wilikioti Loc: Deep South, USA

The key word here is "modern handguns." The modern handgun today has been manufactured to zero tolerance in accidental discharge. Not so on older guns. One of the most dangerous handguns ever made was the Colt Peacemaker, the gun that won the west. People were cautioned to never carry the gun with a live round beneath the hammer but some did anyway. A jolt on the hammer could cause the gun to fire. My brother-in-law lost his life in just such a way. His Colt fell out of his belt holster when he was climbing through the window of his house because he didn't have a key. The pistol fell on the hammer causing the gun to discharge and the bullet pierced his aorta, killing him in minutes. Careless?? You bet!! Very unlike him to do so because he was an ex Army Ranger with two tours of duty in Viet Nam.

Rifles? Check the history of the Remington Mod. 700 bolt actions. Several law suits because the rifle would fire when a round was being bolted into the chamber. My son was considering buying a used 700 and wanted me to check it out for him. I took it to the local FOP firing range and on the third round being injected into the chamber, the gun fired without my finger on the trigger. Needless to say he did not buy.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

A few years ago, there was a new house being built not far from me. I noticed that the concrete for the basement had a long, narrow extension. The guy was a competition shooter, and he needed that distance to practice. Clever idea.

carl hervol Loc: jacksonville florida

This just goes to show how dumb people are never leave a round in the chamber.

Jazztrader

Took gun safety class when I was about 10 years old, and it remains permanently implanted on my brain. I remember the first day of class, the instructor saying essentially, "There is no such thing as a gun accident. There are only careless gun mishaps."

Big Bill Loc: Phoenix, AZ

I've more often heard the phrase "Unintended discharge."
I think that fits better.
Several months ago, there was an unintentional discharge in a gun show here in the valley, where loaded guns were forbidden. Luckily, no one was injured.

mdfenton

Except for the Sig Sauer Sig P229 DoubleAction trigger

http://concealednation.org/2015/01/firearm-review-sig-p229-a-serious-gun-for-troubled-times/

Jazztrader

Sorry, I don't agree. "Unintended" has no place in gun safety, which is the point of gun safety classes. It is the responsibility of the gun owner to know at all times the status of his weapon.

Big Bill Loc: Phoenix, AZ

At a gun show in Phoenix, one vendor was selling a gun lube, and he was handing a Glock (could have been any pistol) to anyone who was interested, to demonstrate how well it worked. Each time, he would pull back the slide to make sure it was empty. He did this for me, but being rather OC in this, I also pulled the slide back, just to make sure. He told me he had handed the pistol to well over a hundred people, and I was the first one to do that. Absolutely amazing.

But this reminds me of an incident during OCS at Ft. Belvoir, VA.
We had been on a live fire exercise; at the end of the exercise, we performed "inspection arms" twice. This was range protocol.
"Inspection arms" is a drill where the operator opened the bolt by the operating rod handle (M-14), locked the bolt back, and physically looked in the chamber to ensure a round was not there. Then the bolt was allowed to slam home, and the trigger was pulled. We did this twice at the range.
Back at the barracks, this was done one more time. As the bolts slammed home on order, and triggers were pulled, there was a discharge (not in my platoon). I have no idea of how, after supposedly looking in the chamber three times, a round could be missed, but it was.
I believe this serves to show that, in some cases, doing the safety thing becomes so routine that we go through the motions without actually paying attention.

Big Bill Loc: Phoenix, AZ

Sorry, but that's wrong.
To give but one example: The AK-47 has a floating firing pin. If the bolt is not stripped and cleaned periodically, the pin can become so gummed up that it sticks forward. I have seen videos of this on Youtube.
There is a fix using a new pin and a spring, but the vast majority of AKs have not had the fix made. Mine doesn't. But I understand the problem, and clean the bolt. I've fired thousands of rounds through it (it's fun!), with only one failure to feed, no failures to extract, no misfires.
There are other guns with floating firing pins, and they can present the same problem without proper maintenance.

Jazztrader

The back up safety move here, as learned in a gun safety class, is that the weapon is pointed in a safe direction, therefore being no injuries when the weapon discharged.

One Rude Dawg Loc: Athol, ID

Make sure and ask the mugger to give you time to jack a round in the chamber when he is on top of you. No round in the chamber leave it home or carry a revolver. To each his own according to his capabilities. Live long in interesting times.

mdfenton

Again, DA/SA trigger Sig Sauer P229 is the way to go. .40 cal

http://concealednation.org/2015/01/firearm-review-sig-p229-a-serious-gun-for-troubled-times/

tenbanshee Loc: Woodstock, IL

If you did not mean to pull the trigger it was a "accidental discharge". It happens! Did this guy did not mean to have the trigger catch on something and pull the trigger. No, I don't think he did. I guess that they could have written it so it said, that as he was pulling his bag out of the vehicle, a loaded gun that was in the bag he was pulling on fired and shot himself, killing him. Accidental just means that he did not do it on purpose.

Jazztrader

No, you miss the point, IMHO. KNOWING if there's a round in the chamber, KNOWING that the safety is on, and KNOWING that the weapon is pointed in a safe direction assures that there are no mishaps. There is no accident in that case, which again...is the point of gun safety and gun safety education.

RLSeipleSr Loc: North of Boston

And, "negligent discharge" means that he could have prevented it ... !

Bob S