Fingers Not Required for Guns to go Bang

[Kirk Freeman]

Country music just lost a legend to an accidental discharge.

Remember, guns do not require fingers to discharge.

Your knowledge and training in gunhandling is far, far more important than a gun's feature, caliber, optics, color or any other meaningless detail.

Pistols belong in holsters, long guns belong slung.

Texas singer-songwriter Steven Fromholz dies in hunting accident | Dallas Morning News

 

[drillsgt]

Country music just lost a legend to an accidental discharge.

Remember, guns do not require fingers to discharge.

Your knowledge and training in gunhandling is far, far more important than a gun's feature, caliber, optics, color or any other meaningless detail.

Pistols belong in holsters, long guns belong slung.

Texas singer-songwriter Steven Fromholz dies in hunting accident | Dallas Morning News

It's definitely possible even though I think a lot of the "it just went off" stories are BS. When we'd take in Rem 700's we would cock them and then bump the butt on the ground, if they were worn or "worked on" they would fire. Same with S&W revolvers, we would cock the hammer and push it, we'd get quite a few that the hammer would drop.

 

[Twangbanger]

Every anecdotal example given so far in the above two posts involves fingers, in some way.

Just sayin'.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

What anecdotal examples?

 

[9x18]

I actually had used Makarov go off. Luckily I was at the farm shooting, racked the slide and little bit of full auto. The firing pin was stick forward. The guy I bough it from never clean it, it still had what I can tell cosmo in the firing pin channel with other dirt. Scary, yes, but I was safe about it in a way., well I should have check it very well before, but I do on every gun I buy now.

 

[Dirtebiker]

Country music just lost a legend to an accidental discharge.

Remember, guns do not require fingers to discharge.

Your knowledge and training in gunhandling is far, far more important than a gun's feature, caliber, optics, color or any other meaningless detail.

Pistols belong in holsters, long guns belong slung.

Texas singer-songwriter Steven Fromholz dies in hunting accident | Dallas Morning News

Yes, some guns CAN fire without touching the trigger. But are you saying that's what happened in this case?

 

[OWGEM]

From another article it seems likely he did not finger the trigger of the Rossi .44-magnum lever-action rifle...

"The bullet discharged, went through the case, hit Fromholz at the bottom of his left wrist, passed through the other side, and struck him just below his right eye, Arista said. “A Winchester lever-action has got a bar on the front of the firing pin that will not let the hammer rest on the firing pin unless you squeeze the trigger,” Arista said. “The Rossi didn’t have that on it.”"

Texas Music Icon Steven Fromholz Dies In Hunting Accident - Fort Worth Weekly

 

[NHT3]

Fingers may or may not apply in this case but it's attention to simple safety rules (some call it "stupid") that caused injury, and in this case death, rather than "accidental" anything. It's not an accident if your firearm is unsafe or if you point it in an unsafe direction. People control mechanical items not the other way around, at least not yet.


[FONT=&amp]NRA Life Member~~ [/FONT][FONT=&amp]GSSF member[/FONT][FONT=&amp]
[/FONT]Gunsite graduate[FONT=&amp] ~~[/FONT]Certified Glock armorer
NRA Certified pistol instructor[FONT=&amp] ~~[/FONT]1911 Mechanic

 

[Snapdragon]

What anecdotal examples?

I don't think this was referring to your post, Kirk, but the second poster, who agreed with you that fingers aren't necessary for guns to go off and then gave supporting examples of how guns went off by themselves after being cocked.

 

[churchmouse]

I was just given a very nice 10 gauge side by side. It is a well made gun and was used for Geese and other high flying bird hunting.
Reason I was given the gun.....when closing the gun after loading the right barrel fires. No fingers on the trigger, just closing the breech drops the firing pin. This was discovered when he shot a hole in his boat a few years ago. No one was hurt but he and his buddy got very wet when the boat sank.
Guns are machines. Machines fail/break.

 

[Harleyrider_50]

?........Never heard o' the dude,m'self.......

 

[Stschil]

Tragedy that it is, I'll say Rest in Peace.

Fingers may not be required, but the engagement of ones brain matter is. The firearm should not have been allowed to be transported in a loaded condition. Whether there was a mechanical malfunction or not causing the discharge when the rifle fell out of the case is a moot point. Who is a fault is up for grabs, but a Human is the cause of this 'accident' not a faulty firearm, even if the rifle did have unknown issues.

 

[spaniel]

the engagement of ones brain matter is. The firearm should not have been allowed to be transported in a loaded condition.

This was my thought...why was the gun in a case with one in the chamber?

As for firing without finger on the trigger, we have an old Fox side-by-side 12 gauge. Back in the early 80s my uncle took it out to shoot some trap in the back field. He opened it, dropped in 2 shells, and then closed it. As soon as it locked, both barrels fired. There were half a dozen witnesses, confirming he pulled neither trigger. I was too young at the time to remember the details, but when taken to a gunsmith it was found to have broken inside. Ten years later using that gun to fire a 12 gauge for the first time in my life, I pulled the back trigger and both barrels discharged...broken again. But in both cases with this gun, proper safety was being used so nobody was hurt.

It happens. But in this case, someone left a live round in the chamber of a cased gun. That is negligence.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

I was just given a very nice 10 gauge side by side. It is a well made gun and was used for Geese and other high flying bird hunting.
Reason I was given the gun.....when closing the gun after loading the right barrel fires. No fingers on the trigger, just closing the breech drops the firing pin. This was discovered when he shot a hole in his boat a few years ago. No one was hurt but he and his buddy got very wet when the boat sank.
Guns are machines. Machines fail/break.

10 ga.....side-by-side? That thing's gotta kick like an angry mule.

 

[Hoosier8]

Tragedy that it is, I'll say Rest in Peace.

Fingers may not be required, but the engagement of ones brain matter is. The firearm should not have been allowed to be transported in a loaded condition. Whether there was a mechanical malfunction or not causing the discharge when the rifle fell out of the case is a moot point. Who is a fault is up for grabs, but a Human is the cause of this 'accident' not a faulty firearm, even if the rifle did have unknown issues.

Very good point. Leaving a gun loaded (unless of course it is your home defense gun) can cause problems. I almost dry fired a rifle I had before my brain kicked in and I checked the chamber and sure enough, it had a round in the chamber.

 

[churchmouse]

10 ga.....side-by-side? That thing's gotta kick like an angry mule.

I shot it before it started acting crazy. Yes it does. I screwed the pooch and pulled the front trigger 1st and set off both sides. Hurt much.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

I shot it before it started acting crazy. Yes it does. I screwed the pooch and pulled the front trigger 1st and set off both sides. Hurt much.

 

[eldirector]

That wasn't an "accident".

1) Loaded rifle in a case
2) No safety, I assume?
3) Unzipped case
4) He dropped the gun

If I were to drop a plugged-in toaster into the bathtub while bathing, it wouldn't be an accident.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

I know there is the tendency to turn every accidental discharge into blaming the victim so that we do not have to recognize the reality that firearms can discharge when we do not want them to.

I only post these accidental discharges to counter the gun culture-wide denial that these incidents transpire.

As familiarity breeds contempt we must not become so blasé with our weapons that we injure ourselves or others by forgetting that firearms can and do discharge without fingers on triggers.

 

[churchmouse]

Yes, they can. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^