I can't count how many times Ive read about someone's ND. Tonight you get to read about my ND. Tonight I was 'that guy'.
First, this is a VERY serious matter to me. I've always thought that I took firearms safety very serious, so please dont take my use of humor in a couple places as me making light of the situation. Its just part of my way to cope with some situations.
OK, now for the story. Tonight I not only had an ND, but I did it in front of 14 class peers and 3 instructors. Many people I consider friends, and have a lot of respect for. The worst thing about this for me is I feel like any respect they had for me was lost.
I was in attendance at the ACT Low Light Techniques class @ RCC. This was very near the beginning of the class. I was part of the 2nd relay group, and if I recall correctly this was our 2nd time on the firing line. We were in the midst of a move/shoot drill, and were at the end of string when the ND occurred. Again if I recall correctly I had unknowingly holstered an empty/slide locked open handgun.
Upon the start of the next course of fire I pulled the pistol out of the holster, brought it up to fire and realized something wasn't right. I think this was the first step of the incident as this flustered me a bit. I dropped the mag, reloaded, and was 'back in the fight' (note, all the while Im doing this with a flashlight on a lanyard, either in my left hand or hanging depending on what it required), I quickly (I was in a hurry because I was behind) finished my string, and this is where I made my critical mistake. I'm my hurry, I must not have taken my finger out of the trigger guard. Upon trying to quickly return my handgun to its holster, I pushed down, my finger must have hit the top of the holster, and pushed back into the trigger, discharging my handgun.
I felt the muzzle blast against my leg. It didnt hurt but I could tell something had 'pushed' on my leg. When it happened the world stopped for a second. That second seemed like an eternity. By the time I was "back", I had my handgun out of the holster, and just forward of it, and by then quite a few people were there to assist. I had a pretty good adrenaline dump going, and my only reaction (other than WTF OVER!?) was to do exactly what they said. Someone took my gun and made it safe. I was worried that I had actually put a bullet in my leg, so obijohn and I went to the side and I dropped my pants (I'm hoping this is the only time I ever have to say or type that statement, ever). Luckily for me I had only put 2 holes in my pants, one in, and one out, but no extra holes in me. I guess its good I only had a 9mm cause Burl said a "mans gun" would have just blown my leg off.
Anyway, after that I took a timeout for who knows how long. I sat in obijohn's truck to gather my self and calm down. My heart was racing, but more or less I was calm. I couldn't believe what I had just done (still can't), and I was just very glad I didn't hurt myself or anyone else.
So, what did I learn? This is the important part because if nothing else this should be a reminder for everyone who wasn't there. Trust me, everyone who was there and witness to this was thinking about it! Basically I've found that you CAN'T (or at least shouldn't) try to hurry or go at full speed (well, my full speed) when your learning something new. Especially when its something very different from the norm, like trying to operate a flashlight with one hand, a firearms in the other, while shooting in the dark. There was a pretty high level of stress in trying to manipulate all of this together and then I got behind in the drill and tried to play catch-up. After my time out when I did get back to shooting, I slowed way down, especially at the holstering part, and made sure I knew where my finger was.
For me, one thing I did after this incident was 'get back on the horse'. While I was sitting trying to calm down, I had thought about packing up and going home. As I sit here now, Im really glad that I didn't. I had a lot of anxiety getting back on the line, but I needed to do it so I could prove to myself that I could be safe again.
Anyway, that's pretty much my story. I'm thankful that in the end everything turned out ok, and Im able to sit in my house tonight and post this. I hope that if nothing else it serves as a reminder to everyone to be vigilant about gun safety. I still really hate that it happened, but it has opened my eyes to how complacent I must have become in doing the same thing safely hundreds of time. I got sloppy just one time and I was no longer safe and almost went on a very quick diet plan. It could have been MUCH worse!
If nothing else, I guess I will probably join the ranks of Burl in being a living example used during every ACT class from hear on out
Stay safe everyone!
First, this is a VERY serious matter to me. I've always thought that I took firearms safety very serious, so please dont take my use of humor in a couple places as me making light of the situation. Its just part of my way to cope with some situations.
OK, now for the story. Tonight I not only had an ND, but I did it in front of 14 class peers and 3 instructors. Many people I consider friends, and have a lot of respect for. The worst thing about this for me is I feel like any respect they had for me was lost.
I was in attendance at the ACT Low Light Techniques class @ RCC. This was very near the beginning of the class. I was part of the 2nd relay group, and if I recall correctly this was our 2nd time on the firing line. We were in the midst of a move/shoot drill, and were at the end of string when the ND occurred. Again if I recall correctly I had unknowingly holstered an empty/slide locked open handgun.
Upon the start of the next course of fire I pulled the pistol out of the holster, brought it up to fire and realized something wasn't right. I think this was the first step of the incident as this flustered me a bit. I dropped the mag, reloaded, and was 'back in the fight' (note, all the while Im doing this with a flashlight on a lanyard, either in my left hand or hanging depending on what it required), I quickly (I was in a hurry because I was behind) finished my string, and this is where I made my critical mistake. I'm my hurry, I must not have taken my finger out of the trigger guard. Upon trying to quickly return my handgun to its holster, I pushed down, my finger must have hit the top of the holster, and pushed back into the trigger, discharging my handgun.
I felt the muzzle blast against my leg. It didnt hurt but I could tell something had 'pushed' on my leg. When it happened the world stopped for a second. That second seemed like an eternity. By the time I was "back", I had my handgun out of the holster, and just forward of it, and by then quite a few people were there to assist. I had a pretty good adrenaline dump going, and my only reaction (other than WTF OVER!?) was to do exactly what they said. Someone took my gun and made it safe. I was worried that I had actually put a bullet in my leg, so obijohn and I went to the side and I dropped my pants (I'm hoping this is the only time I ever have to say or type that statement, ever). Luckily for me I had only put 2 holes in my pants, one in, and one out, but no extra holes in me. I guess its good I only had a 9mm cause Burl said a "mans gun" would have just blown my leg off.
Anyway, after that I took a timeout for who knows how long. I sat in obijohn's truck to gather my self and calm down. My heart was racing, but more or less I was calm. I couldn't believe what I had just done (still can't), and I was just very glad I didn't hurt myself or anyone else.
So, what did I learn? This is the important part because if nothing else this should be a reminder for everyone who wasn't there. Trust me, everyone who was there and witness to this was thinking about it! Basically I've found that you CAN'T (or at least shouldn't) try to hurry or go at full speed (well, my full speed) when your learning something new. Especially when its something very different from the norm, like trying to operate a flashlight with one hand, a firearms in the other, while shooting in the dark. There was a pretty high level of stress in trying to manipulate all of this together and then I got behind in the drill and tried to play catch-up. After my time out when I did get back to shooting, I slowed way down, especially at the holstering part, and made sure I knew where my finger was.
For me, one thing I did after this incident was 'get back on the horse'. While I was sitting trying to calm down, I had thought about packing up and going home. As I sit here now, Im really glad that I didn't. I had a lot of anxiety getting back on the line, but I needed to do it so I could prove to myself that I could be safe again.
Anyway, that's pretty much my story. I'm thankful that in the end everything turned out ok, and Im able to sit in my house tonight and post this. I hope that if nothing else it serves as a reminder to everyone to be vigilant about gun safety. I still really hate that it happened, but it has opened my eyes to how complacent I must have become in doing the same thing safely hundreds of time. I got sloppy just one time and I was no longer safe and almost went on a very quick diet plan. It could have been MUCH worse!
If nothing else, I guess I will probably join the ranks of Burl in being a living example used during every ACT class from hear on out
Stay safe everyone!
Seriously though, glad nobody was hurt, and thanks to Clay for posting this. Good reminder!
