Triangle Tactical Podcast and Blog on Guns, Gear, and Competition Shooting
WBTV is reporting that a Concord, NC police officer shot himself in the lower calf while training at the range yesterday. The article vaguely mentions that the incident happened while the officer was holstering his pistol.
Just a quick reminder that there’s no need to race the pistol back into the holster. When training, the clock has stopped before its time to reholster, and if you’re involved in a defensive shooting, I don’t think it could hurt to take a deep breath, and assess what you’re doing before you go shoving the pistol back into the holster.
I hope the officer recovers quickly, hopefully the news of this incident will keep others from getting hurt the same way.
Before shoving the holster back into the holster?
That’s what I get for drinking while writing and not proofreading.
I just thought it was funny, this is a great post and let’s not let a little proofreading oversight underscore the point. Good reminder that trigger control and not allowing anything in the trigger guard until you are ready for the gun to go bang is of the upmost importance.
This is another case that supports the value of a thumb safety, with associated training for draw and reholstering. The U.S. military has insisted on a thumb safety for sidearms for over a hundred years. Why? Their experience from the previous years demonstrating that a large cross section of people yields a large cross section of competence. It’s why I won’t buy a Glock. S&W M&P is available with a thumb safety, as are FN, Ruger and a couple others. There’s a reason that this kind of injury is called “Glock leg”.
Meh, if you have bad enough trigger control that the only thing keeping you from shooting yourself while reholstering is the safety, you’re bound to shoot yourself or someone else eventually.
It’s not for me. I carry a Sig, and the DA first trigger pull is enough. Experts who disdain safeties and criticize those who want them, are the ones–like police officers–who end up with a bullet in the leg. Or a trigger pulled by a kid or a perp. As I said, the U.S. military’s requirement was based on a lot of experience. The military isn’t that smart, but they learn from experience of hundreds of thousands, indeed millions, of soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen.
My Colt has a grip safety and a thumb safety, XDM has a grip safety, Sig is DA/SA…and the Glock 19 I WON (did not buy), which is my wife’s carry gun that she refused to carry without a safety, has a Cominolli thumb safety. You are welcome to carry without a safety, and I will not criticize you. I’d appreciate the same from you.