This editorial from the current newsletter of RANGE MASTER in Memphis (Volume 14, Issue 11) is a sobering reminder of the importance of always bearing in mind and adhering to "Cooper's Rules":
[size=13]Preventable Tragedies:
Training Accidents
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[size=10]Negligent shootings during training exercises seem to be more and more common recently, often resulting in needless deaths or crippling injuries. In every such case I have examined recently, the root cause was simple carelessness with firearms, or failure to follow the most elemental rules of gunhandling. Here are a couple of examples from earlier this year.
In one case, a SWAT team was practicing a rescue mission involving hostages on a city bus, held by an armed man. The officers were using their duty weapons, but all had been unloaded and inspected, and ammunition removed from the training area. A designated rifleman (sniper) arrived late for the exercise, got his rifle from the trunk of his car, aimed in on the head of the police captain playing the role of hostage taker, and shot him stone dead. This was NOT an accident—this was clearly a negligent homicide, and the officer was recently indicted for that crime. Here are some key points:
1. Be on time for training. You cannot afford to miss any briefing or other information, and ALL weapons need to be cleared and inspected at one time if role play is to be conducted.
2. All guns are always loaded. If you remove a rifle from your trunk, clear it. This is not someone else’s responsibility.
3. Don’t point your gun at anything you are not willing to destroy. Role play should ONLY be conducted with non-firing weapons, such as red guns, air soft guns, or Simunitions kit equipped guns, NOT live duty weapons.
In Case Two, an instructor was supervising Simunitions exercises while wearing a loaded real gun. He forgot, drew his pistol, and nailed a student right between the eyes, fatally. See 1-3 above.
The most recent case, which spurred this rant, involved a police academy trainee in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. He was ¾ of the way through the academy, and was undergoing firearms and tactics training. When he got home one night, he couldn’t wait to show his girlfriend what he had learned that day. He removed the magazine from his Glock .40, aimed it at her chest, and pressed the trigger, killing her on the spot. Again, this was no accident, but a negligent killing. ALWAYS clear your gun properly before any administrative handling (cleaning, etc), which includes removing the round from the chamber and INSPECTING the chamber before considering the gun unloaded. Again, don’t point a real gun at a live person under anything but combat conditions. These events are completely preventable and are generally unforgiveable.[/size]
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And although each of us knows them, here for review once again are those cardinal rules of gun safety expounded by the legendary Colonel Jeff Cooper:
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RULE 1
ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED
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The only exception to this occurs when one has a weapon in his hands and he has personally unloaded it for checking. As soon as he puts it down, Rule 1 applies again.
RULE 2
NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT PREPARED TO DESTROY
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You may not wish to destroy it, but you must be clear in your mind that you are quite ready to if you let that muzzle cover the target. To allow a firearm to point at another human being is a deadly threat, and should always be treated as such.
RULE 3
KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER TIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET
This we call the Golden Rule because its violation is responsible for about 80 percent of the firearms disasters we read about.
RULE 4
BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET
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You never shoot at anything until you have positively identified it. You never fire at a shadow, or a sound, or a suspected presence. You shoot only when you know absolutely what you are shooting at and what is beyond it. [/size]
Thus endeth the morning's lesson.
