Still busily working away on the ND / AD / UD project.

Do you wonder how it’s coming along?

Well… here’s the bottom line, right up front.

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Unintentional discharges happen when people handle firearms …

• while distracted or physically stressed;
• while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, including prescription drugs;
• while ignorant of, or apathetic toward, fundamental aspects of firearm function and/or safe gunhandling;
• while unfamiliar with a specific gun type;
• while mixing functional guns with dummy guns, or while handling guns presumed to be “unloaded” alongside guns known to be loaded;
• while mechanically lowering an external hammer;
• while using a decocking lever or closing the action (this factor is not limited to guns in poor repair);
• while using equipment — guns and holsters — in poor repair;
• while using holsters that are poorly designed, or while using a holster carelessly;
• while relying upon personal attention to detail rather than proven and redundantly overlapping gunhandling systems; and
• while believing ‘it can never happen to me’.

Injurious unintentional discharges – ones that maim or kill someone  – tend to happen most often when the gun handler mistakenly believes that the gun is unloaded. Many of these injuries happen when the user deliberately pulls the trigger.

More to follow …