Man shoots himself while drawing his pistol

[Ranger]

Wow, that's one of those times where you see the video and say "holy sh*t"! He's pretty lucky though, considering the angle of that shot he could have done some pretty major damage if it had gone in below the knee and come out of his foot, mangling everything else on the way down.

[TFOGGER]

Poor trigger discipline combined with what appears to be a too light trigger contributed to this incident. The safety had little to do with it. At least he takes responsibility for his mistakes.

[Jer]

Thumb breaks, forefinger breaks, safety, no safety... if you have to spend that long explaining all the differences then you're doing something wrong. I have personally witnessed something VERY similar but on a reholster about 4' directly in front of me and slightly to the left so I had a front row seat. Guy was also shooting a 1911 and had a serpa holster. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. I personally use a Glock (no safety) and pressure retention holsters. There's nothing beyond basic movements to remember or train for. To me the fewer variables the less movements you need to practice and the less movements you have to concentrate on allowing you to focus on the fundamentals. Elbow up, elbow down, firm grip, pull straight up and clear holster and swing forward before moving trigger finger. The guy that ND'd himself in front of me as also a very experienced shooter, LEO, firearms instructor, range owner, etc. He also shot a variety of firearms back to back and this time it bit him. Sounds like some of the same attributes were included on this ND so parallels can be drawn. The guy that ND'd himself Immediately blamed it on a faulty holster. Standing in a perfect place to see exactly what happened though it was operator error as he never cleared his trigger finger so when he holstered the holster pressed his finger into the trigger. Now, while I wouldn't blame it on a faulty holster because that just shows an unwillingness to admit fault which allows for learning I would blame it on the complexity of the various shooting systems, retention systems & holsters being used. I think if one can pick a weapon system and holster they like the best (or are required to use) and train on them exclusively these exact type of ND's will be drastically reduced. It's nice to know how they all work and be proficient on all of them but I don't think it's as important as being as safe and proficient as possible with your primary carry/draw/competition platform. I can see wanting to know how different handguns fire in case you ever need to pick one up in a defensive situation but when are you going to quickly strap on someone else's holster and quick draw to defend? Not likely.

I'm just rambling now so if anyone can take anything useful away from what I just said then you're a patient human being.

[Jer]

Wow, that's one of those times where you see the video and say "holy sh*t"! He's pretty lucky though, considering the angle of that shot he could have done some pretty major damage if it had gone in below the knee and come out of his foot, mangling everything else on the way down.

The ND I witnessed entered about the same place in the upper thigh. He was drop stepping to turn to shoot a slung rifle at 45deg so it exited at the same point in the thigh only more towards the back, directly behind the knee. It then re-entered his upper calf and traveled part way down there it lodged inside is calf and had to be removed at the ER for a total of THREE GSW's from a single ND. He was in joking spirits at the range but from the sounds of it the jokes subsided when the chemicals wore off on the trip to the hospital. Different angle or ammo and I'm sure the outcome in either situation could have been drastically different.

Here's the pic of the end result of that one:

[Byte Stryke]

just wow...

This brings to mind all of the times when I practice with my defense ammo...

Something tells me that the above picture would be very different with a JHP with some very different final results.

[Jer]

just wow...

This brings to mind all of the times when I practice with my defense ammo...

Something tells me that the above picture would be very different with a JHP with some very different final results.

Yeah, exactly. My buddy was just down in Texas last week with a cousin that was shot 11 times with a 9mm Tech-9 who survived. I can't think of two better examples of ball target ammo and how ineffective it is unless you hit a vital organ. FMJ FTW!

[Byte Stryke]

Yeah, exactly. My buddy was just down in Texas last week with a cousin that was shot 11 times with a 9mm Tech-9 who survived. I can't think of two better examples of ball target ammo and how ineffective it is unless you hit a vital organ. FMJ FTW!

Unless you Unintentionally shoot yourself.
Then its FTL.

[Jer]

Unless you Unintentionally shoot yourself.
Then its FTL.

Of course.

[Guylee]

I JUST FU-CKING SHOT MYSELF.

Oh thanks. I wasn't sure.

[Mazin]

First off byte that remix was funny as hell gj!
Second gun safty 101 dont put you damn finger on the trigger until your ready to shoot. Last but not least he was real lucky that his ass didnt hit that main artery and bleed out.