Man thrown in prison for discharge in home

[P-11 shooter]

I don't really feel uncomfortable with a loaded weapon. My buddy(who carries a sigma with an empty pipe) picked my gun off my dresser, racked it then FREAKED when a round hit the floor. "you keep that sitting around LOADED!" I just said "ain't much good without bullets" Rule #1 in my house treat every gun as if it's loaded, because it probably is.

[adymond]

Originally Posted by P-11 shooter

I don't really feel uncomfortable with a loaded weapon. My buddy(who carries a sigma with an empty pipe) picked my gun off my dresser, racked it then FREAKED when a round hit the floor. "you keep that sitting around LOADED!" I just said "ain't much good without bullets" Rule #1 in my house treat every gun as if it's loaded, because it probably is.

A pretty good rule to follow with ANY firearm, but my house is the same way.

[Twister]

My guess is that the media had to go by what the guy told police and the police did not have enough evidence to prove anything contrary, so the dropped gun story made it to the press.

I would like to hypothesize that the odds of dropping an XD (or many other modern firearms) from waist level (or higher for that matter) and having it discharge is probably about the same odds as winning the lottery. Forget about the trigger and grip safeties... the firing pin safety on the XD does not get disengaged until the trigger is pulled. Thus, it would have had to hit the ground at an angle such that inertia disengaged the firing pin safety, then simultaneously disengaged the sear (how?). My vote is that the gun was not in proper working condition or it was fired from his hand either accidentally or on purpose.

[Philadelphia]

Originally Posted by Twister

My guess is that the media had to go by what the guy told police and the police did not have enough evidence to prove anything contrary, so the dropped gun story made it to the press.

I would like to hypothesize that the odds of dropping an XD (or many other modern firearms) from waist level (or higher for that matter) and having it discharge is probably about the same odds as winning the lottery. Forget about the trigger and grip safeties... the firing pin safety on the XD does not get disengaged until the trigger is pulled. Thus, it would have had to hit the ground at an angle such that inertia disengaged the firing pin safety, then simultaneously disengaged the sear (how?). My vote is that the gun was not in proper working condition or it was fired from his hand either accidentally or on purpose.

You have far better odds of winning the lottery.

I'm not a gunsmith but I understand basic physics. Any force that would tend to disengage the striker block would tend to engage the sear and vice-versa. Any force that would tend to do anything relevant to either would have to be pretty large. I theorize that a "dropping" type force sufficient to fully disengage the striker block even for an instant would visibly damage or completely destroy the slide.

[jack76590]

If I were the defense attorney I would lay a right to know request on the Moore Township police asking if their officers had every had an "accidental discharge", the circumstances surrounding each incident and the action taken against the officer.