I have put 400 rounds through it prior to starting to carry it.

Bang! my finger was not on the trigger (gun in holster). I simply picked it up. I see no way that the hammer could have been cocked.

Yes, I should have been unloaded at the range but I loaded it because it is to become a back up to my carry. I was stupid that it was not secured properly as a in service back up. I was going to drive through a "shady" area of the county where drugs have been known to be sold.

Again, luckily no one hurt except my feelings and my wallet.

Oh, I have many years experience and even was in a war many years ago with a loaded and unlocked M14 around a bunch of guys who had their weapons in the same state of readiness.

I have learned, but am right now somewhat confused as to what I have learned.
 
I think there is a difference between an accidental discharge due to a mechanical malfunction and a true negligent discharge--though the lawyers that write and review the manufacturer's manuals will not agree. Appreciate the warning--just because that hasn't happened to me doesn't mean I'm not old and negligent enough not to do the same thing at some point--I have had plenty of other things go whacky to know that the safest thing is to always assume a weapon is loaded and ready to fire unless you verify with 100% certainty otherwise. Another one I added to the list, verify the bore is clear, which has the added benefit you'll pull the bolt.
 
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